Friday 6 November 2009

Bringing the murky underworld of comments to the surface

Before I start this week's BlackLOG I have a question to those of you who post blogs almost daily, are you taking Blogagra? (a writer's version of a little blue pill that helps bloggers get their posts up...) I struggle to find the time and inspiration to post once a week.....



McG helps Mrs B Edit the BlackLOG.  Mrs B has that
glazed expression that tells me she is having a busy
time.  McG is giving me a very disapproving look.

The murkey underworld of comments
As it has been a fairly slow week I thought I would highlight an area of Blogging that is often overlooked - the comments section. Personally I feel some peoples' best work takes place deep below the surface. For those of you who only read the BlackLOG in the hope of some car crash writing, my comments on the BlackLOG and other Blogs are completely without the aid of a Mrs B safety net.

There are different approaches that Bloggers take to comments :-

  • Some embrace them and attempt to reply to each one.
  •  Some occasionally make a trip down there and might make the odd remark.
  • While others seem to treat the area like a no go zone. The ones in this category that I really find amusing are the ones that beg people to make a comment at surface level, but when you get down there you see that they have never responded to a single comment in their bloglife. I say to them "Reap what you sow my friends….."
My feelings on comments
  •  They demonstrate that people out there are taking an interest in what a blogger is writing
  • If someone has taken the trouble to write a comment I feel it is only fair for a blogger to acknowledge the effort that the reader has made - I guess if I was getting 100’s of comments on my posts I might take a different track but currently I’m receiving enough to make me feel warm and wanted but not enough to feel resentful.
  • The comment count is just a number, what really makes a difference is the quality not the quantity
You don't have to be a blogger to be able to comment or even identify yourself – one of my regular commenters ,IMO, does not have a blog, which is a real shame because from the comments that she makes I think she would make a great blogger. Perhaps one day..

For those of you who have not ventured into Comment World, you have missed out on my being threatened with legal action by the owner of From the Inside...Out.......

Dear Mr. BlackLOG (If that is even your real name)

As attorney for Ms. Kathryn Wonderwoman, I must ask you to cease and desist with this barrage of negative connotations with regards to the facsimile in the fastidious nature of your use of the terminology with which you refer to her in any way, shape or form as being a bickerer.
(As I charge her $25.00 usd per word, I needed to make a long point here.)

She said something more like "He's pissing me off. He's calling me names. I still didn't even get my blood sample."

Sincerely and with the most affection one can presume and still stay on the side of propriety,

The Big, Bad American Lawyer.

------------------------------------------------

Kathryn, I have instructed Bicker, More, Bickering and C-Ewe Ink-Hort (Solicitors to the formerly rich) to act for me and contact you through From the Inside...Out. These guys don't take prisoners and have already served me a writ for taking too many steps on their new carpet...Sorry that it has come to this.

Dear Kathryn Wonderwoman (like that’s your real name, our guess is it is Shaz Wonderwoman) On behalf of our client Mr. BlackLOG we laugh in the face of your rather cheap lawyer letter ($25.00 dollars a word, where did they get their qualifications, off the internet? ) with our £1000 per letter + £2,000 for each capital, space and punctuation. You are charged with :-

Making wild allegations that Mr. BlackLOG is insane. Our client feels this is very harsh on the insane. (We have been looking to round up as many of them as we can, to file a class action against you for defamation of their individual character (in some cases multiple characters...) .

Being loud & New YawkeeSince our client moved into the basement of “From the inside…Out” you are guilty of putting in a hard floor and stomping – yes STOMPING in 4” killer heels (sometimes 3 pairs at a time). Driving a loud and annoying car – I quote your very words “When my neighbor mentioned the other day that she can tell every time I come down our hill by the incessant s-q-u-e-a-k of my car

Cruelty to haemophiliacs – with your constant demand for blood samples. While our client is not currently a haemophiliac, he has aspirations, after all many of his royal family are haemophiliacs and although he is not a huge fan of said royal family, he does appreciate that they help bleed the tourists dry….

Putting yourself about a bitbeing all over the blogging world like a rash, with your excessive niceness and encouragement to other bloggers as well as practicing illegal franchisement within the confined environment of the World Wide Web


We, at extra charge to our client, are throwing in the following legal type jargon :-
res judicata,
en banc,
warrantee of merchantability,
statute of frauds

....for added emphasis and additional revenue.

