Let's think about why a writer might want to find a readership this way, and then how you'd go about doing it well.
Caffeine Soldier is one of our commenters here. You can see from his profile that he also has a blog. At the top of his blog, he writes:
This is not a blogger's blog, this is a commenter's blog. Here's to all brave commenters who really fight the battles of the blogosphere - you're my cup of coffee! I raise my mug to salute you!I'm pleased that he — along with a lot of other wonderful commenters — has chosen to contribute his writing to my blog, and I said:
About Me... A proud member of the reality based commentosphere since 2000. You'll find my crap mainly in liberal and centrist blogs, but also at some other surprising places.
I like the idea of being a star in the commentosphere. It's harder to see who the great commenters are, because they're tucked into the back pages, but it is a cool idea to have ambitions limited to commenting. I was saying something like this on the Stanford panel, a recommendation for people who worried about getting their names out.When Stanford gets the audio up from the panel, I'll direct you to that part of the discussion.
You might want to do your blog writing as a commenter so you can fly under the radar, invisible to clients and employers, but that isn't the only reason.
Someone wrote a while back — sorry, I can't remember who or where — that they loved the commenter role because they didn't want responsibility for keeping up the flow of new topics — the blogger's job — but they enjoyed jumping in with something when they had it.
I know that feeling, because I play the commenter on my own blog a lot of the time. I feel different as a commenter — in my commenters persona — though I learned that my antagonists often pick up things I write in that more casual mode.
Another commenter, John Kindley, wrote:
I don't know about aspiring to be a star, but my blog now mainly consists of a running compendium of my comments on much higher traffic blogs. That way I don't run the risk of spending a lot of time on posts that nobody reads, and I'm basically doing what I'd do anyway. Thanks to Althouse for the idea (in one of her earlier posts) of blogging this way.Thanks for the reminder that I thought that up!
I think it's probably true that you can be a writing star through blogging. (But the idea that one must write books nags at me.) But can you be a writing star through commenting? I'm sure many who do their blog writing in the comments of other people's blogs like it precisely because it's low profile. But let's assume someone wants to be a famous writer and wants to do it in the format of comment writing. Can it be done?
What could help would be a website — does this thing work? — that would collect and give order to all your contributions on all the blogs where you comment. Maybe Blogger could devise a feature like that. It would be nice if, when you clicked on a commenter's name here, you could get to all his other comments and had options to order them by date, page views, or subject matter.
Posts
107 comments:
The commenter is allowed to recast something in a few words, to attempt to find the right words for something badly stated, or find a better framing for something ; the idea in an ideal world being another commenter taking it further, and the only payback is making something click.
Like a Wittgensteinian philosopher, the goal is to provide liberating words, for a flybottle that afflicts not only the blogger commented.
But somebody else has to introduce a good philosophical problem.
Otherwise the mode is disparagement .
Levinas, in the preface to Totality and Infinity :
The word by way of preface which seeks to break through the screen stretched between the author and the reader by the book itself does not give itself out as a word of honor. But it belongs to the very essence of language, which consists in continually undoing its phrase by the foreword or exegesis, in unsaying the said, in attempting to restate without ceremonies what has already been ill understood in the inevitable ceremonial in which the said delights.
Well, for example, if I wanted to find all John Kindley's comments, I would go to google and search for { "John Kindley said..." site:althouse.blogspot.com } which will do something roughly like what you're describing. Of course, that only works with distinct names, but it does also allow you to narrow the parameters of the search - if I wanted to find the disagreement between myself and John as to the bar, I might search for { "John Kindley said..." "Simon said..." bar site:althouse.blogspot.com }.
On the subject of commenting, this is terribly self-indulgent, but I look on the process of writing as a process of discovering what I think about various issues, why, what the underlying principle is, where it goes and what limits it. I look on what I contribute in comments on various blogs (mainly here, of late) and at SF as wholly a contiguous corpus of thought. But one of the nice things about commenting, though, is that it's much more interactive, much more conversational, and that can produce new angles and topics. Quite aside from the richness of the post-level material, the coffeehouse atmosphere that can prevails here on a good day really is quite wonderfully productive.
Some commenters become notorious, such as the demented Deb Frisch, stalker of Jeff Goldstein (Protein Wisdom). She commented a bunch of places before focusing her malevolence on Jeff. Patterico's pet troll "Alphie" has been banned from several blogs: Protein Wisdom, Ace of Spades, Michael Totten are three of them.
