I just got my first piece of mail fussing at me. (I won't post the email or the sender's name here because I'm not entirely clear on the etiquette of such... maybe one of you blog vets can help me out on that?) The writer seemed to be perturbed that I "waste time and the time of people who go to read your crap" with trivial little posts like the Ten Layers of Me vanity quiz, or the Friday Five... or even updates on my cats.
While I do admit that perhaps the quizzes (What Kind of Hello Kitty Accessory Are You?, perhaps?) might be a little more juvenile and silly than befits the blog of a middle-aged woman, let me state that nowhere on my page does it say "This is an ultra-serious journal of an intelligent person with important things with which to raise conciousness and educate the masses". If I recall, my deepest philosophy of "smells like feet, good to eat" is right there on top. That should be warning and a half for your intellectually-questing ass that I'm not Instapundit or The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler.** I'm a woman with half a brain, a fascination for the bizarre and entertaining, and my lovely computer.
Might I mention, if you didn't catch that... MY lovely computer. My blog. My right to say what I want. My choice of what I post.
Where do the rights of the reader come in, you ask?
You have the right to click or not click on any link I furnish.
You have to right to read my babble, misspelled and ungrammatical as it might become at times.
You have the right to email me with any and all feelings, opinions, or comments of your own.
And most importantly, you have the right to use any and all means at your disposal to leave my blog and never come back if it offends, upsets, or disappoints you in any way.
I don't mean I want everyone to be a good little cheese lover and nod and say "ooooh, yes, LeeAnn, we love everything you say. Tell us more, oh please, more more more!" I won't turn you away if you do. But if you disagree or have something to tell me, don't assume just because I'm new to all this that I'm going to fall over and confess my bloggy sins and vow to do just as you say. I'm willing to learn. I welcome the chance to talk to you about your views. But be damned if I'll roll over and change my ways just because you have a Dave Winer complex.
That's my side of the story, and I'm sticking to it.
Hope I didn't piss you off.
**
No disrepect to either of these fine blogs intended, by the way. I admire them both, even when they're over my head.
(previously posted on Blogspot)
Posted by LeeAnn at June 3, 2003 05:24 PM