Bicker, More, Bickering and C-Ewe Ink-Hort (Solicitors to the formerly rich)

--------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. BLOCKHEAD:

My name is Ester. Ester Finkleboom. I'm a temp. and they asked me to type you this here letter 'cause they're all visiting their client, one KathrynWunderWomanExtraordinairre who is presently in the hospital after nearly choking to death whilst evidently reading some faux letter sent by some idiot pretending to be from Bicker, More, Bickering and C-Ewe-Ink-Hort, which we all know is bullshit ('scuse me) 'cause Bicker died in '98, More's in jail for tax evasion and Bickering's been MIA since that scandal involving a case of bourbon, a fake passport and a sedated peacock.

Why the hell do you have all those stupid-funny "E's" in front of your fees? Are they estimates?? What kind of a hack-place are you running there?

Our firm stands by the allegations that Mr. BadLeg is certifiably insane, as evidenced by document R2-75J, entered as exhibit A...so, bite me.

The floor-stomping and brake-squealing have been thrown out of court as irrelevant. They may be annoying to YOU, but our client finds them hilarious, as does the judge.(See Exhibit A.) Again: bite me.

The haemophiliacs-ruse is predictable. And your client should have more empathy for those who suffer from hemorrhoids. I hear they can be quite painful in a particular area and I've heard the attorneys say that YOU are a pain in the same place. Huh.

As for being all over the net, you are obviously not aware that WWW stands for WorshipWonderWoman. She's everywhere...for if she wasn't it would just be...well, "W", and that's just plain stupid.

Please be advised that we have added an additional 5.27 million dollars to our judgment against you, to cover hospital expenses and the fact that your comment space NEVER ACTUALLY INCLUDED A COMMENT ON THE TOPIC...in clear violation of the Kathryn'sBloggersCommentAct of 2007. Consider yourself served.

Yours in the poor house,

Arrogant, Snobby, Superior, Egotistical & Supercilious.

---------------------------------------------

Dear Ester on behalf of our client

We are sorry that your client is in hospital especially as we are not there to enjoy her distress  comfort her….

Yes Bicker died

Yes Mores’ in prison – (It’s ok we gave him soap on a rope, so he should be ok)

Bickering is not MIA but still in action (oh the shame) and the sedated peacock consented to everything…The swan on the other hand is another story…Oooohhh nasty, excuse me a moment I think I’m going to vomit

Sorry about that… (Wipes chunks off screen and keyboard)

But since when did death, imprisonment or sexual deviance ever stop a lawyer from making money…?

As lawyers we admire your spin on things

The floor-stomping and brake-squealing have been thrown out of court as irrelevant – Not really true is it, the judge had them removed because they set off his tinnitus and reminded him of his mother in law's constant whining (we would ask your client to decease from salivating at this point it’s not that sort of wine….) They are still very much part of the case.

Yes Mr. BlackLOG is now insane – a fact which your client is wholly responsible for – at the start of this process our client was rich enough to be considered eccentric. Since receiving our interim bill he has now had to be down graded to insane.

As for the ludicrous accusation that the comment space NEVER ACTUALLY INCLUDED A COMMENT ON THE TOPIC – the whole comment was to do with the topic, in that our clients “Habitual Inclinations” include having to answer back as entertainingly as his limited ability allows. What we failed to add was his second Inclination, a requirement for constant music. Our bad but don’t worry Mr. BlackLOG will get a £1.50 rebate on his bill – sadly not enough to move him back to eccentric status

Bicker (R.I.P), More (Care of Her Majesty’s Prison), Bickering (Care of Whipsnade Zoo) - (Solicitors to the formerly eccentric)

Mr. C-Ewe Ink-Hort has been let go for not being interesting enough we are currently interviewing for a funnier replacement

P.S. Our client is grateful for the additional comments - they all count in the long run...

--------------------------------------------
Please note the comments in red, above, are the property of
Kathryn Wonderwoman - I am only using them as having been
certified insane I am safe from further Prosecution (but
not necessarily persecution)

OK, so Kathryn so kicked my butt around comment court but I'm not worried, I enjoyed the cut and thrust....

So next time you are reading a blog why not delve below the surface and see what's going on down there, you just might find it more rewarding than you would expect (or not if you didn't happen to enjoy the correspondance above).