Then you have Glenn Greenwald, who creates his own commenters....
*laughs uproariously*
"Well, for example, if I wanted to find all John Kindley's comments, I would go to google and search for { "John Kindley said..." site:althouse.blogspot.com } which will do something roughly like what you're describing."
But what if you wanted all his comments on all the blogs and wanted to follow his daily activity as a commenter?
Lou Grant: Well, I haven't gotten the memo yet, but any way that we can be protected from the nuts who call the city room would be great.
Mrs. Pynchon: That's not what the memo says. I asked you to be courteous to the nuts who call the city room. They are entitled to make their comments, this is America after all.
Lou Grant: You got spunk.
Mrs. Pynchon: Thank you.
Lou Grant: I hate spunk.
(Lou Grant, 1977)
"It would be nice if, when you clicked on a commenter's name here, you could get to all his other comments and had options to order them by date, page views, or subject matter."
In surfing the web the other day, I discovered that The Sacramento Bee, oddly enough, allows registered readers to comment on stories; one can click on a commenter's hyper-linked name and then see all of that commenter's comments, chronologically. I'm uncertain if there are other categories, such as by subject or news report.
If the ever-so-pathetic Sacramento Bee of the McClatchy chain can figure it out, surely the masterminds at Google's Blogger can do so to.
PS: "Do you want to be a star in the commentosphere?"
No, thank you. I find Ms Althouse's blog amongst the most interesting and, excluding certain troll-like commentators, the commentary excellent. But I've barely time to comment at all, let alone engage in a running dialog with other commentators. As for the need to remain somewhat anonymous, well, yes; I learned from an adverse experience around 2000 that still reverberates today. My family's financial security and my professional ambitions are far more important than being a star commentator - no disrespect meant - esp. when one considers the opportunity cost of engaging imbeciles like LOS...
I'll defer to the classic greek orators, Run DMC:
Hey! You over there, I know about your kind
You're like the Independent Network News on Channel 9
Everywhere that you go, no matter where you at
I said you talk about this, and you talk about that
When the cat took your tongue, I say you took it right back
Your mouth is so big, one bite would kill a Big Mac
You talk too much You never shut up
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never shut up
You talk about people, you don't even know
And you talk about places, you NEVER go
You talk about your girl, from head to toe
I said your mouth's moving fast, and your brain's moving slow
You talk too much You never shut up!!
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never shut up
You're the instigator, the orator of the town
You're the worst when you converse, just a big mouth clown
You talk when you're awake, I heard you talk when you sleep
Has anyone ever told you, that talk is cheap
You talk too much You never shut, up!!
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
Talking is the one thing, that you can do best
You told the cavity creeps, to watch out for Crest
You never have the story, right and exact
And then you always try to bore me, with your yakkity yak
You talk too much And then you never shut up
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
Everyday you are out fighting someone in the street
And you're always fighting someone you know ya can't beat
Then you wonder how, you got in this mess
Just think of what you said, then take a guess
You talk too much You never shut up!
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
You're always spreading rumors, whether bad or good
You're the damn Walter Cronkite of the neighborhood
The Barbara Walters, and the Howard Cosell
You always come around, with a story to tell
You talk too much And then you never shut up
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
Said it's everybody's business that you love to mind
And talkin to you, is like dropping a dime
You're spreading the word, like it is your job
You should be a stool pigeon, who works for the mob
You talk too much And you never shut up
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never shut up!
A big blabbermouth, that's what you are
If you were a talk show host, you'd be a star
I said your mouth is big, size extra large
And when you open it, it's like my garage
You talk too much And then you never shut up
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never shut up
You always like to gossip, just like a girl
You talk so damn much, it's outta this world
When you're reincarnated, in your second life
You won't be a man, you'll be a nagging wife
You talk too much Then you never shut up
He said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
SHUT UP!!!
SHUT UP!!!
Twenty-five hours, eight days a week
Thirteen months outta year, is when you speak
I'm tired of listening to the garbage you talk
Why don't you find a short pier, and take a long walk
You talk too much Then you never shut up!
