The Dead Horse is Beaten Into Glue

There exists a love/hate relationship between me and a couple of other bloggers, maybe more, who knows. All I know is that they seem to love to hate me, they get off on sending me notes in which they critique my writing, comment on my choice of topics, and generally try to get my goat.

The problem is that there is no goat to get.

Blogging is very personal. It is an expression of yourself and your values. It doesn't matter whether it is politics, humor or religion. It doesn't matter if you try and filter out your opinion, if you post enough material and do it long enough a picture of who you are is created.

I don't think that this is a bad thing, it is in my mind a good thing. But if you allow it, it can open you up to hard feelings. If you allow the words and thoughts of others to define your sense of self, if you give them the power they can make you feel badly.

But why allow some nameless cyberspace denizens wreck your day. If someone blogrolls you or unblogrolls you it is not alway a personal affront or attack on you as a person. And even if it is, don't sweat the small stuff.

So to those of you who love to hate me, I thank you for your continued patronage, for the notes and comments you leave. I am gratified by the attention and strongly encourage you to stick around. It has been fun. :)

8 comments:

Batya said...

at least they write

Irina Tsukerman said...

Actually negative publicity is probably better than no publicity at all! ; )

Gilly said...

Dealing with nuts is always going to be part and parcel of blogging - you seem to have a healthy attitude towards them!

Shabbat Shalom

Gilly

Anonymous said...

I am a fan of Jack, though I sometimes suspects he doubts it.

But the truth is, he's a regular read.

Jack Steiner said...

Meanderings,

Yes, it is good to know that they write.

Irina,

I would agree.

Gilly,

I reach more nuts than a bag of almonds. ;)

Good Shabbos to you too.

Politically Homeless said...

Jack, your blog is one of my regular pit stops. I don't make it a habit to critique other bloggers. Its pretty simple really...if you don't like someone's writing or choice of subjects, don't read their blog!

Keep up the good work.

wanda said...

Hey, at least somebody's reading your blog!!!
When I heard there were actually awards for bloggers I felt a bit sad that I hadn't been nominated for a single one. Then about a second later I got over it and realized I did't give a donkey's tail.
I'm just happy that people actually care enough to come back day after day, to read what I write. Heck, I'm just grateful that there's this whole blogging thing to begin with.
I'll have to read more before I decide if I'm gonna love you or hate you. I'll have to get back to you on that!
~*^flutters away~*^

Jack Steiner said...

Hi Wanda/Brian,

It is all in a day's work. ;)

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