DC Blogs Noted
I’m trying to be humorous and positive this week, but the serious-negative/humorous-positive ratio is a little out of kilter. My apologies.
Livin Mi Life notes that the guard, Mr. Johns, killed in the Holocaust Museum shooting was opening the door (to be helpful) for the elderly man who then murdered him.
Meanwhile, the Anti-DC chronicles an episode of either winning love for bicyclists (please note the unfortunate absence of irony tags, which would be very helpful here) riding on the sidewalk (the man yelling at her chose to yell at her and not a man doing the same thing she was doing) or creating greater harmony throughout the metropolitan area (not).
While everyone alleges to hate the DC introductory stand-by question “What do you do?”, here’s a truly lovely example of when the question would have been appropriate and useful, in Fail Date DC (which is a blog name, and probably would be a great band name, but could also just be a state of existence). Also, not drinking too much in front of co-workers wouldn’t have been a bad idea either.
For those who compare everything (like proposed national service) to slavery, Republic of T has some words: slavery is when someone actually owns another person. Slavery is not when you are required to do something you don’t particularly want to do (like do some work-related task that your boss has requested).
A reminder to parents that not everyone is thrilled by your stories about adventures (or boring retail interactions) buying an outfit (or whatever) for your darling child. Sonnet 87 is not inspired to have children upon hearing endless parenting stories.
The Definitive Dmbosstone explains Why Your Mom Shouldn’t Be On Facebook (or gives an example, instead of explaining).
Psychiatric pet peeves: ClinkShrink at Shrinkwrap discusses premature and incorrect diagnoses (and since everyone is a little bit mentally ill anyway, this issue should affect almost all).
Prod and Ponder follows up on a selection from last week: blogging and Internet pet peeves. I’m glad Lilu’s post is getting plenty of attention (as I agree with most of what she said, but also, more importantly, because the post was a good one).
The author of Curlews in the Goyt* describes a late spring walk with his dog in Derbyshire (I think).
*You get points if you know what a curlew is without doing an immediate online search on any search engine. Ditto for knowing what the Goyt is and where it is (although I gave you a BIG hint).
June 18th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Apologies granted on the depressing entries, but 14 parenthetical statements is just lazy writing. Are these blog posts noted or annotated?
June 18th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Hi Foilwoman,
I really can’t tell if you’re making fun of Marissa or not…if so, I’m not a fan of editors inserting their viewpoints into the roundup.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
CoHiOhHi: Well, I’ll give your opinion all the weight I’d give any anonymous comment . . . No, that’s not true, you bothered to comment, I’ll accept the criticism, assume it was kindly meant, not close my mind, and agree, yup, I was more than a bit lazy. In my own defense I will say that for once I found a whole bunch of posts, more than seven, that I liked, and had been trying to trim them down, hadn’t wanted to nuke any post, and in the end just wrote something up, without much thought as to the beauty of the words I was writing. My apologies.
As for whether it’s just DC Blogs noted or annotated, I can’t speak for the owner/editor-in-chief of DC Blogs, who is a much wiser and more erudite person than I am, but I don’t’ believe I am supposed to just post links – I believe I am supposed to write something about that link, which would, presumably be an annotation – and, shockingly enough, an opinion – editorializing if you will. If you’d rather just get a list of links, that preference could probably be accommodated.
Shannon: See the second paragraph of the response to CoHiOhHi. I truly don’t know how to refer to blogs without giving some opinion or editorializing. I liked the Anti DC post to which I linked and all other posts to which I linked. I did not intend to make fun of her, and, honestly, I’m amazed that anyone, after reading her post, would think that she required anyone to fight any real or imagined battle for her. But for the record – and clearly stating an otherwise offensive-to-you-Shannon-Stamey-opinion: I liked the post, particularly for the author’s self-deprecation, feminism, and instinct to stand up for herself, which I totally admire. As an aside, but acknowledging that it could have influenced what I wrote, I will say, that I am a biker and wish bikers as a whole would accept that we are defined as vehicles, not pedestrians, so if that underlying opinion* affected the post, I want to acknowledge my bias. So everyone, please click on the link above (or this link: http://theantidc.blogspot.com/2009/06/good-times-yelling-at-assholes-in.html ) and give the AntiDC your feedback, which should be praise (sorry, Shannon, an opinion creeping through again; and sorry CoHiOhHi for yet another parenthetical).