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
You talk too much You could be, out of breath
You talk too much Man you naggin me to death
You talk too much Tired of hearing you speak
You talk too much Eight days a week
You talk too much Then you never shut up
I said you talk too much Why don't you ever SHUT UP!!!
You talk too much Then you never shut up!
I said you talk too much Homeboy you never SHUT UP!!!
Jack Johnson, Talk of the Town:
And the trouble I find is that the trouble finds me
It's a part of my mind it begins with a dream
And a feeling I get when I look and I see
That this world is a puzzle, I'll find all of the pieces
And put it all together, and then I'll rearrange it
I'll follow it forever
Always be as strange as it seems
Robyn Hitchcock, Cynthia Mask:
You're dressed as yourself
You walk down the pavement
You smile like a bowl
You grin like a melon
The people that pass
They think that they know you
They're too busy thinking
To see who you are
Obviously, excellence would need to be pursued by writing memorable, well-crafted comments, not just writing the most!
Commenting is blogging without all the damn pressure to entertain!
Maybe I'll vlog about my commenting, being an Althousian grognard.
Ann Althouse said...
"But what if you wanted all his comments on all the blogs and wanted to follow his daily activity as a commenter?"
Good point. I would think it'd be within Blogger's competence to at least provide some listing of registered Blogger users comments on Blogger blogs.
Lou Grant: You got spunk.
Mrs. Pynchon: Yes, I know you hate spunk.
Lou Grant: No seriously, you have some spunk on your sweater. Where were you last night.
Mrs. Pynchon: That’s why I prefer to wear black.
(Lou Grant, 1977)
One problem with becoming a blogstar through comments is that, while blogging can be a monologue, commenting is almost by definition a dialog. A collection of comments would look like random disconnected bites out of a conversation.
The joy of the commenter is an insightful response or a delicious bit of snark. Taken out of context the comment is meaningless.
"Excellence" is a suitably vague concept, no doubt dependent upon the "eye of the beholder." So who decides a particular commenter has achieved excellence? Volume of comments won't do. Correct spelling and grammar aren't useful measures. Should depth and breadth of knowledge and experience in the subject matter be a factor? How will "traffic", a common blog measure, be gathered; or is it relevant?
Collecting disparate comments under an originating ID, even if done in real time, effectively creates just another blog - without context or clarity. Good luck with this muzzy notion, AA.
The "digg" process permits a voting aspect to things that might permit at least isolated commments to gain some measure of popularity.
Blogging would pressure me to be the same person all the time.
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes).
I find the idea of all my comments being aggregated in one place vaguely alarming, even off-putting, for some reason--sort of like having someone create a blog for me, and of me, but not by me.
Now, speaking of off-putting, and because every comments thread about commenters ought to contain one off-topic comment and/or non sequitur, I'll do the honors this time:
Did you know that "some folks in Guangdong province, China, are reprocessing used condoms into rubber bands," leading to health concerns? And that under British eco-waste laws, you must recycle your vibrators?
See, if I didn't comment on blogs, I'd have no way of inflicting that unasked-for information on the broader world. Wheeee!!!!!
And I saw the word ecogasm for the very first time today. I need to get out more, it's clear.
"A collection of comments would look like random disconnected bites out of a conversation."
A sentence or two summarizing the original blog post or comment your comment is responding to, coupled with a link to the original post, gets around this problem for the most part, at least for lengthier and more substantial comments. I haven't bothered with posting on my blog my very brief isolated comments, though I might link to and briefly summarize a particularly interesting comment thread in which I was participating.
Thanks, Ann, for the "Altalanche" (hmmm . . . doesn't work as well as "Instalanche"). I may just reach my 700th visitor milestone sooner than I thought!
A couple remarks from someone who has been commenting and blogging for around four years.
First, in the early days I followed with keen lexicographical interest the heated competition between the two dueling neologisms for those who post comments on blogs: poster and commenter. Back then, people were unsure how to refer to the person who posted comments and I recall that vigorous clash, unsure which one would survive. It is now clear that "commenter" has come out on top.
Second, although I have run a narrow-focus blog for a long time now -- Iraqi Bloggers Central -- I have also commented quite a bit (often late at night when I should be sleeping). Out of curiosity, one month I clipped and saved all of my comments. To my surprise, I discovered that I had written around a hundred pages of comments!
*
Maybe one of those snarky epigrams is required:
Those who can, blog. Those who can't, leave comments.
