I don't hate semicolons, I like them. But I've found that most of the time when I believe I've stumbled on a great place to fit a semicolon, when I look again later, I think a period or emdash is better there.

All respect to Kurt Vonnegut, of course, and his opinion has shaped how I understand and use semicolons myself, but I don't see more than the tiniest modicum of shame in using a semicolon where another scratch would do.

Most writers, especially today per fashion, hate the idea of seeming pretentious or forbidding, and mostly so do I. But people also read the way they watch violent movies: to exercise something otherwise unused. It's a bit like the hamster chewing to hone perennially growing teeth, scraping them down on wood (or cage bars?) to adapt and accommodate them. When we speak, we're often mucking about far from the high watermarks reached in our culture's language. We may not use a semicolon this decan or moon, but we want to know why they're used, and see a good example. Just to keep our feet wet.

So a writer who shows off a little isn't doing what a reader doesn't want. We want to learn. We want to stand in awe, a little.