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Since we now have a new place to recommend op-eds*,_______________
We can serve you some fish about recent top threads:
Some readers complain
Of feeling some pain
When a commenter seems to be out to lop heads.
* See "Recommended Op-eds" at the top of the sidebar.
[All of the fish below are personal communications to the editor.]
I’ve been dismayed by the increasing nastiness of discussions on your blog. I’ve occasionally had something useful to say, but have decided that I don’t want to participate in such an uncivil discourse. Anything I might say would be lost in the clash of wounded egos. I’m sorry to see it.
Now that I have seen how one commenter hurls the same absurd polemic against several other commenters on different topics, and dodges giving any of his own facts while constantly demanding more from others, I am simply going to ignore him on all topics.
In the comment threads I've read, I didn't see any evidence that anyone went over the top. A couple of the commenters are clever debaters. One of them seems a bit aggressive, and occasionally provokes or overstates, I would say unnecessarily, but that's just my take. I didn't think he was beyond-the-pale offensive or insulting. I also have to confess that my reaction is probably colored by the fact that I tend to agree with the general direction of his thought...I doubt that a long, articulate conversation between thinkers as convinced as these two are, unfortunately, achieves very much.
He's called me shallow, dismissive, and vague. Sounds to me as though he's defensive—which is another thing he's called ME, actually. I can take his crap in doses, but when it becomes apparent that nothing is going to come of replying, I take a break. I still haven't looked to see how he responded to my latest remark....
Hackles—bad to be up. Nice—always a good thing.
One of the first things Mike said to me loooooong ago was, "You're nice." I was insulted...until I realized how important and wonderful nice is.
I wonder if you are not getting too involved with your blog, which has expanded considerably in the last year or two from being an expression of your own thoughts and experiences to being a sounding-off piece for others who seem to have little or nothing else to do....
My big trip this year was to hike the Inca trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. Four days, twenty-six miles, high altitude of 14,000 feet in aptly named Dead Woman's Pass left me barely alive by the time we got to Machu Picchu. Since I don't learn from experience, I am going down and up in the Grand Canyon in March....
| Please comment |
As one of the new contributing editors to Moristotle, I want to take exception to the last commenters remark that we "have little or nothing else to do".
ReplyDeleteSpeaking for myself I have a photography practice I work on nearly every day, as well as volunteering at the local food bank and a senior homeless center. James is currently teaching theater at a California Junior College, and preparing a play; Motomynd has a retail business he maintains, as well as being a trail runner and a motorcycle rider around the Atlantic seaboard- so I think we all have plenty to do.
I envy you your adventures, I would like to see Manchu Picchu too, however regarding those of us who don't follow your paths as doing "nothing" is unjust.
Wow! Today's "Fish" is quite the read. Reminds me of the meetings New York publishing houses would convene in the 1970s and '80s when things would reach a boiling point with staffers and freelancers, usually over writers and photographers accusing each other of sabotaging stories - and sometimes, of the ultimate sin, ruining film. The meetings would always get out of hand and erupt into vicious arguments, which would sometimes spawn actual, if inept, attempts at brawls. If you can remember when Muhammad Ali versus Joe Frazier was considered an epic fight, you should have seen a 150-pound pony-tailed writer, wearing John Lennon glasses and a corduroy blazer, take on a 160-pound photographer sporting a full-blown permed "afro" and his best Vietnam-war surplus photojournalist jacket. Mercifully the in-house physical altercations would usually last only 15 seconds, instead of 15 rounds, and then everyone would go out for a beer and camaraderie would return. Thanks for rekindling those memories!
ReplyDeleteSo where is the write up about the Machu Picchu outing!?! I remember MP from a time when resentful locals, kidnappings by Shining Path guerrillas, and bandits stopping buses and ordering everyone off at gunpoint were much more urgent risks than altitude sickness. I had dismissed it as a tourist "walk-up" since it had become trendy, but it is great to hear it is apparently still a legitimate challenge. When do we hear the rest of the story? My apologies in advance if it was posted and I missed it. And will there be a write up about the Grand Canyon adventure? That sounds potentially epic, especially in March.
