July 14, 2002
How Nice In addition to the usual solicitations from porn purveyors and unfortunate Nigerians, I received this morning - as no doubt many of my fellow bloggers did - an edificatory missive from the aspiring Miss Crabapple of the blogosphere, with advice on how to improve the content and style of my blog. He somehow intuited that I saw only parts of his tract excerpted on other blogs and fecklessly neglected to click through, so I deeply appreciate his emailing me not only the link but the entire post.

Dear Miss Crabapple, my blog would surely be improved by attention to your kindly ministrations of advice, and perhaps I shall at some time read them with great interest and profit. I am also very flattered that I'm considered worthy to be placed on a hit-whoring mailing list. But I must own that this site's modest traffic may not repay your effort. Yours, etc.


Posted by Moira Breen at July 14, 2002 09:58 AM
Comments

I like Brendan's blog a lot, and had no real problems with the item itself, but mailing it around was just so, so...usenet somehow.

Posted by: Jim Henley on July 14, 2002

I don't have a problem with link requests, particularly from new bloggers who are trying to get the word out.
As long as they don't want to sell me an international drivers' license or get me to download a mystery file.

Posted by: Joanne Jacobs on July 15, 2002

Geez he must really hate me, I didn't even get the bitchy email. I am so hurt!

Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge on July 15, 2002

It's not the pan, it's the pomposity.

Don't feel bad, Andrew. If it will make you feel better, I'll email you a sermon on how to make your blog as worthy as mine.

Posted by: Moira on July 15, 2002

This is what makes reading a blog such a headache sometimes. What are you people talking about? Usually there is at least a link or something.

Posted by: Matt on July 15, 2002

Don't sweat it; you didn't miss anything.

It was a long post which said, in essence, "we bloggers need to get organized and get some standards here for how we write if we're going to change the world." And then proceeded to give some concrete examples of how what certain people (e.g. me) do is wrong and should be changed.

Conspicuous by its absence is any explanation of just why it is that there needed to be any standards at all, and what exactly was wrong with the idea that, "It's MY site and I'll post whatever I damned well want to on it" was invalid.

However, unlike yesterday's blast by Ben Fischer, he sent it individually to each recipient -- which is why I wasn't aware that it had been spammed until I saw that he'd sent it to Moira, too. (Thanks, lady. I thought it was just me he was trying to reform.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste on July 15, 2002

Thanks, Steven

The first time I read this there were no comments, and the whole post was quite a mystery.

Posted by: Matt on July 15, 2002

I just had a horrific thought:

What if the editor-in-chief of the blogosphere were JOHN ASHCROFT???!? If we're going to establish standards for the blogs, what will be the standards for the standard-setters?

Oh, and will non-English blogs be under the same set of rules?

Posted by: Dean on July 16, 2002

Moira, if I'm ever again forced to comment on the unfortunate character in question, may I call him "Miss Crabapple", too? I generally don't like to steal other people's insults, but it's wonderfully condescending.

Yours, sans spell-check,

Posted by: Andrew Northrup on July 16, 2002

Moira, if I'm ever again forced to comment on the unfortunate character in question, may I call him "Miss Crabapple", too? I generally don't like to steal other people's insults, but it's wonderfully condescending.

Yours, sans spell-check,

Posted by Andrew Northrup

Posted by: Jeff G on July 16, 2002

Now now. I invoked that epithet with a seemly regard for the gentleman's gravitas. I hereby release it into the public domain, but I expect you boys to use it in the spirit I intended.

P.S. Andrew your post on David Horowitz was extremely funny.

Posted by: Moira on July 16, 2002

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