Dec

17

2005

What an Ass

Author: Jeffrey

I was surfing blogs this morning, as usual, and I came across this one called “The Cruel Offender“. What an ass he (I use the male pronoun because I hate to think any woman would be such an ass) has made of himself. It’s kind of ironic actually because his whole mission seems to be to point out the faults and shortcomings of everyone but himself.

He presumes, first of all, that he is an authority on blogging and that his “critiques” will somehow make the blogging world a better place. It is laughable, really. Tell me, you bloggers out there, why do you blog? I know that every one of us has a hope that someone will read our blog and find it interesting enough to come back and read it again, but is that the reason you blog? It isn’t for me.

The truth is I blog for myself most of all. I hope that my posts are interesting and I try to make them so, but I’m not making any money here. It’s not about you, reader. No offense intended, and I’m sure most of you can identify with this feeling.

“The Cruel Offender” would have us all blogging in a sterile, impersonal way. His way.

I quote him here from his own article, “Aren’t We a Wee Bit Arogant?”:

“And let’s not be so arrogant as to believe that we can each do it best.”

Look in the mirror.

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7 Responses to “What an Ass”

  1. theoffender Says:
    December 17th, 2005 at 11:14 pm

    I will reply to this tomorrow. Come see me. For now I will simply point out that you have gotten transparently defensive. That you have been unjust — which I am not. And that you should really read someone’s blog before you begin to make judgements — which, by the way, I never do; I only offer opinions. And as for arrogance, I believe I there is ample evidence to prove yours as well. I never exclude myself from my own parameters, my friend. Don’t believe that for a minute. I am my harshest critic — and your too.

  2. Frodo Corleone Says:
    December 18th, 2005 at 12:07 am

    I have a problem with the Offender… you can’t say “let’s not go there” about BlogExplosion right after you write two posts about how you are renting out space through the site. Well you can, but than you lose a little bit of creditability.

    I will give him credit for the fact he does try to be constructive with his criticism. Every blog can use some improvement and sometimes an outside opinion can be eye-opening. But if he assumes that his opinion is the end-all-and-be-all than he is an ass. After all, opinins are like as…. well, let’s really not go there.

    I will say that The Offender is a good counterpoint to The Complimenting Commenter.

  3. Jeffrey Says:
    December 18th, 2005 at 12:15 am

    You don’t know me, friend. Arrogant I am not. And you’re right, I have gotten defensive. I realize your comments weren’t pointed at me specifically, but they were worded in a way that was challenging and unkind. I accept what you are saying, that there is probably more to you than what I read on the surface, but what you showed on your blog is that you are arrogant and intollerant.

    If you read my post beyond the first lines, you know that I don’t have any use for your criticism of my blog or of anyone elses. It’s unproductive and unwanted. I won’t presume to tell you how to blog, and I won’t ask you for advice on how to manage my own blog. If you make a post like the one you made, you are asking for a reaction. Since you don’t allow comments on your blog I reacted here on mine.

    I encourage you to go on blogging what you believe in. I probably won’t return to read your posts.

    I will offer an appology for calling you an ass. Not that I feel any differently about what you wrote, but that language doesn’t help to portray me as any more reasonable than you. You are welcome to respond here in these comments, I don’t edit comments unless they are vulgar or extremely offensive.

  4. Jeffrey Says:
    December 18th, 2005 at 12:40 am

    Frodo, thanks. You are a voice of reason. I appreciate your neutral viewpoint.

  5. Vittra Says:
    December 18th, 2005 at 2:54 am

    I figure that I will just, for the sake of not being redundant, quote the comment I left on The Cruel Offender’s comment system. Most of the points I made in my comment to him can still be made here and hold validity.

    You know, The Cruel Offender, you go on with a list of ten things you can do to make a blog more interesting, yet you seem to have a few flaws yourself. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve written a post that lists ten things one should avoid doing, but I’ve tried to keep myself from being hypocritical or as though I am sounding like I am the only one who can blog properly.

    You make some good points, don’t get me wrong, but do you think it’s even necessary to post images to accompany most of your entries? A good example of what I mean would be your post about breakfast, with the image of fruit loops. Don’t we all know what breakfast looks like? It makes most of your points in these ten guidelines a little ineffective.

    From what I have seen, you’re not that much better than most blog users out there. Besides, aren’t blogs made for the reason that the author has chosen? I hardly doubt they made their blog just so their content can please you and you alone.

    If they’re getting comments and regular readers, that might suggest that people do care about what they write, even if the topic does seem insipid and dismal to you. From what I see, three comments on your blog hardly signify that many people care about what you have to say.

    Of course, as J’s Girlfriend says, you could always choose not to read the blogs, if the content is as bad as you think it is. No one forces you to continue reading once you notice it’s bad, do they? No.

    You also make some good points yourself, Jeffrey and I agree with what you have said.

  6. Jeffrey Says:
    December 18th, 2005 at 1:09 pm

    Thanks, Vittra. I was a little worried that I had started something I would regret. I really don’t want to get too carried away with this, but I appreciate the affirmation. Maybe the offender will get the message.

  7. Why Do I Bother? Says:
    January 1st, 2006 at 10:43 am

    6 Out of 10 … I’ve Got Some Work to Do

    WhyDoIBother.com was reviewed recently by BloggyAward.com and found lacking.

    While I’m not broken up about the review, it is a little discouraging. Unlike The Cruel Offender, however, this review is constructive and helpful. There are specif…

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