Tuesday, September 18, 2007

The First Negative Comment

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** Anonymous said...
** watch who you talk about.
** your not that cool
**
** September 12, 2007 12:12 AM
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There, it's official.
"The Adventure" blog has gotten it's first official negative comment. I know there was going to be some eventually, but I still have to take it seriously and address the issue.
It also raised a flag for me that I still have some rejection/confidence issues that I should resolve soon.
I am going to add some disclaimers to the "Welcome Page" (if indeed I ever wrote a "Welcome Page") so that new readers can have a little bit of a backgound and introduction to my wierdness.

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My first official negative comment was attached to the "Wandering with Warren" post which is just a column I write for a car club.
The funky way that this site is organized it is easy to be confused and the complaint was probably supposed to be attached to the disjointed blather that I wrote the day before.
So I went back to read it for the first time. These "Blather" posts are just meant as a quick "catch-you-up" if I hadn't written anything in a while. We have been told that some people just need an update on the radar screen to make sure that we are O.K.

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I know that some of you folks that know me have been saying, "there he goes again" whenever I wrote something that would have been better left unsaid, but you didn't want to insult me.

From where I sit (on a scrawny little chair in the woods) there are a few options that I have:
1) Raise the banner, dig in my heels, and say "if they don't like it, the hellwithem", and zoom in on the subject that was irritating and emphasize it. And keep emphasizing it. O.J.ParisHillaryMichaelJacksonAnyone?

2) Retreat: Don't say anything that upsets people. I could be accused of not having "journalistic integrity" but then I wouldn't accidentally upset any of the great people that have helped us through this whole process.

3) Keep going but use the occassional bad review to steer me in the right direction.

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They each have their good points and some problems.

The problem with #2 is that I will always say something that I shouldn't. I always will, even when I concentrate.
I try, but it is part of my nature. (See disclaimer)
Politics are an obvious taboo, but sooooo much that I talk about and see has connections to political decisions and then my mouth opens and...
For instance: In Cambria California I used this spectacular ATM machine that I wanted to rave about. It was so cool. I had to refrain because this particular machine was made by DieBold and it had the same features that another department in the same company insist are impossible to do on voting machines. Crippled voting machines that are impossible to audit and are already installed in Florida and were going to destroy legitimate voting in the rest of this country. There is a law close to passing that would take the wind right out of their criminal sails.
See? Must not talk ATM! Zippp!

#1 is a good way to boost traffic to your blog. Traffic means that you can put up advertising, which would pay some of our expenses, in reality, it would probably only buy us a coffee, but it would open everything up for one big tax deduction. Let's see my trip expenses are $100 a day to do research, my income from advertising is $0.25 a day, so I seem to be running a little in the red, so I could deduct my entire income for the year, lessee that's $0.25 times 365 equals...
The disadvantage of #1 is that my ONLY readers are people that have recently met us on our trip or that have known us a very long time. I don't want either group to be upset.

#3 I think this is the one that I HAVE to use. I always open my big mouth (see disclaimer).
I can't throttle everything back to just "we saw a horse today", it wouldn't be how I write.
I write how I talk, disjointed, stream of conciousness, whatever comes out of the fingertips. Sometimes I will read what I wrote and I will be amazed. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, but it is always interesting to see where the story goes. When I start writing, I have absolutely no idea what I am going to have as a finished product. Many times when a story takes a sharp turn I just chop off the top paragraphs and then the story will begin where the turn was.

So #3 it is:
Please send me your comments whenever I need steering. Some of this stuff ends up on here without even I reading it, and there may be landmines strewn about and you are the very first person reading it.
This isn't the New York Times, something can be published for hours before anyone notices.
I would like a volunteer or two to be editors. There are days when I can't get online and the complaints could be piling up and a post that should be deleted would just stay there accumulating flies. An editor could quickly delete the offending post until I came back online and could edit the offending dialog.
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To Anonymous: I am sorry. I am taking steps to avoid future problems.
warren
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Vicky said...
Warren, I just wanted to share and let you know that you are not the only one in the World that goes on and on about subjects (which by the way, I love your commentaries, I always have)
I tend to do the same thing. I have noticed this a lot more since I went back to school recently. I get babbling about a subject and then suddenly I switch to another topic because that's how my mind works and that's how I talk, but sometimes people just don't get it.
Anyways, luv to you both.
September 20, 2007 2:18 PM
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chemo sabe said...
Warren
I've seen the glazed look in people's eyes when the original point of my story has long since been lost down some shaggy dog byroad, and the ones who call me on it are usually not my friends! (so why the bleep was I talking to them!!!) Occasionally, where I end up is much more interesting than the original destination, and anyway, isn't getting there half the fun!?? Unlike this lame comment that I am writing.
What I REALLY want to say is that JUST BE YOU!!!!
If you were to change just because some anonymous old poop is intimidated by your overwhelming coolness, I'd have to come out of chemo-haze and dope slap you!!!
KEEP DOIN WHAT YOU'RE DOIN!!!
Ps: are vicky and I the only ones this comment twitched?!!!
LOVE YOU
September 24, 2007 10:32 AM
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Vicky said...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
September 20, 2007 2:18 PM
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chemo sabe said...
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
September 24, 2007 10:32 AM
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Anonymous said...
why were the comments deleted?
September 27, 2007 10:21 AM
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THEY said...
I move the comments into the body of the post so that everybody can see them without clicking on the "comments" link. After I move them, I delete them. I usually delete them permanently, so there is no "comment deleted" notice, but I only "hid" these two because I wanted to keep the originals just in case the authors objected to the minor editing that I chose to do to avoid a "flame war" with the original comment person.
Warren
September 27, 2007 4:44 PM
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chemo sabe said...
I feel much better now. I just checked to make sure y'all had escaped Stepford city and was curious about your answer to anonymous re deleted comments! Phew!! Had me worried there!!!
September 28, 2007 2:22 PM
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Warren said...
Chemo Sabe, could you please email me? I don't seem to have your address, and I have a question.
ww
September 28, 2007 7:56 PM
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