THE RELLIES

       I knew that many of my family read my blog. My blog comes up on Face book and many are Face Book friends so read the blog. So thanks to all my relatives who read my blog. 

      Many people in town read me. In fact, I'm always surprised when someone says  "I read your blog." Why am I surprised. They read and leave no trace because they do not have a blog. They are also not aware that they can leave comment. Many other people read from time to time and do not leave comments.

     So if you want to leave a comment , go to the bottom of the blog post and click on anonymous. Write your comment. I rarely publish anonymous comments so leave some kind of clue as to who you are. For example leave your town and name. You can mix these up so that the bad guys won't come around. You can make up some name that I will recognize. 

    So I hope I've made it easier for non bloggers to make a comment from time to time. 

    This doesn't work for all blogs as some blogs are on a different platform. Some bloggers have not set up the anonymous option. 

DON'T YOU JUST HATE IT WHEN...

      I don't hate. I might get mildly upset. Most things I can overlook. 

      I'm sure that there are many things that I do that upset people. I certainly upset the Micro Manager from time to time. 

      I received a comment on my last blog post that has got me very curious. I would very much like to know who this person is. Some anonymous comments leave some clue as to who they are. One of my former students usually says "Grandpa" It's the familiarity with this comment that drives me nuts. We both have connections to Yellowknife and the north. We both like gardening and we both live in Red Deer.  So you see the comment below and my reply. 

AnonymousSaturday, May 21, 2022

Talking about growing seasons and the amount of sunlight, the two years that I spent living in Yellowknife it was absolutely all inspiring how much light was lost and gained at the change of season. I am not sure but I think that the differences in the days were about 20 to 40 minute increments either way depending on what time of year it was. To my sensibilities have been growing up in Red Deer, it seemed to me that there was about three weeks of spring and then boom it was summer LOL. As for planting I did some last Saturday and we'll do the rest today. Just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best as I learn about this a novice gardener.

ReplyDelete

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1. 
   RedSaturday, May 21, 2022

   Now your story and "anonymous make me very , very curious.

     And another thing, Doesn't it bother you when a regular comment goes dark. Several bloggers I follow live in Ontario where there was a vicious storm and the power was off. This I understand. 

     However sometimes the commenter just disappears for a while.

     So I'm about to make and apology as my commenting has sometimes been sporadic and sometimes missing. But I have an excuse! I find myself busier than I want to be lately. The iliotibia syndrome has really slowed me down. I don't get much sleep at night.

     There will be better days and I will get to the point where I make the number comments I want to make. 

A DISGUSTING COMMENT

    One of the best parts of blogging are the comments. I like receiving comments where I learn something, have to rethink my post or change my position. I also like making comments. It's a conversation in blogging.

     However, last week I received a comment from Mr or Mrs Anonymous and it was much out of line. I've seen these comments before. I know what kind of deluded people make them.

    All of you have seen the comment about Baby Boomers and how awful they are that they are using everything up in a very selfish way and leaving nothing for the coming generations except debt. Baby boomers should just get out of the way (die) and quit using up resources and leaving huge debts. This person cannot see clearly because of their own selfishness. It was somewhat alarming to see a comment with such utter lack of reality.

    I would like to be able to tell this person that if that's the way they feel don't drive on roads or bridges that baby boomers have built. Don't drink the water or dispose of your sewage using baby boomer facilities. Just don't use any of the public infrastructure that baby boomers have built . The infrastructure may not be completely paid for but there's nothing wrong with future generations paying for a share for their usage. What do they think that everything should be built and that they can use it for nothing?

    Finally, I'm not a baby boomer. I'm a prewar baby. I know that people had to pay for a war so that we might be free. It took many years to pay for the war. 

    I wonder what other bizarre ideas Mr or Mrs Anonymous could come up with?
     
    

WOULD SOMEBODY PLEASE SHUT TRUMP UP

      We've heard Trump's outrageous, illogical, truth bending, incorrect and unfounded comments many times. They do far more harm than good for all concerned.

     Trump made one of his wild comments this week after the G 7 conference. The conference was held in Canada and since I'm a Canadian I was interested in the conference more than usual. Since I'm Canadian, I was offended by Trump's comments.