*grins*
A limitation of commenting, as opposed to blogging, is that you don't control your comments. The person who runs the blog can delete them or delete the blog, or switch to a different commenting system without transferring (if it's even possible to transfer) archived comments from the old system.
How about a Firefox plugin that provides you an option to archive any thread in which you leave comments?
"Do you want to be a star in the commentosphere?"
If so, you might be a deeply shallow narcissist in the manner of a certain law professor/blogger whose initials are A.A.
oooooh christopher, snap SNAP, girl!
How very clever of you. How wounding, how deep you cut. I am agog.
Christopher, I was tempted to say that that comment was not one of your better efforts but then I realized it is the best you can do.
I admit I am deeply shallow and narcissitic.
This is the only blog I comment on and the only blog other than Sullivan that I read regularly. The other ones are predictable and bore me.
I could never have my own blog. It is too much of a commitment and I hate that.
My web usage consists of NY Times (hate me); youtube; wiki; itunes, google and a few "amateur" porn sites.
I like the comment section in Althouse because it is more than affirmation what the commenter before you said or constantly bitching or stupid phrashes that I have no idea what people are talking about-an example of this would be: "frisked". Although, constant bitching rear's (i said rear) it's ugly head here sometimes, but that is expected.
I generally don't read any "liberal" sites and I consider myself somewhat liberal.
Oh I use Amazon and shop online quite a bit too.
Speaking of commenting stars, have you seen this picture of Luckyoldson?
http://theringleader.blogspot.com/2007/11/luckyoldson-aka-lucy.html
So, while I was eating my noontime chicken livers, I played around with that search tool Simon referred to and noted the numbers of comments posted by certain commenters at Althouse:
luckyoldson 276 (I would have sworn it was more, btw)
Doyle 311
Bill 401
Fen 443
Palladian 841
Trooper York 377
Ruth Anne Adams 1,290
Bill 401
Revenant 1,270
Drill Sgt. 818
Simon 1,440
PatCA 1,190
Amba 532
Christopher 33
Cedarford 660
Beth+Eliabeth 794
I wanted to do Titus** (heh, heh, I said "do Titus," heh, heh ; ) ), but I've lost track of all his **s.
Oh, I clock in at a middling 946 at the point I checked.
Great idea about a service that aggregates your comments. Has anyone heard of anything like that?
I leave 5-10 comments on blogs every day but I'm not willing to put in the hard work to build a blog with significant traffic and somehow break into the "law professor cartel" that seems to dominate right wing blogging.
Wow, I feel like a newbie. I will have to crank up the Baron and Grusinskaya, Bullwinkle and Hillary's second husband if I want to catch up.
How about a lurkers' blog? That would be more about my speed.
1350. Well , now 1351.
How embarrassing.
I go home now.
A blogger has to police-up the area.
A commenter poops and moves on.
Poop.
luckyoldson 276 (I would have sworn it was more, btw)
The technique Simon told you about only tells you how many pages our comments appear on -- which for blogger basically means how many blog posts we've commented on. Lucky has left a heck of a lot more than 276 comments, but he only comments on posts that lend themselves to bashing moderates and conservatives, so he only shows up on 276 pages.
Ruth Anne Adams 1,290
Revenant 1,270
Oh, it is ON, Ruth Anne. You're going down.
Jeez, Pogo, you're closing in on Simon... .
May I?
This has been the funniest comment thread yet. You all made my day.
Thank you.
Rev: Thanks. That makes a lot more sense. But I'm not sure I feel better.
I think Althouse should vlog this thread. You know, as a token of her appreciation.
I refuse to take that bait, reader.
Doh!!
Thanks, Simon & Reader. I figured out I commented on about 500 of Ann's posts (pages).
FWIW, "Ann Althouse said" returned 4060 pages. "Ann Althouse" returned 9,040 pages (as Ann doesn't later comment on every post).
"In the comments..."
Yeah right. And now the commentary on the commentating to be followed by this - a comment on the commentary on the commentating. USW.
Hall of Sixties frigging structuralist literary pissing-up-the-wall theory Mirrors or what?
Lou Grant: That is an whole lot of spunk.
Mrs. Pynchon: Well Ted Baxter’s rare clumbers got a little too excited last night and got too close for comfort.
