I’d like to throw the gauntlet to people who read this blog. (Wait, do I throw the gauntlet? Do I lay it down? Is it a glove I throw? Like one of those white lady gloves, but for Southern gentlemen?)
Regardless of the nomenclature, I have a challenge for everyone who reads this blog on a semi-regular basis. Specifically, those of you who read but don’t comment.
Now, hold on a second–I love you all just as much as the constant commentors. You choose to take time out of your day to read this blog when you could be reading other things like catsinyogapants.com.
But, you see, the intent of this blog is to generate conversation. That’s the sole purpose (well, that and for me to show photos of my cat to strangers).
So it would be great if you commented now and then. Not a lot, just a remark here or there when you have something to say.
If you’ve read the comments in the past, it may seem like all of the commentors know each other. We don’t. Sure, a few of my real-life friends (and my mom) comment on here every now and then, but most of these people discovered my blog somehow and stuck with it. And a lot of the traffic comes from search engines too–I honestly have no idea how many people are regular readers aside from those who comment.
Also, I’m going to pull the birthday card. I turned 31 today (I almost typed 21! Ha! I’m so old). Legally, because it’s my birthday, I can get whatever I want. Earlier today I asked a coworker to eat 6 saltines and she did it, right there on the spot. (I didn’t even have to make that up.) You get anything on your birthday.
So for today only, if you’ve commented on this blog in the past year, I’d ask you not to comment. You might intimidate the fresh blood. For all you commenting virgins, here’s some fodder for you to respond to if that helps. Hopefully one of these will incite you to respond:
- Professional baseball players should show kids how to be good sports by slapping hands after the game.
- The third Hunger Games book was a huge letdown.
- Rachel should have ended up with Joey.
- ________ is overhyped. You fill in the blank.
That should do it. Thanks for the conversation.
Sorry I have not commented more Jamey! Sweet picture of you and your mom by the way. Kind of unrelated, but still on the topic of comments: I wanted to ask what type of comment plugin you use to make sure nobody spams you comments section. Looking for one to put on our blog. Any thoughts?
NP–Thanks for the comment! Sure, I use Akismet. I don’t know what they do, but they keep 99% of the spam out of my comments. It’s an easy plugin to install. Good luck!
I don’t have an opinion per se, but I am interested to see if anyone still cares enough to argue about Rachel and Joey.
I’ve actually gotten a few e-mails from regular commenters who really want to comment on that, making me think that I need to write a separate blog entry on that topic.
First time commenting Jamey, throughly enjoy the blog.
1a. I think Friends is over-hyped. In order to argue about the Rachel/Joey reference effectively you need to have already sunk x hours of your life into 10 seasons of Friends. If you don’t have that background are you really going to spend that time in order to “catch up”? CAVEAT: Friends was a cultural phenomenon and even I know what you mean by Rachel/Joey even though I didn’t watch the show.
1b. Friends is over-hyped b/c a large part of Friends enjoyment is discussing these complicated, drawn out story line issues. This requires too much of a time commitment. Seinfeld the other hand can be enjoyed from watching a handful of episodes, and you can participate in pop culture references from the episodes you have seen.
2. Who cares if MLB players shake hands after games? 90% chance it isn’t shown on TV and 90% chance you are headed for the exit if you are at the stadium, so no one is going to see it. Kids in the 21st Century will be paying attention to what MLB players are tweeting/what they read in the news. It is more important that kids shake hands after their own Little League games. That WILL stick with them.
Thanks for the first time comment! Great stuff here.
You’re correct that I’ve sunk way too much time into watching a so-so sitcom (albeit a cultural phenomenon). I see your point about Seinfeld vs. Friends–Seinfeld is more water-cooler friendly, whereas the things that people discuss about Friends require a much larger time commitment.
As for MLB, I care! 🙂 But that’s a great point about how players act and interact after the game via Twitter and tabloids as well.
Alright, upon further contemplation I rescind my 2nd point about MLB. I think you are right Jamey. MLB players should shake hands, if we do it in Little League then we should do it in the bigs. Reasoning: What we expect of our children should be similar to what we expect of our adults; i.e. stealing and lying are always wrong, good attitudes and good music are always right etc.
Further comment on Friends: Even though I didn’t watch I would argue that since Friends was popular (and relevant) for a decade it can’t be classified as so-so. The people have voted with their remotes, let them be heard.
I can definitely appreciate that reasoning.
Okay, so-so was a bit strong. I’ll say “overhyped.” I’m not ashamed to admit that I like friends, but when you watch it next to similar “group of friends” shows like How I Met Your Mother and Happy Endings, I think it falls short in several key areas.
Fair warning: Your excellent points about Friends won’t deter me from writing a blog entry on Ross and Rachel. Possibly even tonight. 🙂
I think it’s unfair to say that Friends was “overhyped.” And if it was, it was rightfully so. The show was a cultural phenomenon. Not only did it inspire “The Rachel,” “How you doin,” and Central Perk imitations, but it has been voted as Best Comedy Cast of all time.
Now, I’ll agree that shows like How I Met Your Mother and Happy Endings have elements that make for a good show, but it wasn’t even until the second season of Happy Endings that critics found that it wasn’t trying to be a Friends copycat. Also, I think Friends (and Seinfeld) was the catalyst for shows like Happy Endings and How I Met Your Mother because it introduced a market for friend centered shows. If you can’t tell, I’m a huge Friends supporter. 🙂
Stacey–Okay, perhaps I chose the wrong word. Maybe I should just let Friends be what it was without applying adjectives to it. 🙂
You have a great point, after all, that Friends led to great modern “friends in the city” shows (and some really bad shows too). Friends was revolutionary. Will that word do? 🙂