    The G 7 conferences are tightly controlled and very precise as to what happens. Everybody takes the  same step. All the details are looked after behind the scenes.

    The host chairman is the leader of the host country. In this case the chairman was Prime Minister Trudeau.

    Trump got antsy and decided he had to leave for the North Korean summit but before leaving he had signed what was agreed to at the conference.

    A few hours into Trump's Asian flight he flew into a rage and called Justin Trudeau, weak, a liar and back stabber! Trump claimed that he had not agreed to anything in the conference final statement which he had signed.

    Where did that come from?

    The comments as well as being wrong were most inappropriate. It's okay to have those ideas. However, expressing those opinions is wreckless and isn't going to do any good.

    The comments tell us more about Trump than about problems at the G 7 Summit.

   Could somebody shut this guy up. We don't need to hear such outrageous lunacy anymore.

Red's Comments

      Comments from readers are the best part of blogging. Readers response gives me an expanded perspective of what I've written. Needless to say, I appreciate comments.

     Today I want to consider comments I make. I have to ask a few questions about my comments and analyze what I am doing. Do I make meaningful comments?

     I make a number of different types of comments.  Many times I pick one narrow aspect of a blog and make my comment. It's not that I haven't read the whole blog. I feel the one point is what I would like to consider.

    Too many times I make a comment that refers to me. Comments should be on the writer's post. 

    Are the complements I make genuine and sincere? I hope so. Are my comments supportive and positive. Bloggers put something out in public and they should be rewarded and encouraged .

    I sometimes use humor in a comment. I try to use humor with bloggers I think I know well and who get my sense of humor.

    Sometimes my comments are fairly shallow. I'm not saying much. There's little substance in the comment. I try to avoid the fluff comments.

   Sometimes I misunderstand something and make a ridiculous comment and embarrass myself. That'll teach me for not reading the post carefully.

   I hope that my comments are polite. Being careful about comments elevates the whole blogging experience.

    I follow many blogs. Too many blogs for me to make comments on every post. I admit that I have to rank things. Some blogs I find interesting to read but do not make comments. Some blogs I comment on from time to time . Some blogs I comment on every post.

    I hope that my comments are never offensive. If I do offend I hope you'll tell me so that I can apologize and make things right. 

    How about you? What do you try to do with comments?

Readers Are Very Forgiving with Comments.

     In my last post I made a major error. It was an error that was crucial to the post.

     I put down that the Beatles were on the Ed Sullivan Show 60 years ago. Now I meant to say 50 years ago.

     Readers had their own neat ways of dealing with my blunder.

     Some just ignored my blunder and made their comment.

    Some made a point of saying 50 years in their comment.

     Some made very oblique comments that were very clever. 

     So my apology for my error. My thanks to you dear readers who dealt with the error in some interesting and understanding ways.

     Do I ever have some awesome followers. Thanks for following my blog and supporting me. You are the best.

Oral Comments

    Most of you probably have local people who fare non bloggers and they follow your blog . Sometimes they will comment when they see you. It's a different kind of comment that can get very interesting.

    Buddy is one of my most faithful readers. He is a critical reader so he makes judgments and connections as he he reads. As a result some of his comments enlighten me if that is at all possible. Usually he will make a comment that is quite distant from my post and will wait to see if I catch on. Usually I don't catch on and it's a big joke. We were both teachers and teachers rib each other continuously. We also support each other like family. I hope I'm not giving away too many trade secrets.

    Yesterday Buddy phoned me and wanted to know if I was all right. He was worried about my condition. He was concerned that on my previous post all the names were messed up. Buddy knew all the people involved in my last post but the names didn't match. Was I all right? This is just the typical Buddy comment. Also one of the names had a period after it and it wasn't supposed to! So I get some fun oral comments.

    Yes I do change the names when I write about local people. I feel that if I write about people without their permission and knowledge I should change the names so that they would not be in danger of having their identities used. I don't show pictures of children anymore as I don't want to see a picture taken and used for some other purpose.