Lou Grant: Well it really isn’t too bad, you can’t really notice it since you are wearing that black sweater.
Mrs. Pynchon: Perhaps a necklace and a jaunty beret will serve as distraction.
Lou Grant: Well you can just discuss these complicated legal matters and everyone’s eyes will just glaze over and they drift into a catatonic state.
Mrs. Pynchon: I can’t do that. Then the rare clumbers have to amuse themselves and we get spunk spattered all over the place.
(Lou Grant, 1977)
Peter Palladas, your comment deconstructs into a plea for Ovaltine. Well, at least it does according to this old decoder ring I'm wearing.
Of course, it says that about everything.
Speaking of weird things, Karl Rove will join Kos as a contributor to Newsweek's 2008 Campaign coverage.
I think those two should do an edition of Bloggingheads.
A mere 103 for me. No wonder I get no respect around here. Granted, my earliest comments are from 2006 (seems like I've been commenting longer than that; I lurked for a long time before ever posting), but that's still a pretty piss-poor showing. Smilin' Jack, one of my favorite "irregular" commenters, has commented on 210 posts, but that's since 2005.
Hmmm. Clearly I need to post more.
I have two blogs, one I get paid to write, and still, I probably leave more words here. I also comment a lot on a LA Dodgers-focused blog, under a pseudonym, but everyone there knows who I am so it's more for fun that I use it. Politics are banned on that site, but otherwise it's remarkably like this one, except the environment is much more masculine.
My two blogs don't get a lot of comments. In nearly two years, I've gotten 974 non-spam comments on my first blog. Ann you get that many here in a week. My second one is too new, but I don't expect a lot of comments there either.
A site that almost always generates a good conversation in the comments is the Mt. Everest of blogging, and Ann has reached it. Sure, Kos gets lots of comments, but they're all of the "you said it, J.B." quality. The threads are extremely dull, even if you agree with everything being said.
I don't think your success about any individual commenter though; it's about the whole community, the gestalt. This blog is plagued by a few idiots who, frankly, just don't get the site, mistakenly thinking it's a right wing blog and their job is to blast it. But the rest of you all just do a beautiful job keeping up your end of an unspoken bargain. I don't think people would come to this site to read just one commenter, but to read the community.
Simon said: "Well, for example, if I wanted to find all John Kindley's comments, I would go to google and search for { "John Kindley said..." site:althouse.blogspot.com }"
Or you could just Google John Kindley. Then you might just find some really crazy stuff.
Ann Althouse said: "You might want to do your blog writing as a commenter so you can fly under the radar, invisible to clients and employers . . ."
Not to mention the IRS. I really don't need them to understand just how deeply I despise those who make their living as tax collectors, but now it's out there, for all the world to know. And the North Dakota Supreme Court. I despise them too.
"A site that almost always generates a good conversation in the comments is the Mt. Everest of blogging, and Ann has reached it."
Volokh Conspiracy and Reason: Hit & Run come close, but I think the commentariat here is even better.
Seriously?
For Blogs in general I believe that having a stable of generally good or provactive commentors increases Web traffic. It adds to the Blog with good discussion.
It does make more work for the Blogger to have to police it a bit...without getting into the temptation of making it a Glen Greenwald echo-chamber type blog where deviance from the official line is not tolerated.
A separate reason is certain blogs are set up with a specific subject area and build off the comments - this of course was the "original" reason for blogs in the 80s - to set up "bulletin boards" where the kinks of say, Beta version C+++ could be worked out or like-minded traffic engineers could discuss Brazilian peak hours tolls.
The same for certain one-issue political/legal blogs. The Duke Lacrosse Case created two multimillion blog hit sites - Durham In Wonderland and Liestoppers.
Commenters came in and provided tons of new info that helped hang Nifong, discredit further the Group of 88 professors who denounced the players, and were credited with being "invaluable" to defense attorneys - like having 3-4 extra private detectives working for us and being scanned by reporters, Duke authorities for breaking news and tips.....
A generalist Blog like Ann's can go with or without comments, I guess, aside from the traffic issue. And some high readership generalists blogs have huge traffic numbers - so maybe my theory is wrong.
I originally came to read Althouse from a Real Clear Politics link and came back initially for her great photos. Then for her posts. I like Althouse's eleclectism. You never know what she will post on. She is a good integrator of topics du jour, politic, photo homages to locales and situations, and some stuff from left field.