As a general note: I don’t know any DC Bloggers except for the editor-in-chief of DC Blogs (God, himself, I burn sacrifices at his altar nightly), Restaurant Refugee (yum, unfortunately, he’s just an acquaintance and will probably feel harassed by this admiring parenthetical, in which case I apologize in advance), and WashWords (just a delightful person – and if that makes her feel harassed, jeez, I’m so sorry and take it back – just tell me the less complimentary adjective you want me to use and I’ll use it). I don’t know any other bloggers mentioned in this DC Blogs Noted post, although I have commented and do link to Curlews in the Goyt, a birding blog in the U.K. I do not know the author beyond the exchange of Internet comments.
*What do cars do? That’s what the bike(r) should do, IMHO, but MHO is not worth very much and the Anti DC’s self-assessment is worth more and is more entertaining, than my reference to her experience.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:45 pm
Once again you’ve managed to miss the point. I wonder why we try. What bothers people is you making every Noted post self serving. We are smart enough to draw our own conclusions after reading blogs. We look to the Noted column to point out hidden great posts. Not for how to feel about them. If we wanted to know how you feel about thing we would visit your personal blog. Look at how much better your post is with your judgments removed. Which means we get to payi attention to the great posts instead of your remarks.
Livin Mi Life notes that the guard, Mr. Johns, killed in the Holocaust Museum shooting was opening the door for the elderly man who then murdered him.
The Anti-DC chronicles an episode of bicyclists riding on the sidewalk.
While everyone alleges to hate the DC introductory stand-by question “What do you do?”, here’s a truly lovely example of when the question would have been appropriate and useful, in Fail Date DC.
For those who compare everything to slavery, Republic of T has some words: slavery is when someone actually owns another person.
Sonnet 87 is not inspired to have children upon hearing endless parenting stories.
The Definitive Dmbosstone explains Why Your Mom Shouldn’t Be On Facebook.
Psychiatric pet peeves: ClinkShrink at Shrinkwrap discusses premature and incorrect diagnoses.
Prod and Ponder follows up on a selection from last week: blogging and Internet pet peeves.
The author od Curlews in the Goyt describes a late spring walk with his dog in Derbyshire.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:39 am
When the commentary overwhelms the content, you’re doing it wrong.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I like her parenthetical comments. I thought the point of having guest editors was to introduce different voices and viewpoints about noteworthy DC blogs. I don’t see why the write up should follow a rigid, prescribed format every day.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:29 am
I don’t give a damn about parenthesis one way or the other, but in this venue the voices of the people being featured should not be drowned out by the editors (no matter how enamored they might be with their own world view.)
An editor’s perspective in a roundup is like garlic in an entree. A certain amount is can be useful, but overdoing it renders the whole thing unpalatable.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Proofreading is can be useful to. I will now go stand in traffic…
June 19th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
“Too.”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!
June 20th, 2009 at 6:44 am
You’re ekidding: Thanks for the examples and I actually do pay attention and take to heart criticism. I’m writing in public, therefore I’m subject to comments from anyone who cares to post.
Hammer: I’m simply not going to engage in a debate with you on the DC Blogs webiste, given that you are also a DC Blogs editor. Feel free to take this private and email (DC Blogs will forward anything you say, I’m sure). I do take your, and everyone’’s comments into account.
Erika: Oh, the entry was sloppily written, and whether editors should editorialize in the posts or the comments is a subject of contention. Thank you for the comment.
June 21st, 2009 at 1:52 pm
As you say, you’re writing in public and subject to comments so no, I won’t send my mine in a private email. I’ll put ‘em right here, as I’ve always done.
There’s an increased degree of public scrutiny that comes with this gig. To dismiss it damages the unspoken but essential trust that exists between DCBlogs and those who both read and contribute to it.