i don't know if you should think in terms of fault. this is stuff that happens in the 'sphere. she's out there. she can reasonably expect people to have things to say.
There's no need for apologies... I do expect and have had people say negative things about my blog. That's the one thing I risked when I decided to become part of the blogging masses. Interestingly enough, some of the naysayers usually shoot me their feedback via email, rather than posting a comment, which is their prerogative... the eddress is there to be utilized. I even had one person from college, hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, get into a back and forth with me on my blog's comment thread. He never revealed himself, stating that he noted me from afar and never got the opportunity (or guts) to talk to me then.
I was offended by being labeled as "disengenuous" however, because every entry I blog is from my core, regardless of how banal it is. I mean well (and sometimes I'm just mean) with every entry I log. There's never any pretense behind anything I write. I mean, I have some of my pictures up for the world to see... It doesn't get anymore honest than that. I'm genuine in my everyday life as well as via the blogosphere... and I pride myself on keeping it real. So this is why that statement ruffled my feathers. Colin, your previous students were skeptical of my motives... and I appreciated their honesty, but their feedback was constructive... never condescending or self-righteous. Describe me as you wish, but I can assure you all, disengenous and insecure I'm not. Foul-mouthed, opinionated, vengeful, catty, abrasive and moodier than hell, happy, melancholy, and 'right dark? Perhaps, but never phony and desperate for ego stroking. My stroke is soothing and I do it well all on me own, sans outside help. As I stated before, my mind is all over the place and I have so many things going on... this is the primary reason why I'm going on hiatus... I need to focus and come back to the middle. Mentally... I'm tired and functioning on auto-pilot. I've grappled with the future of my blog for a while, and decided that Coffee Rhetoric will be put on pause... Not deleted. I put in a lot of work and time doing this... and I enjoy it immensely.
I don't want anybody in this class to walk on eggshells or to try to reassure me or clarify their obnoxious statements about my character, if the topic of Coffee Rhetoric comes up. Colin is right afterall, when he suggests that I should expect people to have things to say. ;o)
I've written some things that I regret writing later on and it's not an easy lesson to learn. It's also difficult when you're putting something out there and trying your best to make it represent who you are, because no matter how hard you try it will always be incomplete. I think as a class we need to come to a realization that there are as many reasons to blog as there are people that create them and maybe we don't always understand them but we should do our best to respect them. Anyway, I hope you don't give up, Coffee.
I'd rather people post their comments in the comments thread rather than clogging up my inbox explaining why they disagree with what I composed in an entry.
@joeydee... I'm in agreement with you. I was a little taken aback last year, when I found myself showing empathy (via the comments section) for a woman, who documented (anonymously) the torrid affair she was carrying on with a married man. I don't know why she felt compelled to blog about it, I'm sure she had her reasons, and I actually miss her blog. I almost commented what a horrible person she was, but then read the bulk of the other comments she had received and went in another direction with mine. I'm glad I thought it through. In any event, I think the allure of blogging is that we may never know or understand why people do it. I thought I understood why I became a blogger, and am starting to find it rather intimidating at times, as I sort things out and pull back from documenting certain things. Some people are just beautiful messes I guess.
P.S. Damn, I'm setting a record with my comments here on this blog ;o)
7 comments:
That's mostly all my fault and I mean to clear up some/most of it.
i don't know if you should think in terms of fault.
this is stuff that happens in the 'sphere.
she's out there. she can reasonably expect people to have things to say.
There's no need for apologies...
I do expect and have had people say negative things about my blog. That's the one thing I risked when I decided to become part of the blogging masses.
Interestingly enough, some of the naysayers usually shoot me their feedback via email, rather than posting a comment, which is their prerogative... the eddress is there to be utilized.
I even had one person from college, hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, get into a back and forth with me on my blog's comment thread. He never revealed himself, stating that he noted me from afar and never got the opportunity (or guts) to talk to me then.
I was offended by being labeled as "disengenuous" however, because every entry I blog is from my core, regardless of how banal it is.
I mean well (and sometimes I'm just mean) with every entry I log. There's never any pretense behind anything I write. I mean, I have some of my pictures up for the world to see... It doesn't get anymore honest than that. I'm genuine in my everyday life as well as via the blogosphere... and I pride myself on keeping it real. So this is why that statement ruffled my feathers.
Colin, your previous students were skeptical of my motives... and I appreciated their honesty, but their feedback was constructive... never condescending or self-righteous.
Describe me as you wish, but I can assure you all, disengenous and insecure I'm not.
Foul-mouthed, opinionated, vengeful, catty, abrasive and moodier than hell, happy, melancholy, and 'right dark? Perhaps, but never phony and desperate for ego stroking. My stroke is soothing and I do it well all on me own, sans outside help.
As I stated before, my mind is all over the place and I have so many things going on... this is the primary reason why I'm going on hiatus... I need to focus and come back to the middle. Mentally... I'm tired and functioning on auto-pilot.
I've grappled with the future of my blog for a while, and decided that Coffee Rhetoric will be put on pause... Not deleted. I put in a lot of work and time doing this... and I enjoy it immensely.
I don't want anybody in this class to walk on eggshells or to try to reassure me or clarify their obnoxious statements about my character, if the topic of Coffee Rhetoric comes up.
Colin is right afterall, when he suggests that I should expect people to have things to say. ;o)
yes, of course it's better from my selfish perspective if they do stuff in comment form so it all kind of plays out this way and i can teach from it.
unless, of course, that makes me some kind of monster .......
I've written some things that I regret writing later on and it's not an easy lesson to learn. It's also difficult when you're putting something out there and trying your best to make it represent who you are, because no matter how hard you try it will always be incomplete. I think as a class we need to come to a realization that there are as many reasons to blog as there are people that create them and maybe we don't always understand them but we should do our best to respect them. Anyway, I hope you don't give up, Coffee.
I'd rather people post their comments in the comments thread rather than clogging up my inbox explaining why they disagree with what I composed in an entry.
@joeydee... I'm in agreement with you.
I was a little taken aback last year, when I found myself showing empathy (via the comments section) for a woman, who documented (anonymously) the torrid affair she was carrying on with a married man.
I don't know why she felt compelled to blog about it, I'm sure she had her reasons, and I actually miss her blog. I almost commented what a horrible person she was, but then read the bulk of the other comments she had received and went in another direction with mine. I'm glad I thought it through. In any event, I think the allure of blogging is that we may never know or understand why people do it. I thought I understood why I became a blogger, and am starting to find it rather intimidating at times, as I sort things out and pull back from documenting certain things. Some people are just beautiful messes I guess.
P.S. Damn, I'm setting a record with my comments here on this blog ;o)
bada-bazing.
http://slothsinabox.blogspot.com/2006/09/rhetoric-rationle.html
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