I add that it while is hard to be a "star commenter" - it does get accomplished by a regular that regularly has fine posts and compliments the blogger to the point they get a status as a sidekick or even guest blogger, co-blogger...
Or someone with "gifts" for poetry, photoshopping, adding new info.
check out my blog...as noted below:
Women love conversation...words even more than actual sex, many times. Men are the opposite...that orgasm is the key. Appropos of that, I re-post a previous post:
"breast-beating hysteria" ? I love all womens breasts -and,of course,vaginas, for that is where the real pleasure/elevation to "God" lies. But I am, unavoidably, first attracted to big natural breasts (and I can tell the difference with near unerring accuracy...especially when I see them swing -or not- when she bends over...). But all women's breasts always have something fascinating about them...even the little ones.
9:45 PM
tc said... I got so excited thinking about women's breasts, I forgot to post this:
jewsyonkersislam # 440 Address on Yonkers schools to Yonkers Board of Education and supporting newspaper documentation (see jewsyonkersislamiii-tc.blogspot.com
Well there's how you know you made it with a blog. When people hand type and manually send their spam to multiple threads contained within.
I admit to be too lazy and indiffernt to create my own blog much less try to do anything interesting with it even if I had the time. So commenting is the pinnacle of my ambition. In the case of Ann's blog there are a good variety of topics that get thrown out and that reader's reactions will be generated. For the most part I enjoy the commenters and throwing my own thoughts in.
Sorry for the multiple comments one after another, but the Quaker (or just plain Christian) in me repents of saying that I "despise" tax collectors. Jesus after all (who, no, I'm not comparing myself too) incurred the wrath of the Pharisees and Sadducees by sitting down to meals with tax collectors. But my understanding is that it was expected that those who would follow him and become his disciples would leave off tax collecting. I regret saying I despise tax collectors, but tax collecting remains a profoundly dishonorable way to make a living.
Now, this comment was wildly off topic, but was made necessary by my compunction over my previous comment. Can we go back to our group hug now?
What the drive-by poop flingers don't seem to get about this blog, and its comment section, is that it is entertaining. Even the trolls, occasionally, are entertaining.
There are many one-note blogs out there, where the comment sections are teeming. Well, you can get a roomful of talking parrots together and they may say a lot, but is it really a dialog worthy of attention?
Anyway, keep it eclectic and interesting and I'll keep checking in.
Best current estimates place the event horizon of the Althouse Vortex at around 240 comments.
Hey, John Stodder what is the name of your Dodger blog. I would love to spend all of next season Torre bashing. With a little Mattingly slapping thrown in for extra value.
reader_iam said...
"[T]he numbers of comment[] [threads] posted [in] by certain commenters at Althouse
PatCA 1,190
Revenant 1,270
Ruth Anne Adams 1,290
[Pogo 1,351]
Simon 1,440"
Good God - that's insane! I had no idea I was that much of a fixture around the place.
I don't mean to be catty and competitive but I have to say I am the most interesting commenter here. But that fits my life perfectly. I have to be the cutest, make most money, have nicest clothes of any of my friends. If I meet people that exceed me it's no fun and we can't hang out.
So this place fits my needs perfectly. Thanks other commenters for meeting my needs.
Also, if someone comes here and takes over my fabulousness or is more witty or interesting than me they will need to be banned or destroyed or I will have to leave.
Lets not make that happen fellow republicans.
" "Ann Althouse said" returned 4060 pages. "
LOL. I'm by far the most obsessive commenter on the Althouse blog.
Titus: "I have to be the cutest, make most money, have nicest clothes of any of my friends. If I meet people that exceed me it's no fun and we can't hang out."
But that means you don't have the cutest friends!
I'm richer, a better writer, and a more interesting human being than you, Titus! You should definitely stay away from me!
I'm sure you're cuter than me, but who cares? Cute fades, and you'll look like a leather pancake soon enough.
Me, I want to be the nastiest commenter here...
But compared to christopher, you're a much better commenter. You're mildly entertaining and occasionally creative.
Christopher, realizing that the stars were too much of a reach for his tiny toddler-sized arms, decided he wants to try to be the biggest turd in the Althouse commentosphere. If aiming high makes you too dizzy, aim low!
Mom, Palladian is being mean to me, see....