For those of you who are put off adding a comment, using the excuse "I don't know how?" it's easy:

Step 1 - Scroll to the bottom of the post - sometimes the comments are there ready for you if not :-

Click on the comment - at the bottom of the page (The BlackLOG version is called 'Have your say')

Step 2 - Scroll to the comment box - add your pearls of wisdom

Step 3 - Click on the down arrow next to 'Comment as'

- if you don't have one of the accounts listed then select 'Comment as Name/Url' or you can select Anonymous (not so much fun, it gives you exactly what it says on the tin)

Fill in the name you want to use - P.S. you don't have to use your proper name (which is why Anonymous is such a lame choice)

If you have a web page that you wish to link to then put the address in the URL: field

If not you can just leave it blank

hit continue

Step 4 - Click the post comment button

Often you get a message 'Your request could not be processed. Please try again'

Just hit Post Comment again and it should post - you are on your first step to being a blogger.....

Some barriers to Comments
word verification (Where you have to type a blurred word into a field before you can comment. The idea is to prevent auto spam arriving in comments sections) - it never really bothered me, but some people are very anti it. Kathryn is, in-between suing me, running a single woman campaign to eradicate Word Verification from blogger...

Comment moderation - I didn't have a problem with this one until a Blogger that I enjoy reading decided to stop publishing my comments. I thought we had opened up a good rapport, until three comments I made did not appear. I emailed him to ask what the problem was but got nothing.  He continued to publish other peoples comments.

I like to console myself that they felt threatened by my awesome bloggerness but in truth they are probably a far better blogger than I will ever be. I decided that there was no point getting wound up about it, so have decided to leave them to it .   It is after all their blog and they can do what they want, just as it's my right to no longer visit them. After all  there are millions of fantastic blogs out there....

P.S. don't get any ideas, feel free to visit other blogs, this is not a dictatorship but you know you want to stay with the BlackLOG in the long run....

Horrific discovery of the week.
A colleague at work revealed that his favourite film of all time was :-

No not Star Wars - what universe is he living in?

Not Withnail & I -He must have been drinking again

Not The life of Brian - was he having a laugh?

Not The Shawshank Redemption, - people have been sent down for suggesting less

Not even One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - was he pretending to be mental?

His No.1 film of all time, of all the films that have ever made is Polar Express. (sorry I had to whisper that, I could not bring myself to say it out loud).   To me this is a film devoid of any action, with no deaths, no unnecessary swearing (so no Eddie Murphy, which is in my opinion the only saving grace for the film....) in fact no redeeming features (other than the formentioned lack of Murphy).  It might even make it to the top of my most bland film of all time list....

His attempted defence for putting the film into the No.1 slot

"It contains moments of mild peril"
yes if you are four....

I decided against asking for the rest of his top 10....I have already had to clear up chunks earlier in this Blog and  don't want to have to do it again .

The ghost of Halloween past
Having done nothing of a Halloween nature this year, I thought I would share with you a Blog from a few years back. Ok so it's a repeat (or second chance if it makes you feel better) but this was only originally sent to a select few and in the spirit of fairness I don't see why they have to suffer alone...


Since I have nothing else in stock that is suitably Halloweenie,
Mischief agreed to dress up like a Witch's cat for me.....

So step into my TimeBLOG (patent pending) while I take you back a few years .......
Saturday was party night as Mrs B and I went over to Windsor to see my sister and her tribe. The kids were all set-up to play Halloween party games so it was only polite that I should join in, unfortunately after I thrashed them at eating the donut off the string game, I was banned from further participation - so much for teaching under 10's the concept of defeat.

It was just as well though as I did not fancy half drowning myself in an effort to eat health food. (I thought apples were for eating, not bathing with). My sister then decided to play around with the formula for the flour and sweet game, with the type of meddling that would not appear out of place in the Whacky Races. Instead of having one flour mound with a sweet in the middle and 4 half crazed kids* carving great swathes out of the flour, in an effort to force one of the others into toppling the sweet from its lofty position.

* looking like over indulgent coke addicts ready to snort the white lines down the middle of a road

The  original version has the great advantage of taking only minutes, my sister, bless her, had the bright idea of spinning it out. So out came 4 flour mounds, one for each kid (note none for me), along with instructions to take it in turns cutting away at their own flour heap, the winner being the child that has the last sweet still in place. What my sister had failed to take into account is the ability for small kids to shave minute particles of flour on each go, particularly when their bed time is looming. As you can imagine, this version took hours and everyone, including the kids, had lost interest in the result long before the end.

Having been out celebrating Halloween on Saturday night I completely forgot that Monday was actually the night that all the little tykes around our way chose to come visiting, threatening grievous bodily harm on anyone foolish enough not to supply them with enough sugar to keep them climbing the walls of their parents’ house for a good week or so. In general, I’m all for it, the more E numbers you can get into the little buggers the less opportunities and inclination their parents will have to produce more of the little ASBO candidates for future years. Plus it’s a particularly good excuse to stock pile enough sweets to see me through to Christmas.

