Metablogging: August 2005 Archives

Last night I wrote responses to two comments I had received in the course of the day.

Then I realized that while blogging is conducive to some exchange of information, all too often what is intended in one way may be taken another. What I could say in conversation with all of the concomittant body language and subtle vocal indicators cannot be said with proper inflection in a comments box. It sounds aggressive and rude. That is not the tone I wish to cultivate, so I hurried back to my blog and cancelled my two comments.

Often I write out a response at other blogs and realize that I just don't need to say this, that, or the other thing. Perhaps I needn't comment at all. And if I do comment there is every chance that the comment will be misinterpreted and possibly lead to hurt feelings. Is that really necessary in an exercise that is intended to be pleasurable? Is what I have to say so important that it is worth risking that someone may be harmed by it? I think rather not.

Further, I've discovered that even when you are trying very hard to follow a chain of thought, so many things intrude and so much time elapses between exchanges that the logic and coherence vanish entirely. We end up talking about six different subtle shades of things without ever realizing that we're doing so--which leads to some frustrating interchange. This confusion naturally works itself out in ordinary conversational flow. But in this medium it can lead to hurt feelings, odd suppositions, and caricatures of other people's viewpoints that can be hurtful. Once again, it simply isn't worth it for the exchange of a few words.

So these comments have gone to the comment graveyard and I await the opportunity to speak with those who wrote them (given that one is far overseas, that opportunity might not come). But I'd love to discuss the matters in person with the opportunity to hear the proponents' clarifications and reasoning.

And I suppose, lastly, one reason for writing this is that it may be even more rude to ignore someone's comments when they've taken the time and energy to "speak" with you. If ever you don't receive a response to something you have written (and expect a response to) do not assume that it has been ignored or is not welcome. Just assume that I could not come up with an appropriately worded statement that was truly reflective of what I wanted to say. In other words, I could not begin the conversation I wanted to have.

Despite the moribund state of much of the blogworld, duly noted and annotated in TSO's travels about the landscape, Mr. O is alive and kicking. He asks why there is a dearth of entries by once-prolific bloggers.

And the answer is that when I'm at my machine, I'm as noisy as I ever was. Problem is with nearly a month of vacation here and there, I haven't been at my machine as much. In addition, I've noted the need for mellowing and the need for autocultivation to bring about a clearer sense of where I need to be moving. I've been out taking pictures too often. (This weekend, I plan to return to EPCOT to see if the banana has bloomed.) And finally, and I speak for me alone, absence of wife and child for much of the summer leads to a certain moribundness. I've noted that I have to force myself to leave the house both physically and mentally. I consider this a good sign because it means that the life of family is stimulating and refreshing, keeping me young and alive and less likely to turn into the Thoreauian trogdolyte I would, left to my own resources, become. So all cheer the return of the troops at the end of August. Perhaps you won't have to look at so many pictures of flowers--maybe I'll find a more interesting subject. (Don't count on it--flowers fascinate me endlessly--both in the Georgia O'Keefe way and in the sheer dynamic brilliance and abundance of their success on Earth.)

Two days from nearly nothing to rivalling my left-hand column. Amazing what happens when you start running off at the mouth. God is good (to me at least--don't know how He's treating my rapidly dwindling audience).

Don't know what, if any, opportunities for blogging. Will try to write and if I get e-pics that I can post there you'll see Sam in his cowboy get-up.