     Now this situation got me thinking about another topic...evaluation of student work. I insisted that I had to develop a criterion that gave the student credit for what they did on an assignment rather than taking marks off for something that is missing or wrong. I know some of this is semantics but I wanted my students to know that they would be rewarded for using the concepts that they understood. My emphasis was on giving positive feed back so that a student would feel that they were rewarded.

     So Buddy keeps me thinking that it is well worth while to blog.

      Thanks Buddy, for reading and caring enough to comment.

Comments Rock

    More and more I appreciate comments that followers and readers leave after my posts. Comments can do many things. Comments can compliment, affirm, amuse, enlighten and sometimes disappoint.

    Comments that some people make will add to what I've written. I don't always say all that could be said because I am unaware or too impatient. 

      It's always pleasant when someone agrees with you. However, I am not upset when someone disagrees. I appreciate a good debate and I will never make personal slurs and can usually ignore personal attacks and stick to the argument.

     Some commenters have amazing wit. There are many types of humorous replies. The ones I really like are those that are very distant that if you're not careful you'll miss it.  You can guess that I like Far Side the cartoon. I also like Far Side one of my followers!

    Commenters usually have their own characteristics and their comments are predictable. In other words readers that are stable and thoughtful.

     Other commenters take a global view and are able to make a comment the applies to the whole post. Others will focus on one point in the post. I tend to reply to one small part of the post. I haven't missed the rest of the post . I just think that one part of the post is more important to me.

    It's gratifying to see how hard readers work to keep up with comments. Some days you find a reader will comment on three or four posts. I appreciate people who have been busy and go back and read older posts. I  find that sometimes I just have to miss comments for a day or two. I can read the posts but I don't have time to make comments.

    Now I've posted on comments before. Comments are very meaningful and positive for me. The comments keep me going. 

     Thanks to all readers who stop by Hiawatha House and leave a comment.

Blogger Appreciates Comments

       As a blogger I appreciate comments. One of the things I have been working for on my blog is to get reaction from readers. My journey to comments has been long,slow and  rewarding.

     As I said before I started Hiawatha House before I was on the Internet. My daughter helped me establish Hiawatha House in Aug. of 2008. A few weeks later she left and I blogged from the computers in the local library. I think I made three posts in 2008. I had the naive notion that if I put something on the Internet thousands of people would automatically see and read my posts. I knew there were comments but somehow I wasn't getting any comments.

     In Mar. of 2010 I hooked up to the Internet at my house. This meant that I could look at blogger and begin setting up the blog. There were many things I didn't understand. I didn't know what a URL was . I was able to write a few more posts. As I wrote I learned a few things about how to change the look of the blog. Still no comments.

     Someone told me about counters and that it was simple to put a counter on your blog. After much puzzling a finally got a counter on my blog. I found out that very few people were reading my blog. One guy seemed to read me several times a day. It turned out that my biggest reader was me! So I got rid of myself. Still no comments. I didn't know where the comments would appear on the blog!

      I then discovered that I could follow other bloggers. I found a few interesting blogs to follow but they seemed to be blogs that didn't post very often and were probably struggling beginning bloggers like myself. They didn't respond as they  were like myself and I didn't make comments on other blogs.

     Somewhere in early 2010 someone commented on a post . I was amazed. Then I had to find out how to publish the comment. That comment made me work harder. I  learned so much from the one comment. I should go back and find out who made the first comment.

     Some where out of the blue a couple of people who were not my friends began to follow my blog and make comments. These comments really were encouraging and made me think more about my blog and the things I was posting.

    In the last half of 2010 I began to post more material and more people began to comment. Well, I got a couple of comments a week! I also learned that I had to follow more bloggers.

    So by 2011 I was getting comments on every post. What a treat! You get feed back about what you write. Comments confirm that what you are saying has some value. Comments also give you many more ideas for writing topics. Comments also give me confidence to go on and try harder. Sometimes you have regular readers who comment all the time. Some times people appear from out of the blue. Many of my readers are locals and they comment orally when they see me. I have a large family and occasionally one of them comment but I discuss my blog with them often.

     Comments...What a treat!  Thanks to all those people who drop by and leave a comment. Thanks to all those people who drop by and read Hiawatha House. You are very much appreciated.