I found myself alone in the house** with an empty candy jar and two missing cats. It was like a scene out of a bad Zombie movie (Before any one says, all Zombie movies are bad, I recommend you see "Shaun of the Dead") as out of control little people wondered aimlessly around the streets.

** Mrs B taking the sensible precaution of working extra late

I tried the trick of hiding under the kitchen table with the house lights out, but the constant knocking and cackling (plus the discovery that the cats had got there first and were in no mood to share this particular bolt hole) eventually drove me out of the house and off to the health club for a circuit session*** . My body has still not got over it. Next year I shall try a different tack and invest in a pair of finest quality ear muffs while I hunker down and attempt to eat my own body weight in sweets. This just leaves the problem of avoiding the very same bunch of snotty nosed Stepford children, for the next week, only they are now hyper on candy and demanding £20 for the Guy****, well that's inflation for you.

*** Foolishly I still had the roof down on the car, which meant I could not afford to stop and was forced to roar out of the garage leaving in my wake a mixture of enraged toddlers clutching their bags of swag and fearful parents counting up the number of sleepless nights their little treasures were collecting towards.

**** which will probably turn out to be some poor trussed up neighbour,who neither had the sweets or sense to get out while he still could. There, but for the grace of a fast getaway car, could have been me.

Perhaps the length of my Blogs and their random nature is why I should not try Blogagra..... Imagine this on a daily basis.... I shudder to think how much therapy regular readers would need after just a couple of days....

Have  a good week

50 comments:

  1. I love reading other people's comments. It helps me solidify whatever it is I'm commenting. You and Kathryn should make a separate blog altogether based on your comments. That's another reasons why I read comments...to see what else you guys say to each other.

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  2. Although I feel a little uncomfortable with the idea that I am about to make you "feel warm and wanted", I thought I would make an exception for a fellow Kopite in pain.

    Unfortunately I have realised too late that I have no comment to offer, so the thought alone will have to count...

    However, if you have nothing better to blog about, might I suggest that you start a campaign to help "Jedward" win the X-Factor? I don't watch the show myself but will be taking time out to vote for them this weekend in the hope that Simon Cowell's head might explode on live tv (later, when he gets home is also acceptable). I'm also fairly sure that every vote for Jedward makes Stevie's groin a little less swollen and Alberto's ankles stronger (something to do with the butterfly effect).

    Furthermore, do you find blogging very cathartic? A week of system migration preparation has left me feeling quite tired and emotional and I can't afford therapy or prozac...

    Of course, if you would prefer to have less blogging competition, increased comments and funding for me to fill myself with high quality pharmaceuticals, you could do worse than to search for the definition of claque. ;) Very reasonable £-per-non-libelous-word rates available!

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  3. Dear Mr Black, (if indeed that is your real name) As you know I have been living in North Vancouver British Columbia close onto three years. Over this period I have returned to my beloved U.K. several times. Each visit you and your lovley wife have put me up and put up with me to which I am truly in your debt.

    The time has come to reveal your true identity to the rest of the bored individuals that subscribe to this utter nonsense, but of course they will only find this out if they are able to access the comments part of your blog. Well avid readers here goes.........................

    "What...... you really expected me to reveal his true identity" "you will have to wait till next time" "Oh and by the way for all lovely Americans out there North Vancouver British Columbia is in Canada you know that huge land mass above America that is in fact larger than the U.S. but because the U.S. company that print the maps must have run out of ink is actually shown smaller" (British humour what a wonderful gift) bye bye

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  4. Polar express is a surprisingly good film but then again I would expect him to pick something a bit....eh...more mature (??) than that :) lol Great post

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  5. I do try to post something every day, but it's quite often only a couple of paragraphs. Bloggers that don't interact with their readers are missing out on half the fun.

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  6. LOL!
    Funny stuff - I agree that reading the comments is half (sometimes all) the fun. Problem is sometimes my comments morph into blogs on someone's page -
    Great music - I gotta get me some jukebox...

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  7. I was so tempted not to respond to any comments on this weeks blog, the irony would have amused me.....sadly I can't help myself, so here I go again

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  8. book*addict
    I love reading other people's comments. It helps me solidify whatever it is I'm commenting. You and Kathryn should make a separate blog altogether based on your comments. That's another reasons why I read comments...to see what else you guys say to each other.

