My mega-commenter, Tulsa, was going through a worryingly schizophrenic phase a while back - adopting numerous different aliases to post her regular contributions to my comment-threads. Heck, she even has different sets of aliases for different blogs that she frequents as a commenter. 'Tis a strange hobby, to be sure.
If some of you were confused or startled by the apparent burgeoning of my band of commenters, that was the reason. The plethora of obscure place names (and often unlikely-sounding ones, too - 'Cut & Shoot' is a town in the Mid-West??) recently used by commenters were all her. Or nearly all her (I got confused by 'Mariposa' the other day: that sounds like one of hers, but is actually the nom de plume of an English med student of my acquaintance).
No, 'Tulsa' - or however she chooses to name herself - is still my ONLY regular commenter on this site. Caren and Georg and Leah are much more infrequent visitors, and my old boozing buddies JohnA and The British Cowboy hang out almost exclusively over on the Barstool.
So, thank you (yet again), Tulsa. And it seems she's back on the medication now: the multiple-personality quirk is being laid to rest. Or so she assures me; although we haven't been able to put that to the test since she has been unable to comment recently because of China's ongoing Blogspot ban (and has instead been sending me her remarks by e-mail; I have promised to transcribe them as soon as I get my 'comment' access back...... Later today, with a bit of luck!).
Ah yes, thanks to the timely assistance of my tame 'Net Doctor', Jiri, I have finally got the infamous Firefox dodge working, so should be able to access Blogspot and Wikipedia free of hassle again from now on. So, watch out for the belated appearance of a rash of 'delayed' comments from Tulsa.
She has also accepted a new challenge from me (I was taunting her the other day, disbelieving her claim that she's read everything on my two blogs):
She is going to compile a 'Top 10 Recommended Posts' list for Froogville and Barstool Blues.
Watch out for it. (It may take a while.)
4 comments:
so this morning I started scrolling through froogville to pick out some favorites for the Top 10. but it's kinda like going through a box of old papers in my parent's attic. very difficult to be efficient about it since I get drawn into the history behind each piece and want to re-read and contemplate, again and again.
how goes your list?
I'm not ruthless enough for this. I think I'm going to have to launch a quarterly 'Top 20' instead...
You're as prolific in your writing as I am in my commenting. (And I wouldn't want that to change! Keep writing!) So, I am modifying the challenge. Top 5 for the month.
Here is my April List for Froogville. Since April isn't over yet, I may revise it as you continue to post. And since I couldn't quite cut it to FIVE, we'll make it top SIX.
For April:
“The Last Word on the Cat Dog Controversy”, April 28, 2007
“Here Comes the Haiku”, April 27, 2007
“An Old Story, Yet Always New”, April 22, 2007
“More from John Banville’s ‘Athena’”, April 19, 2007
“What Cartoon Character are You?”, April 4, 2007
“Weekly Bon Mot”, April 2, 2007
Now, your turn --- I'm interested to see what you pick and why. (I can share why I picked the above, also.)
OK, here goes.
I omitted your "Last Word on the Cat & Dog Controversy" pick because..... well, it's not one of MINE. I was just posting another writer's invention. Ditto the Banville.
I might occasionally include quotations from other writers in these 'best of...' lists; but, in general, I would aim to make the selection as broadly representative as possible - so I'm unlikely to include more than one post of any particular type. And, in this month, my vote went to the Flann O'Brien.
And the haiku are, well, I wouldn't say too 'inconsequential', but they're just too darned SHORT to merit much consideration in an exercise like this.... unless there's something really exceptional about them.
Otherwise, we are much in agreement.
So, my 'Top 10 Posts for April 2007' would be:
Is Piracy bad? 29th April
(Quite a wide-ranging post, and more 'serious' than most in its topic. It has already spawned the beginnings of quite a lively comment-thread - and could become livelier still, if ANYONE actually starts reading this blog!)
Woof! 24th April
(A rare piece of original humorous writing. Uncharacteristically 'cruel' for me, but I like to demonstrate that I've got 'range'.)
A Beijing street scene 21st April
(Humorous, but with some serious political commentary embedded in it. And this is one of my only posts so far to prompt a comment from über-blogger friend, "J".)
Another poem, one of my darker ones 18th April
(Of course, I LIKE dark. I happen to think this is one of the best things I've written for a long time. And if it gives people the impression that there are scary facets to my personality.... that's not necessarily a bad thing!)
A brush with death 16th April
(A two-for-the-price-of-one post, combining a 'China Observation' with one of my better short poems.)
The Three Phases 14th April
(A triumph of succinctness! And - if ANYONE ever read the blog - this would be the post most deserving of an endless comment-thread.)
A bad China day 10th April
(OK, this is the third 'China Observation' type post to make it into the list, but.... well, I am in China, and there's a lot to write about here. I like this one because while it is outwardly just a diary piece, it is in fact a veiled [or not so veiled?] attack on many of the vices that I perceive in other 'China bloggers'.)
What cartoon character are YOU? 4th April
(Yes, I really like this post, too - but not only because Wile E. Coyote is such a cultural landmark of our times; more for what the affinity I feel with him shows about ME.)
The things that please me 3rd April
(There were several great poems, stories, or literary excerpts to choose from this month, but this, for me, is the clear winner. I absolutely LOVE this passage. And I love the fact that I came upon it so serenditously, idly flicking through the book in a bar.)
Weekly bon mot 2nd April
(Again, one of my more vicious and cynical jests - and a sentiment I would seek to distance myself from - but I do like it.)
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