Palladian, what happened to ignoring each other? It's HARD ignoring me isn't it?
I said I needed to be cuter, made more money than my FRIENDS, not the commenters here.
I have no doubt that many are richer, make more money than me etc. etc. here.
What I said is my postings are most interesting in my humble view. I am also not the smartest obviously and I dont write nearly as well as others.
In terms of looks, you know as well as I know, in our world that supercedes all. And yes it will fade but I will fight it for quite some time.
I would be willing to go up against most here on the bench press.
Palladian, I know you are mated up but I definitely feel heat between us. What are you wearing? What to go private? Looking to travel or company. Admit it, you want to meet me.
Kid: Your beard's not real.
Willie: No Shit!It was real, but I got sick and all the hair fell out.
Kid: How come?
Willie: I loved a woman who wasn't clean.
Kid: Mrs. Santa?
Willie: No it was her sister.
(Bad Santa, 2003)
"Palladian, what happened to ignoring each other? It's HARD ignoring me isn't it?"
Yes!
"I said I needed to be cuter, made more money than my FRIENDS, not the commenters here."
Oh. I thought when you wrote:
Also, if someone comes here and takes over my fabulousness or is more witty or interesting than me they will need to be banned or destroyed or I will have to leave ... that implied the other rules applied to commenters as well.
"I have no doubt that many are richer, make more money than me etc. etc. here."
Oh, I'm sure you make a lot more money than me.
"What I said is my postings are most interesting in my humble view. I am also not the smartest obviously and I dont write nearly as well as others."
Well, you're interesting. I'm definitely warming up to you.
"In terms of looks, you know as well as I know, in our world that supercedes all. And yes it will fade but I will fight it for quite some time."
Yes, I never really had it. I'm not that bad looking really, but I've never been a pretty boy. I used to be quite fat, I've lost quite a bit of weight but I'm still firmly in the "bear" category even though I don't like that subculture very much. It's too fetishy and queeny in a hairy sort of way.
"I would be willing to go up against most here on the bench press."
You would probably beat me. I don't work out except for walking. What muscle I have is from doing sculpture, woodwork, etc.
"Admit it, you want to meet me."
Of course I do, doesn't everyone? But I'm not a bottom, you're probably not into "bear" guys, and I'm allergic to clumbers.
Love is in the air
Everywhere I look around
Love is in the air
Every sight and every sound
And I don't know if I'm being foolish
Don't know if I'm being wise
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when I look in your eyes
Love is in the air
In the whisper of the trees
Love is in the air
In the thunder of the sea
And I don't know if I'm just dreaming
Don't know if I feel sane
But it's something that I must believe in
And it's there when you call out my name
Love is in the air
Love is in the air
Oh oh oh
Oh oh oh
(LOVE IS IN THE AIR, John Paul Young)
Palladian your a bear?
I am shocked, not what I imagined.
Titus, Palladian, the more important question's whether TC is a bear. Or is that question poking the bear (so to speak)?
What were you picturing?
My above question is for Titus..
Eek! Simon! Don't mention him! It's like saying Beetlejuice! Some of my comments have already ended up in some of his screeds.
Care Bear Countdown, 4, 3, 2, 1
Who's that comin' from somewhere up in the sky?
Moving fast and bright as a firefly
Just when you think the trouble's gonna pounce
Who's gonna be there when it really counts?
Do the Care Bear Countdown
And send a wish out through the air
Just do the Care Bear Countdown
When you need them they'll be there
Don't be afraid when trouble's brewin' in your heart
If you can dream just send a wish out in the dark
And do the Care Bear's Countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
(Care Bears song,1986)
Trooper York's a bear.
I used to think the Care Bears were evil when I was a child.
Actually, weren't they denounced as New Age Satanism or something by Oral Roberts (can you believe there was a preacher named Oral Roberts?!)
Thank you Palladian, I take that as a compliment.
"Thank you Palladian, I take that as a compliment."
Oh, it is, baby. But I won't come on to you any more than that, since you're a married, straight man that could probably handily beat me up and all.
I did picture Trooper as a bear, am I correct? I know he is straight though.
My picture of Palladian is thin somewhat studious and nerdy looking but in a kind of hot way. I am thinking jewish, not sure why but that is what I think.
"Palladian: May you slumber with the [rare] clumbers."