    I would have been interested in doing a joint blog with Kathryn, until I noticed that Mrs. B was only LOL to the bits in red, in this weeks BlackLOG. I’m not sure I could handle being cast as the straight man in the relationship….

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  9. Rich said...
    Although I feel a little uncomfortable with the idea that I am about to make you "feel warm and wanted", I thought I would make an exception for a fellow Kopite in pain. Rich, I did not expect you to pee into my pocket! I know it can be difficult to get to the toilets during a match but you should have gone before the game started, I did tell you when you were queuing for your hot Bovril....

    Unfortunately I have realised too late that I have no comment to offer, so the thought alone will have to count...What are you talking about, you’ve just written your first blog. I should be charging you rent…..

    However, if you have nothing better to blog about, might I suggest that you start a campaign to help "Jedward" win the X-Factor? I don't watch the show myself but will be taking time out to vote for them this weekend in the hope that Simon Cowell's head might explode on live tv (later, when he gets home is also acceptable). I'm also fairly sure that every vote for Jedward makes Stevie's groin a little less swollen and Alberto's ankles stronger (something to do with the butterfly effect). I’m all for seeing Simon Cowell’s head explode but I’m not sure the butterfly effect is working in the way you are expecting. So far it all it has done is allowed a beach ball to out score most of our squad and forced Rapha to select Voronin, Lucas and Kyrgiakos, three players that would struggle to make a bad sunday pub team

    Furthermore, do you find blogging very cathartic? A week of system migration preparation has left me feeling quite tired and emotional and I can't afford therapy or prozac... No I have always had verbal diarrhea so did not need to blog to be able to write shit…

    Of course, if you would prefer to have less blogging competition, increased comments and funding for me to fill myself with high quality pharmaceuticals, you could do worse than to search for the definition of claque. ;) Very reasonable £-per-non-libelous-word rates available! Frankly my friend the more bloggers the better. It gives me more opportunity to hide from the blogger police. It can only be a matter of time before I get shut down for poor quality blogging and blogging with out any fixed ability. I’m pretty sure there is probably a blogger code of conduct that says you should not use an editor.

    I’m not certain (there are mixed definitions on the internet) but did you just French slap me? I’m perfectly capable of being slapped without having to pay for the privilege or going abroad

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  10. Mitch

    Dear Mr Black, (if indeed that is your real name) As you know I have been living in North Vancouver British Columbia close onto three years. Over this period I have returned to my beloved U.K. several times. Each visit you and your lovley wife have put me up and put up with me to which I am truly in your debt.

    The time has come to reveal your true identity to the rest of the bored individuals that subscribe to this utter nonsense, but of course they will only find this out if they are able to access the comments part of your blog. Well avid readers here goes.........................

    "What...... you really expected me to reveal his true identity" "you will have to wait till next time" "Oh and by the way for all lovely Americans out there North Vancouver British Columbia is in Canada you know that huge land mass above America that is in fact larger than the U.S. but because the U.S. company that print the maps must have run out of ink is actually shown smaller" (British humour what a wonderful gift) bye bye


    Mitch to be fair, while Canada is vast. Don’t 97.325% of the population live within 100 miles of the US boarder… (Penny I’m not sure you count in the 2.675% as you live close to the Alaskan boarder). The last I heard most of the bear and moose population that live in the rest of Canada were frankly ambivalent towards maps, with the exceptions of the ones that occasionally eat them as a Hors Dourve, before starting on the lost tourist who had the map in the first place. I’m assuming that any moose that eat the maps don’t go on to eat the tourist just nibble on their outer garments. This is possibly worse than the bears, as being eaten is a much quicker and more humane way of going then being left to freeze to death. Lets face it the chances are you then get eaten by the bears when they check the contents of the deep freezer in spring.

    Great for you to finally comment Mitch, even if it was just a gripe at your neighbours. You are going to have t learn to play nice….

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  11. Smileyfreak said...
    Polar express is a surprisingly good film but then again I would expect him to pick something a bit....eh...more mature (??) than that :) lol Great post

    Each to there own, it was his tongue in cheek remark about "It contains moments of mild peril" that allowed me to get a blog out of it. He has a great sense of humour, or at least I hope he has….

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  12. Jen said...

    I do try to post something every day, but it's quite often only a couple of paragraphs. Bloggers that don't interact with their readers are missing out on half the fun.

    I know everyone is different but I just love the interaction whether it is on the BlackLOG or below other people blogs. I genuinely feel that I’m at my best when I get the chance to bounce of great bloggers. Unfortunately not everyone understands my sense of humour.

