It is with a heavy heart that I address you today. It appears that one of my blog posts has been misunderstood and it troubles me somewhat.
I was looking at my stats for a moment earlier, and saw a couple that interested me. The first was a referral from an erotica site that I am assuming had linked to my erotic poem She Enters the Room (Adult Content). That is fine, rather cool in fact. No problem with that at all. It is at this point my mini rant shall begin.
The second referral is the one that disturbs me. It is from the Enid Blyton Society. Regular followers of this blog will know that I am an ardent Enid Blyton advocate and that I find the assaults on her works in applying so called political correctness an affront. The changing of the original stories and characters to conform to what are supposedly acceptable modern day norms is in my eyes a disgrace. So to find that on a closed forum, as in one where I cannot defend myself, that I am being held up as an example of prejudice and bigotry against Enid Blyton is, to say the least, a little disconcerting. I was a member of the society at one point, but unfortunately have let my membership lapse.
Now I am sure that the original poster in that forum has judged my words and expressed his honest opinion. It is likely that my words may have been misleading and easily misinterpreted. There are however numerous other posts, including my ‘Collection Book of the Week’ posts on this blog that highlight my opinion vehemently opposing the amendment and changing of Enid Blyton’s works and my love of them in their original form. I guess that is what happens when somebody just looks at a single post without any greater overview of the whole.
Still, I am sure that it is my fault for not expressing myself in a sufficiently eloquent manner. I imagine it is my simplistic use of the English language, and my lack of appreciation that people unfamiliar with my blog as a whole, and unaware of my views concerning Enid Blyton could be reading a single post, that has led to this misconstruing of my views.
Anyway, I guess I will just have to be more guarded with my use of language in the future. I am certainly not wasting any more of my time worrying about the misguided opinions of a couple of posters on a closed forum. I have wasted too much time already. Mini rant over.
I must apologise to one and all for this post. This is not something that would usually bother me, but it’s Enid Blyton, an author I hold in the highest esteem. You can see how this has affected me, there doesn’t appear to be a single expletive in this post.
I hope you don’t lose sleep over this. After looking at the posts, my personal opinion is that they were blindly hunting for a fight. They took a piece of your post, which can be taken out if context. This stirs those with limited impulse control and away they go. The fact that one person was confused why you said what you said while still recommending the book says they aren’t really reading your true words. They’re reading your words under a warped filter. Doesn’t seem worth your time to get upset.
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Thanks, Charles. I agree. I am certainly not going to lose any sleep over it. My rant is over and done with and I shall move on. If it hadn’t been about Enid Blyton I probably wouldn’t have worried at all. I can understand the misconception if my post was read in isolation. I guess I need to remember that it is not only regular followers that could be reading. Shame on me.
Okay. Done. The world moves on.
Thanks again for your support and words, my friend.
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You’re welcome. People read what they want to read.
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That’s very true. Anyway, I’m over it now.
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Julian. You are awesome. That is all 🙂
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Thanks Sarah. I appreciate that. 😉
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Wow, you really are upset. Not one “fuck” in the whole post! I would agree that we should be careful in what we say, but I think readers also have a responsibility to not take what we say out of context. You didn’t write only one post on her books, and your love for her original books was evident in any case. Sure, be more careful in what you write, but don’t expect that every reader will be as careful with how they read your posts. Unfortunately, we cannot always protect ourselves from misinterpretation. Hope you’ll be back to your normal f-word laden prose soon 😉
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Oh I am sure the next post will be a fuck filled bonanza, unless of course it is a review. Thanks for your support and words. I agree that readers have a duty as well as writers.
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I love it! “A fuck filled bonanza”! (Still laughing … )
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I’m eye rolling. Honestly, allowing someone purchase on your emotions and time when clearly their skewed view of your thoughts and interpretations of your chosen reading material is below the bloody lewd Englishman you are. Also I love you. So fuck it. This expletive laced arsehole of a comment provided by Ionia Martin of readfulthings blog in case anyone would like to fucking take it up with me. Grow up you fools. Leave my Englishman the fuck alone.
Sent from an island in the sun
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Do not worry, my love. I know it is not worth my time or effort. Thank you for your beautiful comment. Expletive laced comments are my favourite, as you know, and you do it with such style and panache. You are incredible.
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Or I’m rabid and overprotective of my Englishman
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That makes me an incredibly lucky man.
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You do realise people find me less dangerous because I’m short
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Well more fool them for underestimating your mightiness
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Mighty Mouse?
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My mighty woman
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I need a hug
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Here is a hug and a kiss
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I love you too.
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I agree with everything Charles, Sarah, and Marie just said. I would agree with Ionia’s words also, but that might be misunderstood. I love you both!
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Thanks a lot Susan, I appreciate that.
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All too often people want to find a reason to be negative. Your ex society members just decided sine you mentioned Enid Blyton without their permission it was your turn. As my grandmother (sainted) used to say, “fuck em if they can’t take a joke.”
Sent from my iPhone
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Thanks John. I think your grandmother and I would have gotten on well.
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She was from the British Isles (Scotland)
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Don’t let them get to you Julian, it they chose to form an opinion based on a presumed misunderstanding of your writing then that is their problem. Worst of all when they decided to post their comments on a closed forum they just showed what cowards they are by not allowing you to defend yourself. Shame on them. Also, I can say that they should be cautious, Ionia may be short, but let me tell you from first hand experience that short people can be some of the most dangerous. I’m 6’4″ tall and my wife is 5’2″ tall and I can say with absolute confidence that she is tough. Anyway, hang in there and don’t lose any sleep over this.
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Thanks a lot Dom. I agree, it is not worth worrying about, and I am not. Generally I do not allow myself to even give things like this the time of day.
I also agree that being short does not preclude being mighty and tough.
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In my experience, no matter how clearly and simply you say something, someone can still misconstrue the information. Case in point, sometimes you say, loud and clear, “NO!” and yet, the person will continue as if you had said, “Maybe.” 🙂 If they can misinterpret “No,” as often happens, it would seem that nothing is safe.
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Great point, Chris. I think you are right, nothing is safe. We rise above it.
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I haven’t read your original post, but the quote was clearly taken out of context. I take it the commenters did not take the time to follow the link and read your entire piece. Don’t let the internet grouches get you down.
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Thanks for your words. I am not letting them get me down. I was just momentarily annoyed at the injustice. I don’t really care if people don’t like my opinion, it is my opinion. I don’t like it so much when they accuse me of having the opposite opinion to the one I do have though.
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That’s very frustrating–having opinions is good, having differing opinions from other people is excellent. Having the wrong opinion ascribed to you is unjust. You’re definitely right to remind us to be careful what we write since tone doesn’t always translate and there’s still no sarcasm font invented.
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I love the idea of a sarcasm font. I imagine that it would be my default font.
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The world is filled by people waiting for the opportunity to be offended – no matter how carefully one might write/talk, those few will always find a way to skew what has been said –
I’m squarely in the “Joke ’em if they can’t take a fuck” camp!
[hugs] 🙂
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Thanks for that. I agree totally.
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😦
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