I’m exceedingly cross/upset/pissed-off by an email received today regarding yesterday’s entry and poem fragment. Not from anyone I know, I found it to be insolent, uncalled for, and disrespectful in the extreme. So I junked it unanswered.
Even so, it rankles, and it makes a chap wonder if this OLJ thing is really worthwhile.
It is of course. But sometimes, some days, I find it hard to understand parts of the world that my words reach.
I’ll be back tomorrow. Or perhaps the day after. Soon, anyway.
33 responses so far ↓
~ Sil in Corea // December 6, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Oh, dear John, please don’t let one of the “global village” idiots get you down. There are fools who have no idea how their words will be received. They blather on and hit “Send” without any forethought of consequences. Absolute blatherskates!
Hugs and lots of love, ~ Sil
Anita Bailey // December 6, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Please don’t let the remarks of stupid or vicious people get to you. I know it’s hard – I’ve not coped well with it in the past and I now very rarely post anything anywhere. However because I think it might possibly make a bit of difference I’m going to open up a bit – and please believe I’m not being boastful.
I started reading your blog years ago – and immediately went back and gradually caught up on every previous entry. I now get a reminder email and never miss a day. I’ve tried dozens of other blogs over the years – hundreds probably, some stay interesting for maybe one or two years, some get ditched in a month or less – but not yours.
I studied literature, philosophy and music at university and graduated in 1960, have an IQ within the top 5% of the population and most of my interests are academic in some way. Why do you think I rate your blog so highly that I never miss it??
AB
Tom - St. Louis // December 6, 2009 at 2:40 pm
John, I’ve admired your resilience … remember Mr. B? On the other hand, I have no idea how many straws were already laid on when this recent one hit. My own blog as been way to scant and uninteresting to attract the lurkers of the wee hours.
But I do suspect that your good cheer and sense of the greater humanity will prevail, and we will continue to enjoy your daily posts.
Maureen // December 6, 2009 at 2:55 pm
John,I think you are wonderful and never miss your blog.Difficult as it is under my present circumstances.Of late I have been told to go away and please don’t come back,by people I thought were friends.So please don’t let a total stranger get to you.We all think your poetry is thoughtful and love to read it. Some people go out of their way to start an argument and those are the ones you avoid.Don’t let them get to you. You cheer me up no end and I for one cannot do without your musings.xxx
Bozoette Mary // December 6, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Please don’t let the turkeys get you down. Your blog – and especially your poems – are highlights of my day.
Carol // December 6, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Please stay my morning wouldn’t be the same without you and coffee.
JohnG // December 6, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Nil illegitimi carborundum
Julie in California // December 6, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Like Anita Bailey, I’ve read your blog for years and can’t imagine a day without it. I used to post answers – but the new format of some years ago intimidated me, I guess, so I just selfishly get my fix of you and Graham and Dolly without ever letting you know how much of a part of my family you are. (whew – that’s a long sentence).
Frankly, I loved your poem yesterday – I thought it ranked up with that wonderful short story you wrote years ago about the soldier you met one winter night (I think my favorite ghost story of all times).
As another said – don’t let the turkeys get you down – there are a lot more of us eagles out there to soar with.
Betty Lou // December 6, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Like Julie in California, I have followed all of the moves you & Graham & Dolly have made, and I seldom commented – just enjoyed. I even have pictures of Harry Cat & Dolly on my screen Saver just as a remembrance. So, please stay.
John from Pointe Claire // December 6, 2009 at 6:01 pm
A Troll is a Troll is a Troll. Don’t let them send you up. But no harm in telling them off either.
Like the others here, I’ve read your blog for years, enjoy it and very much would like for you to continue.
Margery // December 6, 2009 at 6:14 pm
A Global Village will have a Village Idiot.
I love all these comments from your readers. So many of us take delight in your OLJ (and have stayed with you since Jesus was in kneepants, it seems)–I do hope you continue to put your creativity–and, brave man, yourself– out there. Wish I could just hand you a cuppa and pat your shoulder and say “there, there.”
As for the trolls–scroom.
Mage Bailey // December 6, 2009 at 6:37 pm
Don’t take it personally. Hugs…
Mary Lee McClure // December 6, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Oh, yes, fools will always be amongst us. Too bad they are so resilient, but you are more so, dear John. So just go right on being you,, and all us followers will follow as so many of us have for years now. A day without OGP would NOT be a good one!
Diana // December 6, 2009 at 6:45 pm
I echo everyone else’s comments. Why take notice of one moron when you have all these people who enjoy you, me included!
Diana
Bonnie // December 6, 2009 at 6:46 pm
An old word came to my mind, ‘balderdash’. That’s what I’d say to the ‘village idiot’.
novie // December 6, 2009 at 7:28 pm
“I echo everyone else’s comments. Why take notice of one moron when you have all these people who enjoy you, me included!”
Me too.
Dee // December 6, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Many years ago I was watching an old gal put on an honest-to-goodness medicine show at the county fair. Don’t remember what kind of elixir she was selling but I do recall a young fellow in the audience was giving her some serious heckling. Finally she looked sternly at him and said, “Young man, it’s people like you who cause the rest of us to practice birth control.” We applauded. He slunk away. Consider your unwelcome correspondent to be of the same ilk, polluting the gene pool.