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  13. Blimey my name has been elevated out of the comment section and into the Blog itself - yay fame at last haha.

    I can't understand why you are having to encourage more people to comment it's already very busy down here - or is that just since Kathryn joined the ranks!!

    I was looking forward to listening to some different music this week on your ipod, but it's still that Ida women.

    We had no trick or treaters this year, they must have all been up on the mead!!

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  14. IMO It's not so much a case of getting more people to comment but highlighting that there is some great stuff down here that people are missing...

    You can change the music yourself, there are 20 tracks that I have loaded.

    We Only had one knock at the door, but we were at the back of the house so it looked like we were out...

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  15. Cynica Sarcastamos said...

    LOL! Funny stuff - I agree that reading the comments is half (sometimes all) the fun. Problem is sometimes my comments morph into blogs on someone's page -
    Great music - I gotta get me some jukebox...



    Welcome aboard Cynica Sarcastamos - glad you enjoyed your visit to the BlackLOG I have no problem with people using stuff as long as they give due credit for it.

    I so post things incorrectly in other peoples comments sections and try and wipe them, my record is 4 attempts to get it right. I forget that an email gets sent to the blog owner. They must have thought I was nuts….

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  16. Blogagra. Genius! Although somedays I really do enjoy talking to myself...comments are always appreciated. Well said.

    *McG is disgusted by whatever you wrote. This would make an awesome LOL Cats

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  17. You don't have to be a blogger to be able to comment or even identify yourself – one of my regular commenters ,IMO, does not have a blog, which is a real shame because from the comments that she makes I think she would make a great blogger. Perhaps one day..


    Coughs................

    Midges Muses

    And I hold you entirely responsible.

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  18. Imo I’m dancing in the streets of St Michaels Mead. Well not exactly true as it is a bit nippy and I’m in my dressing gown, but I can assure you there is slight swaying in the kitchen….

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  19. Nikki
    Blogagra. Genius! Although somedays I really do enjoy talking to myself...comments are always appreciated. Well said. I am hoping that I have created a new word, which will go on to bigger and better things long after the BlackLOG has vanished from the memory, which will probably be next week ...

    *McG is disgusted by whatever you wrote. This would make an awesome LOL Cats He's currently in the bad books having stolen cheese off the table and being caught raiding our recycle bin...I shall have to check out LOL cats

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  20. I used to write my blog everyday - normally mini-rants or just how I'm feeling that day. The past few months I've stopped this practice as I just can't think of anything interesting to write everyday. I'm using that old phrase "less is more" for my blog now.

    I'm guilty of not always replying to comments on my blog but that's normally because I can't think of a good reply to someone just saying "interesting" (or I'm just being lazy).

    No trick or treaters in this part of Essex - I think they are too busy terrorising the old people on buses.

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  21. Michelle Mrs B always tells me less is more after she gets through the first paragraph...

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  22. I was going to leave a clever comment along the lines of "Oh, you stole my cat. No wait, she's still on the window sill" which would have been cleverly in line with your comment on my blog. But after reading your blog and your comments, I am too intimidated to say anything at all.

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  23. One of my favorite bloggers last week posted an entry about her favorite comments. I'm sure it took her a lot of time, but it was nice to know she appreciates her readers.

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  24. Capricorn Cringe

    I was going to leave a clever comment along the lines of "Oh, you stole my cat. No wait, she's still on the window sill" which would have been cleverly in line with your comment on my blog. But after reading your blog and your comments, I am too intimidated to say anything at all.…. Capricorn thank you for dropping in. My intention was never to intimidate, or to counter steal your cat. I wish you had left the comment “ Oh, you stole my cat. No wait, she's still on the window sill" you are right it would have been funny…

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  25. Sarah P
    One of my favorite bloggers last week posted an entry about her favorite comments. I'm sure it took her a lot of time, but it was nice to know she appreciates her readers.

    Yes I discovered Hyperbole-and-a-half had posted that just after I posted this one. As often happens beaten to the subject

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  26. Good morning BlackLOG!

    You know, comments rock my world! I love seeing that people are taking the time to leave a comment on my blog and make an effort to respond to every comment I get!

    If I comment on someone's blog more than twice without any sort of acknowledgement at all... I move on.

    That said, I have a hard time keeping up with all of the blogs that I would like to comment on. Usually I am late to the party and don't have time to read all the prior comments. And then I get stage fright and have absolutely nothing to write about.

    So THEN I write comments that go on for paragraphs and say nothing really. (see above)

    So anyway... thanks for taking the time on your comments, much appreciated! Hope you are having an awesome Monday!

