Comments on: I could be blogging or I could watch the red dog running in the field

By: unreliable narrator

unreliable narrator — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:05:00 +0000

I’m fascinated by the fact that, in a comment stream for a post musing on both the ease and difficulty of reading and mis- on this here interwebs, what should appear but lo, a classic case of misfired irony.
It’s of course notoriously difficult for Web 2.0 newcomers to catch the ebb and flow of rapid-fire snark which finally has offered so many of us a playing field for our most beloved idiom—a forum for an elegant form, a home we may not have had in public discourse since, let’s say, Versailles in 1794?
Or maybe, the monthly church ice-cream supper in my hometown. Cos anyone who thinks word-fights are the exclusive online (or otherwise) purview of males…well, spending some time at wonkette.com might change your mind on that front. Or, you know, a little time reading about those social networking heroines Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Golda Meir….
I’m not saying; I’m just saying. As the kids say today. Sometimes sincerely, sometimes sarcastically.
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By: David C.

David C. — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:52:15 +0000

Spicy ephemera…
Writing in/on/to/for a blog is like talking from the inside of the TV. Suddenly, you’re tapping on the glass: yoo hoo! is anybody really out (or should I say, in) there?
Lucia’s poetry is sizzling and Billy’s is the only serious-comic verse of our generation, though he’s not as good as he used to be. Read “The Apple that Astonished Paris” or “Questions about Angels”–every first line is a metaphysical kneeslapper. And I’m not being sarcastic…
David
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By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:18:37 +0000

I like the fact that I get ” “s, Bill!
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By: katie

katie — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:36:34 +0000

Dear Lucia,
Thank you for your insights, I have enjoyed reading them. Thank you, also, for your “how about this feeling that the twilight is salting me like a rib steak?” line that has been knocking around my brain pan for the past few days.
I would like to pat your dog.
Sincerely,
Katie
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By: bill knott

bill knott — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:39:28 +0000

Billy Collins is one of the best poets alive, in my opinion . . .
“Claire” above is right: it’s sour grapes—
or in this chain of comments,
sourcastic . . .
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By: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 20:15:43 +0000

Lucia, your dog is beautiful. And that’s not sarcastic.
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By: Lucia

Lucia — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:33:56 +0000

I thought Michael’s comment was funny. And was glad people tolerated my putting up a picture of my dog.
Matt–the sports trope and the word fight (now this may be a joke I’m not getting) are what make me say nooo to broadband. I have this theory that men come to computers through gaming, whereas women come to computers through social networking. But of course that’s a false dichotomy if applied in strict terms. Just a passing bloggy thought.
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By: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:14:08 +0000

My sarcasm was clearly directed at myself. Obviously I wasn’t really “challenging” anyone to anything, but to challenge someone to produce evidence in an argument is not combative at all. The joke wasn’t any good to begin with, but I shouldn’t have to explain it.
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By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 18:32:35 +0000

“Retreating to the cyber-world would be both too easy and too hard. While it is easy to sit at a desk and tap, I discovered through Harriet that I’m not cut out for the combat of blogging-commentary. And I would feel odd with the male-ness of that sport. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen when the bloggers change.”
Perhaps the reason there’s so much maleness in blog-combat is that so many women choose not to participate in it.
It’s like if there was a basketball game where one team forfeits and then accuses the other team of bad sportsmanship for not forfeiting also.
I know that women often get ignored or insulted by men when they try to participate in these things, and I think the best way to fight this would be to, well, fight! (Maybe that’s what you’re alluding to when you say “It’ll be interesting to see what will happen when the bloggers change”–i.e. more women getting into the fray. Let me know if I’m wrong.)
But I wonder if this might just be a poetry blog problem. I mean, on every political blog or comment stream I’ve seen, there seem to be as many women as men flinging the excrement, especially this election year. It’s great.
Now some people might say, instead of everyone being equally mean, how about everyone be equally nice? But I just think it’s better to put everything on the table. (White people still don’t like to talk about racism, for example. This isn’t healthy.)
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By: Claire

Claire — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:53:03 +0000

Personal tastes aside, hasn’t Billy Collins just made the mistake of allowing himself to become financially successful? I know that’s apparently a cardinal sin for a poet, but whenever I hear someone say “Billy Collins is what’s wrong with poetry,” I’m tempted to jump up and down pointing at them and yelling “sour grapes!”
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By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:30:15 +0000

Michael,
The following message you sent me exhibits why I am not comfortable commenting now.
Seriously, Sheryl, the sarcasm of this comment: “I challenge you to point me to a single instance in which I was combative!!!” is not embarrassingly obvious to you? Like, how dumb do you have to think someone who makes a comment like that really is not to see what the kids wrongly call the irony of it? Wow, give a guy a little credit.
Also, sarcasm in and of itself is defined at dictionary.com.
:sar·casm Audio Help /ˈsɑrkæzəm/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[sahr-kaz-uhm] Pronunciation Key – Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. harsh or bitter derision or irony.
2. a sharply ironical taunt; sneering or cutting remark: a review full of sarcasms
When someone disagrees with you, it does not mean they are “dumb” and to “challenge” someone does appear combative to me.
I don’t have time to wade through your comments here. There are so many.
I do appreciate your willingness to question yourself. I must do so as well.
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By: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 14:13:54 +0000

Hey, Sheryl, way to miss my obvious joke. I mean, really, someone says I’m combative, I respond by being combative, like, you think? I don’t use that many exclamation points fer realzers, yo.
& I think you’re thinking of some other posters — the arguments I get in here aren’t about dissing poets or about my own aesthetic taste. Seriously this time: if you can point me to an example, I’ll wear my hat.
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By: Don Share

Don Share — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:44:59 +0000

I feel the way Mary does about the blog… & wow: thank you for those nice things you said!
Of course we want poems; get all the details here!
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By: Sheryl Luna

Sheryl Luna — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:15:34 +0000

Michael,
1). Ugh, now——
2). When you diss poets that you don’t like assuming your opinion is the end all of poetic aesthetic opinion—- which it isn’t.
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By: Michael Robbins

Michael Robbins — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 02:22:30 +0000

I challenge you to point me to a single instance in which I was combative!!!
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By: Mary Meriam

Mary Meriam — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 01:06:40 +0000

Of course I don’t know how it feels to be “up there” as the blogger, but as a reader of Harriet, I find the whole thing amusing and not at all worrisome. My lifestyle sounds very similar to yours, Lucia, and not just being on dial-up. The whole rural cultural isolation thing, but I put a happy spin on it by calling it seclusion, like the Taoist priestess-poet, Wu Tsao, was secluded towards the end of her life.
I like hanging around with poets – mostly I hang around at poetry workshops – but Harriet – not being geared towards productivity – is more social. I’m slowly getting to know the various characters: the hilarious Henry Gould, the compassionate Matt, the combative Michael Robbins, the philosopher Jane, the fabulous Don Share (kiss-kiss, want a poem?), the still mysterious Lemon Hound. It’s like being in a play, and who better to play with than a bunch of poets? And we all know how important play is to creativity, right?
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