In the meantime, please note that you are considered a genuine treasure and that trumps any village idiot. Hugs, darlin’, hugs.
Alison P // December 6, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I know it’s weird that I so enjoy your blog when I just don’t “get” poetry. But I recognise that as a fault in me and just enjoy your writing whilst not understanding the poetry. Not YOUR poetry, just any poetry.
Maybe this person doesn’t “get” it either but they’ve decided the fault is yours! Idiots.
Twilight // December 6, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I haven’t commented for a while, but this brought me out of lurkage. I’m an addicted reader of your Journal.
Treat the bastard with the contempt he/she deserves, John. I’d have fired off a fruity response to relieve tension, but your way is probably better in the long run.
I thought your poem yesterday was superb – reminded me of the best of World War Onr poets.
B.J. // December 6, 2009 at 8:33 pm
John…Please add me to the list of us who enjoy your daily entry to the nth degree and yet are not letting you know how much…often enough. These ridiculous nit-pickers are really, in the long-run, valuable ONLY when they remind us to say “Thank you, you make my day and every word you post makes me happy to know I discovered you!” Like Anita (above) I discovered you years and years ago and have read all the archives of you posts. We must all wrap our finer sensitivities in Teflon, sometimes! xoxo BJ
wayne // December 6, 2009 at 9:12 pm
I hope your hiatus is short, like an hour or two. But I understnd sometimes it just takes a while to get the taste or remembrance of hurtful comments out of your mind. It is easy to say to ignore the VI but hard to do. This ole Texan will wait patiently for you. You and Graham have become my friends I shall never meet but who(m) I adore.
Jim // December 6, 2009 at 10:17 pm
ILLEGITIMUS NON CARBORUNDUM
Julia // December 6, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I too have read of your life on a daily basis for some years now but never commented nor thanked you for the pleasure you give. Each day your writing offers humour and a gifted use of words to paint pictures which all your followers appreciate. Those people who lack intelligence and understanding can only insult and pass derogatory comments. Ignore them and as Mage Bailey says “don’t take it personally”. You are a treasure.
Kate & Jim // December 7, 2009 at 12:23 am
I once sent this quote to someone else, John. This time it’s for you…
“Other people’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”.
~Les Brown
See ya soon, I hope.
gary // December 7, 2009 at 12:33 am
Love and hugs John and Graham and Dolly, I mean it
Sheila // December 7, 2009 at 3:15 am
Dear John, I’ve been keeping up with you and Graham and Dolly for many years and wouldn’t miss an evening checking in to see what’s going on in your world, tho I don’t let you know it often enough.
I have your original watercolor postcard right here on my desk on top of my little black box and treasure it and glance at it often , thank you again.
Some people are just pond scum and enjoy hurting people , they are just to be ignored, as hard as that is when something like this happens.
hugs to you,
Sheila
Mark Spencer // December 7, 2009 at 6:34 am
John,
Hang in there- ignore the detritus that sometimes wanders into one’s inbox.
This is a poem, which needs to grow into its own. It has a raw power and imagery that draws in a reader with a swiftness hard to achieve in poetry.
It was the same feeling I had when reading the works of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon.
Take care,
from across the pond
Mark
Andrew Duffin // December 7, 2009 at 10:32 am
Non illegitemati carborundum, John!
Only you can say whether the journal is worth your while, but I can promise you there are many many friends out here who would deeply mourn its loss.
Brigitte // December 7, 2009 at 3:47 pm
John, please, don’t let the idiots get you down. All I can say is that I love the writings of the OGP and they’re all worthwhile to read and always food for thought. Would also like to add like Gary, love and hugs from me!!!
Mary from Michigan // December 7, 2009 at 7:14 pm
Echoing all the other wishes above, John. Loved your words for years and look forward to many to come. The poem struck me deeply. I do hope those are the last “flesh” words for all of us! Such hope. And now a request: could you please bring the soldier “ghost” story up again…I missed that one and would LOVE to read it! Best to you, dear John.
K8 // December 8, 2009 at 3:58 am
I’ll throw my few pence into the pot as well John. I’m probably a johnny-come-lately to reading your blog compared to all the other regulars, but I too remember that ass Mr. B, may his soul rot into nothingness. And I also read this journal every day, and would have a large hole to fill if it ever went away.
I know you didn’t threaten to stomp off forever, but just in case you toyed with the idea in the dim recesses of your mind …
And I too loved the poem. The sheer imagery took my breath away. Can’t give any higher praise than that!
Niki Hawkins // December 8, 2009 at 4:46 pm
I just tuned in, and I usually never miss a day reading your blog. You have such a gift, and I read your poems over and over again because they give me such pleasure. Often they stay with me for the whole day. There really are jerks all over the world!
Josephine // December 12, 2009 at 5:52 am
Don’t pay ‘em a mind lad……
We love you, that’s all that counts !
Like gas stations in rural Texas after 10 pm, comments are closed.