About that "little or nothing to do" comment that apparently touched a righteous nerve with Tom: I'm seconding you, Tom. Other than pursuing a full-time career that involves writing, photography, a stock-image business and retail and online stores, launching a second business devoted to national and international motorcycle travel and events coverage, maintaining my local mini-preserve for urban wildlife and helping with two environmental projects in Africa, keeping up with a two decades younger wife and two step-children at an age when I'm told I should instead be sharing a recliner with grandchildren, and training 10-15 hours a week, I am guilty of basically doing nothing with the rest of my time. By the way, we trail runners do our 26-mile trail marathons in times a lot closer to four hours than four days - and for the record that is a "real" four hours, not a Paul Ryan four hours. I will duly note, however, that we are not usually doing them at Machu Picchu type elevations.
Even though I am a vegan, thanks again for the spicy dish of fish!
motomynd, thanks for recounting those meetings of staffers and freelancers, glad you enjoyed having your memories rekindled by today's posting.
DeleteThe correspondent who barely survived the four-day, 26-mile hike along Dead Woman's Pass did send me an account of his trip. It's over 4,000 words long, so might need some editing for publication, if he's willing to let it be published on Moristotle & Co. A bargaining point might be to remind him that no one reading his account will think that he has nothing else to do but write for this blog.
I don't know whether he has any photographs, but I'll ask him.
I'll also ask him whether he plans to write up his Grand Canyon adventure.
That 26 miles in four days bit has my attention, so I would probably be willing to read all 4,000 words...if he is too busy to edit it. Six and a half miles a day sounds like it should be a climb instead of a hike.
DeleteTom and motomynd, thank you both for setting the correspondent straight on his mistaken impression of others who "sound off" here as having "little or nothing else to do" besides that—certainly not!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, either, that I like that characterization of what we do here. Do you think of yourself as "sounding off"? Of course, we don't know what he means by that.
I did, though, have to stop and consider whether I might, in fact, be getting "too involved" with blogging, and this morning I varied my routine by not checking the blog or email until after I'd had breakfast, walked Siegfried, and done a couple of chores for my wife. That was rather nice. Maybe I have had a bit of tunnel vision regarding Moristotle & Co. I've even realized that my practice of posting something every day—which, in fact, I have done since the end of April, when I retired—maybe shouldn't be the end-all or be-all of my life....
My somewhat cynical read of that was the usual gripe when someone doesn't agree with what was said: "Get a Life". You clearly has a life, a rich one in my estimation, and have given those who contribute to this endeavor a lot of your thoughtfulness and time. That said I would hope you strive to "walk in balance" in all elements of life.
DeleteNote to "correspondent[s]": if you have specific issues with my (our) writings, speak up- the point here is dialogue.
Hear, hear! Tom, thanks for that statement, which reminds me of another phrase that might apply to my commitment to the blog: a work of love. I think that the balanced walk depends on how well my other endeavors are works of love as well.
DeleteMorris, to paraphrase the quote "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter," I would say "one person's "sounding off" is another person's free speech." Although it is preferable to avoid rancor whenever possible, and have facts at the ready to back up one's opinions.
ReplyDeleteThat your blog could "be the end-all or be-all" of your rich life of retirement seems a reach; I always assumed it was merely an adjunct to the more important aspects of your world. If you are asking for a vote, mine would be to never put a daily blog post or any on-line pursuit ahead of a walk or any "real" time with family or friends. The web will probably be here forever. Unfortunately, family and friends do not share that same immortality.
In thinking about quantity versus quality, legendary photographer Ansel Adams said "twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop." If creating something laudable once a month was a good enough goal for Adams, then creating something grand on a daily basis just might be a bit of a stretch for any mere mortal.