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  27. Similar to you, I struggle to find any inspiration to blog more often than I do. I'm all blogged out lately.

    Comment wise: I try to reply to every comment I get on my blog. I don't get many comments so I find this easy to handle! I struggle commenting on other blogs though - more often than not because I can't think of something 'witty' to reply with.

    I thought Polar Express was good the first time I seen it (if only for the elves chanting for Santa bit). I've seen it since however and decided its a pile of poo.

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  28. Picture Imperfect

    You know, comments rock my world! I love seeing that people are taking the time to leave a comment on my blog and make an effort to respond to every comment I get!

    If I comment on someone's blog more than twice without any sort of acknowledgement at all... I move on.

    That said, I have a hard time keeping up with all of the blogs that I would like to comment on. Usually I am late to the party and don't have time to read all the prior comments. And then I get stage fright and have absolutely nothing to write about.

    So THEN I write comments that go on for paragraphs and say nothing really. (see above)

    So anyway... thanks for taking the time on your comments, much appreciated! Hope you are having an awesome Monday!


    I agree with you on the acknowledgement front, it does not have to be a huge statement just a thanks for dropping in and taking the time.

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  29. cynicalscribble
    Similar to you, I struggle to find any inspiration to blog more often than I do. I'm all blogged out lately. I think my problem is I to write long blogs and try and allow things to develop. I love the way Eddie Izzard goes around the houses and then comes back to his original point. That's what I aspire to, sadly I fall a long way short...

    Comment wise: I try to reply to every comment I get on my blog. I don't get many comments so I find this easy to handle! I struggle commenting on other blogs though - more often than not because I can't think of something 'witty' to reply with. I find it strange that someone with a witty blog as yours struggles with comebacks - perhaps it's like a football thing you can only win your home games...

    I thought Polar Express was good the first time I seen it (if only for the elves chanting for Santa bit). I've seen it since however and decided its a pile of poo. I was worried when I first started reading this part. I should have known you would pull through for me in the end

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  30. I'm a little confused, and more than a little frightened, but I think I like it here! Thanks for commenting on my depressing post and thereby guiding me to your blog.

    P.S. Is reciprocal commenting acceptable?

    P.P.S. Canada- isn't that the place we Americans go for cheap drugs? :P

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  31. Amber welcome to the BlackLOG. I'm a bit worried that people are frightened and intimidated during their visits. Would it help if I put out scatter cushions and snacks, possible some mood lighting. I thought I had put people at ease with the music …

    Is reciprocal commenting acceptable?I suspect it’s highly illegal, but in my opinion it’s harmless fun. There are Wild stories circulating of people going blind but these are based on a very small study group and has not been scientifically proven….

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  32. Thanks for stopping by my blog. I do appreciate it when someone takes the time, their time, to stop in. Thank you again. I really enjoyed this post and yes, I read ALL of it. =)
    Hope you don't mind another follower.. I'm in.

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  33. Raw Glad you enjoyed your visit, always happy to have new blogger friends drop in.

    ALL of it, I'm impressed, I'm not sure I read ALL of it....

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  34. 33 commentators!! Mother of God, by the time I got through that, I had forgotten what I wanted to write...okay, I just remembered - that was a great post. I enjoy reading yours and Kathryn's blogs. Oh and I am Canadian and I don't eat moose. (meh!!)

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  35. WannabeVirginia W

    It's really only 16 because I cheat and answer each one individually - I think it's called double accounting...

    You don't eat Moose, not even Chocolate flavour?

    Glad you are enjoying the BlackLOG. I must admit I'm waiting to see Kathryns Comments.....

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  36. Now 17 proper comments. Wonder how long we can keep this going for?! What is your comment record, I'm sure we can all fill this with mindless drivel!

    You're correct on the away games thing. I'm not sure on the witty bit though, maybe 'failed humour' would be more appropriate? :)

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  37. I agree about the comments. Although I get behind in responding to them because life is quite hectic at the moment. I get there eventually. :)

    And people who post everyday, or even multiple times a day...I don't know how they do it either!

    Your colleague's top 10 movies....oh c'mon, find out the rest and share! It would make excellent laughing material. (Polar Express?!)

