Today I meta teacup.

The other day I talked about visitor comments as procedural objects, and my friend Sally took up the challenge by posting a comment that consisted entirely of a link to this lovely teacup. It took me about a day or so to understand what she was getting at.

The key to the puzzle was to remember that such meta-questions are Sally’s cup of tea. In this case the cup in question is slightly skewed, framed in close-up, lovely in repose. And now with today’s post, the comment becomes the subject, the supposedly omniscient blogger willingly following his visitor down the rabbit hole to a tea party.

Which is as it should be. Blogging is an oddly asymmetric form of communication that promises personal empowerment yet delivers fiefdoms of petty tyranny. So in a sense the blogiverse practically begs for revolt. And isn’t that what tea parties are for?