I'd need the Epinephrine pen at the ready.
Plus I don't think Titus lets his tricks sleep over.
"I did picture Trooper as a bear, am I correct? I know he is straight though."
Yes, total New York Irish daddy bear.
"My picture of Palladian is thin somewhat studious and nerdy looking but in a kind of hot way. I am thinking jewish, not sure why but that is what I think."
I'm flattered, but wrong on all counts. My father's extended family were/are all Mormons, but I grew up with no religious affiliation at all. I think I went to church about twice in my entire life until adulthood.
That star in the commentosphere position, is that going to be a paying gig?
Those blog bucks are going to happen for you, Professor. Keep up the good work.
I know that you will pay good wages.
I'm a star in the commentosphere.
Palladian, what do you call two gay guys named Bob?
Don't sweat it Palladian, I am not scared of gay people. Lots of your so called liberals around here would freak out but that kind of joking around doesn't bother anyone who knows who they are. I will however repeat my open offer to spank Hillary, now that would be a lot of fun.
Slumber with the clumbers, bungle in the jungle.
Well, that's all right, by me.
Trooper, you movin' in on my gal? You're out of luck anywyas - she's a giver not a taker.
I'm a tiger when I want love, I'm a snake when we disagree...
Simon, all is fair in love and war. Let the best man win. I'll match my cooking skills and foot rubs with your youth and erudition any day of the week.
As an intellectual exercise only of course, I would never cheat on my wife
Damn!
I think I need to find a room.
Reader_iam, there is always room for one more. Just bring the corn.
(Huskily) I'm all ears... .
Oh, my. Just caught up on a couple.
Cross-posting & losing track. Best stop.
Go on and rest reader. But you will be back in the post I am working on with all the Althouse regulars at Plato's retreat in 1981But it's slow going, I can't figure out who gets Lucky.
Trooper - it's on! ;)
I feel lazy at 336 now that I've seen reader's list.
Hello fellow repubicans, missed the debate. I was at the gym.
So, Palladian you are a gentile? I am suprised.
I am a big jew. Is that OK?
Althouse, I see in a wedding the future. Would you be willing to be our matron of honor? Your claim to fame would be to introduce the ex mormon and big gay jew together and loving matrimony.
Palladian, you are correct no stayovers. When riding in a cab one weekend I was with a trick and made a joke. Anothe friend was sharing the cab. The trick told me I was fast, my friend replied you think he is fast now wait until you are at his house and he calls the cab. Needless to say, we were finished and the trick said your friend was right you are fast.
But.....for you Palladian....I am willing to be slow. You will learn to love rare clumbers. If you can't it won't work. I was very skinny as a kid but have bulked up. I want you to feel my muscles and worship me. Would you be willing to do that? I need compliments and I want to be praised. It will be worth it. You will like it. The evaluations I have received have always been positive. Also, I will wait for you to do your business. I don't want it to be all about me.
You will be given a nice bottle of juice or diet coke as you leave the building. My doorman knows to be nice to my tricks.
So Palladian, what do you think? Are you up for it?
fellow republicans i am watching charlie rose now and tom shoales is on there whering Burberry.
I never thought Burberry could look oh so wrong but him wearing it proved me very wrong.
Re: trooper york's "plato" conundrum, and in the spirit of fun ...
It's my opinion that Ruth Anne, Beth, Freeman Hunt, Mrs. Whatsit, Geoduck2 (now, there's a blast from the past), Victoria (another one) ... etc. ... and, above all, Maxine could take him on in a pick-your-state minute.
I'm leavin' Althouse outta it.
Titus, I'm absolutely loving the Freudian slip of your "whering Burberry."
Me, I do typos. You, insights.
"Althouse, I see in a wedding the future. Would you be willing to be our matron of honor? Your claim to fame would be to introduce the ex mormon and big gay jew together and loving matrimony."
Yeah!
I especially like the idea of a marriage where the partners don't spend the night together. It worked for Woody and Mia.
I would be happy to provide Tadashi wedding dresses at cost.
Marilynn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., You Don't Have To Be a Star:
There'll be no parade, no tv or stage, only me till your dying day.
You don't have to be a star, baby, to be in my show;
Oh, honey, you don't have to be a star, baby, to be in my show.
Don't think your star has to shine for me to find out where you're coming
from;
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