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  38. cynicalscribble .
    Now 17 proper comments. Wonder how long we can keep this going for?! What is your comment record, I'm sure we can all fill this with mindless drivel!
    My record is 41, you are so dragging me towards the record my friend. Don’t worry about the mindless drivel some would say that’s the cornerstone of the BlackLOG

    You're correct on the away games thing. I'm not sure on the witty bit though, maybe 'failed humour' would be more appropriate? :)
    Now we just have to work on that away game of yours. You’ve made a good start, two comments on own away blog. I need you to go out there and find 10 more blogs- make a comment on each and report back here individually (now that part is real important, individually) on each one. Should solve your problem and will smash through the old BlackLOG record.

    I’m not sure what sort of accounting that is, I just have to hope that the blog auditors don’t notice

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  39. Gingerella
    I agree about the comments. Although I get behind in responding to them because life is quite hectic at the moment. I get there eventually. :)
    And you are appreciated for it.

    And people who post everyday, or even multiple times a day...I don't know how they do it either!
    I’m guessing writing comes easy to some people. You might not believe it but I actually think about stuff before turning it into mindless drivel.

    Your colleague's top 10 movies....oh c'mon, find out the rest and share! It would make excellent laughing material. (Polar Express?!)
    I’ll tell him he has a fan club. No promises but I will see what I can do….

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  40. Now now BlackLOG, you're just getting greedy. 10 individual blog reports is too much for my feeble, unmotivated mind. You'll have to live with just this one I'm afraid...

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  41. Cynicalscribble But greed is good - I've watched Wallsteet... Now what are we going to do to get you motivated. Still heading for Australia?

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  42. Yep that's the plan, still unsure when though. At the earliest it will be in about 3/4 months. All depends on how good/rubbish my saving is.

    One of my brothers mates also wants to go. Might give me the kick up the arse I need, rather than do it solo. But I met him at the weekend and the guy seems like a bit of a knob, so I'm not sure yet! But even so, I'm still going to do it.

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  43. CS Some of my friends were knobs when I first met them ...actually some of them still are.....I would hate to think what they thought of me...

    It's such a shame they stopped deportation, you could have got there really cheaply on the Hovis plan.

    Just think you were only about 200 years and a loaf of bread away from a free trip. Not sure about the quality of the travel entertainment package though, those safety chains could be quite restrictive. I would also guess that after your 5th or 6th flogging it would get a bit boring. Ater the first month you would be gagging for a good keelhauling...

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  44. Yup, as per your reply to Amber--snacks would help. I'm not particularly witty, but so enjoy the banter between you and Kathryn that I see in her comments, which is why today I decided to visit your place. I'm glad I did! I have found some of the best blogs by checking out (in a non-obscene way, Mrs. B)those who comment, both on my little blog and on the blogs I visit. Gems that otherwise get lost in the blog universe. Have a lovely Thursday.

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  45. Allegria Welcome to the BlackLOG I think you must have just missed the snacks - I got bored waiting for people to drop in. You know how it is :-

    pile of snacks for visitors

    + wait

    = sudden unexpected weight gain

    How did that happen?

    Better do a few sit-ups before Mrs. B comes home....

    I was looking forward, in a hide behind the sofa with a pillow to protect me kind of way, to Kathryn’s comments but it seems she was either to busy to visit or bored and fell asleep before she eached the comments section. I did hear some ZZZZZZ earlier but thought that it was McG.

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  46. Noooooo! That's it. I'm outta here. :oD I was so hoping that you weren't the type that invites people over and then fails to deliver on the snackage, expecting that everyone will just automatically pitch in. Le sigh. Of course, I guess this makes me out to be the type that comes by and then proceeds to divest the premises of its nibblies. Hmn. *crunch*

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  47. Allegria You should have said you like the crunchier snack...

    Hang on a second....

    Thought so....

    I've got toenail clippings, there not fresh but to be honest I’ve always found toenail clippings, like curries and Christmas pudding are much better left to mature for a couple of years.

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  48. I appreciate the acknowledgment...I do. My problem is that I roll for a while, and then life throws up all over me.

    And I have to spend days and days and days cleaning it up. I'm in the cleaning phase right now and I'm behind on everything. It'll get worse before it gets better, I'm afraid.

    But looove the photo of Mischief...what a beautiful kitty. And, of course, tickled that you found my comments worth an actual post!

    I'm genuinely surprised and honored...

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  49. Kathryn

    I’m pleased that you are tickled that I stole your comments, they are brilliant so why would I not use them to enhance the BlackLOG.

    I appreciate that it is an honour and a privilege when anyone makes a comment and it should never be taken as an expectation. This does not mean I will not stick pins into your doll and burn your effigy when you don't show up but please remember I do it with genuine love.

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  50. of paragraphs. Bloggers that don't interact with their readers are missing out on half the fun.pictures of nature

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