George Carlin

Shit.
Piss.
Cunt.
Fuck.
Cocksucker.
Motherfucker.
Tits.

(and the also rans: fart, turd, and twat)

Now that that's out of the way, I was thrown and surprisingly upset to hear of the death of George Carlin. Everyone likes a good swearing. Everyone likes observational humor. Everyone likes "angry" humor.

I liked his love of language. I have always admired his comedy and devoured his books. I have a couple CDs of his performances and have both rented and sought out the many, many specials he did on HBO. His willingness to parse language and get to what we mean and how it hides inside what we say was bold and daring. He was willing to call it like he saw it, and point out the bullshit. Even when it's the question of how one boards a plane (you get IN the plane, not ON the plane), he always cleared it up.

He was one of those few people who could swear and be angry and make it feel almost cuddly. He felt like a friend on a good rant.

I like George Carlin. I admired George Carlin. Like many, many people cluttering up the internet pipeline today, I don't have anything original to say about the man... to which I'm sure he'd say "If you don't have anything to say, shut up until you do."

I'm gonna miss George Carlin.