reaction to reconsideration

i would like to start by thanking the readers of this scribble for stepping it up and really answering the call that i put out there. i had two distinct reactions from close friends with regards to my opening imploration (is that a word?).

kevin wrote (in a comment): "I know that this is only adding to your comments, but I feel the need to reprimand your whining about your friends not leaving comments.You're a shithead. Do the multiple comments make you feel better about yourself? I know they do because they make me feel better about myself. Only, I don't implore my friends to leave them. Wimp."

meanwhile, in a conversation i had with a true friend, i was affirmed in my simple request. brian k, who writes a wonderful blog that you should leave comments on, stated to me over the phone that he understood my desire for comments and that he would have no problem doing the same thing.

it really is simple. i spend a lot of time putting these things together. there's a lot of thoughts swimming around in my head (picture my head as a fish bowl and my thoughts are thousands of little fish). sometimes i can catch one or two of those fish and make a pretty good meal (picture me fishing for trout in my own head and the "meal" representing a solid blog (not log... solid log is something else entirely) that you can consume and enjoy). i try to feed my audience a healthy meal once-a-week (obviously this doesn't always happen, so now i'm dropping the ball).

now a fisherman, a coal miner, a logger, textile worker, chef, artist, etc., expects to be compensated for the product they create. i look at the comments left as ample compensation for my labors. i could charge for this service that i provide (joy), but i don't (could i charge? i should set this up as a member site. i need to look up angelfire or tripod and see if i can do something like that).

some of you may agree with kevin, who apparently sees himself as some sort of enlightened artist who suffers for his work, and though he peruses his blog 14 times per day to see if a comment is left, refuses to implore his friends to take two minutes from their busy lives to think of something clever/charming/critical to say. i'm not even asking for positive comments here. as a matter of fact, i welcome any disparaging comment that you choose to leave. all i ask is that you contribute to the conversation. this is ground-breaking stuff we are doing here over at justin, edward, allen and bragg industries (no its not), and you are in on the ground floor of something big (no you're not).

so returning to the fish analogy, don't be a shark who comes and steals the life of this community. there are plenty of predators out there, and i don't need no haters coming onto my turf and stealing my waves (my analogies have me confused and i have made so many parenthetical comments that i literally don't know if i am writing an aside or actual point from one moment to the next).

i understand that i won't reach double digits with this post in the comment sea. rough waters may be ahead and i understand that many of my friends showed themselves to be just that... friends, and stepped it up when i asked for their contribution. i won't ask again, but it has been a blast this past week to see all of you coming out of the woodwork (what does woodwork mean?) to show some love. i also understand (although i hate to admit it) that some of the fish i put in the frying pan should have been thrown back (interpretation, sometimes the stuff i write isn't funny when it is trying to be, or just misses the mark) so they don't warrant a comment.

*** some unfinished business to address from the comments: ***

* reader comment of the week award goes to billy. we don't even know eac hother in the cyberworld, and rarely in the real world either, but you started things off with a great comment that made me laugh (and grossed me out). well done. come back anytime

* yes heather, it was called pit fall. thank you for pointing that out.

* the award for the comment posted from the furthest distance from my front door step goes to: josh carstensen, all the way from korea. somehow he found a way to type korean and make it look like english. i don't know how you did it, but it's good to have you swimming in my pool. the water is fine.

* if you get a chance, post a comment on kevin's blog. he is too humble and dignified to ask you to, but i think he'd really appreciate it. if you don't know kevin, might i suggest that your comment have something to do with one of the following subjects: brett favre, the get up kids best album, meat products that you enjoy eating, espn football analysts, peyton manning, kanye west, bus and taxi drivers in chicago, hair care, or taking showers after exercising.

* one positive and one negative comment in relation to the pogs subject. i still don't know what to do or what it is.

* thanks for showing your face, duane. on the phone you always tell me that you laugh at my silliness, but it's nice to be recognized in print

* there has been some confusion regarding my comments about reading. i was merely stating that i should revisit some of the books that i have rejected in the past. kevin said it right (even grammatically correct, i'm sure), i have no intention of reading jane austen or the like, i was just thinking of things that i said "no way" to in the past, and whether i should give said things a chance now that i am older and wiser and more sophisticated (insert sarcastic comment here)

* heidi: my wife, the love of my life, my best friend, the best cook in the world, my favorite person in this world - i am sorry if i have made you feel dumb with constant poking fun at myface (aka facebook). you know it is merely because i am jealous. it's like when a 3rd grade girl has a crush on a boy and hits him, trips him in the hall and calls him names to show it.

* keith (the commish) and heather both used "in this economy..." in their comments... extra points for you two!

i'd just like to point out that i was feeling guilty for not posting an entry, and that i simply aimed to begin with a quick remark on my friend kevin's bemoaning my comment currency system. i didn't mean it to turn into this.