Whine
I would like to humbly suggest that an urban homesteading lifestyle requires a certain degree of letting shit slide.
You have two choices: make peace with weeds, kitchen dishes, chicken shit and dirty fingernails or go crazy fighting the inevitable.
I would like to humbly suggest that blogging also requires a certain degree of letting shit slide.
You have two choices: make peace with assholes, content thieves and trolls or go crazy fighting the inevitable.
I’ve been going a little crazy lately. See, I don’t just want a productive garden, I want an attractive garden. I don’t just want a pantry stocked with home canned foods, I want a (relatively) clean stove top. I don’t just want quality time with my kids and a fun-filled home, I want organization that allows me to find stuff when I want it. I don’t just want to do all this crap, I want to write about it. I don’t just want to write about it, I want to not wake up to hate email attacking me.
My battle with setting goals that are quite frequently at odds with each other has reached something of a fervor lately. Much of this is related to how much time (and, more critically, emotional energy) I allow my blog to consume. Too much, as it turns out. There was a good several-week period recently where I was pretty sure Al Gore made a terrible, terrible mistake when he invented the internet.
See, I am still learning how to brush off the “realities” of being a blogger – like periodically being told things like:
You write like an 11th grade fat girl, who is poor, and cannot afford to eat right. Do us a favor and write about something youre [sic] proficient in..like shopping at Grocery Outlet and be [sic] single. Don’t dump your inadequacies on those seeking legitimate nutritional advice. Youre [sic] neither qualified, nor worthy to be leading people down your clearly desolate path.
Hugs and kisses to you, too, asshole.
Bump around the internet long enough and eventually you get sprayed with the hatespew of some real fuckheads. My turn to catch spew came a few weeks ago, and it was just one thing after another.
My blog has been very much an extension of a certain part of my life: the home stuff and garden stuff, and periodically things about my family and kids. Perhaps other bloggers keep better distance from their writing, I don’t know. I think most writers get rather attached to what they write, whatever the topic, or they wouldn’t do it.
People who don’t blog (and many who do) say that comments like the above gem are a sign that a site is popular enough to have trolls – and that is a sign that a blogger is doing great! Maybe so. But it doesn’t feel great – it feels exactly as if someone broke into your house, took a shit on your couch and then left you to clean it up. Was any permanent damage done? Well, not really…but I’m scrubbing shit and the loose-stooled perpetrator is down the road, already busy soiling someone else’s furniture.
I suppose the most gracious way to describe this would be “learning experience.”
Wine & Weed
Alright, enough of that. I didn’t actually intend to write about internet trolls, but the topic has clearly been clogging up my fingers, because any time I sit down to write, out it leaks.
Here’s the part of this post that isn’t butthurt navel-gazing. One of the reason that the urban homesteading world has an amazing and (mostly) supportive virtual community is because many of us feel like there aren’t many real-life people in our real-life world who are particularly interested in this Grow Your Own stuff.
All of us recognize that many hands make lighter work, and most of us want some degree of real life community. But you can’t sit around and wait for someone come knocking. If you want a community, you have to make it.
So, I would like to share my secret to making a Productive Home Friend. I call it the Wine and Weed.
Weeding Tool
If you know someone casually, maybe at work or from around the neighborhood, and they seem cool and interested in gardening (they don’t have to be hard core), ask if they’d be interested in setting up a few labor trades over the summer. A couple hours one week at your place, then a couple hours a few weeks later at their house.
Hosting house supplies wine. This is the important part. You aren’t just offering manual labor for manual labor. You are throwing a Mini Productive Home Party. It’s fun! There’s booze!*
Pick someone reliable, and make sure you are reliable, and keep “swapped hours” pretty equal so no resentment builds up. If you have kids, a Productive Home Friend with compatible age and temperament kids is a huge bonus.
Walking around a garden with a friend for 90 minutes, drinking wine and pulling weeds or raking out mulch can get an unbelievable amount done for almost no perceived effort. There is a synergy that happens when you work together with someone that really does lessen the burden.
If you have a particularly close friend, you could even host a “Wine, Whine and Weed” trade, akin to the “Stitch and Bitch” parties knitters host.
The point is to introduce the concept of friendly socialization while still getting shit done. People really go for it – I just floated the Wine and Weed concept at a coworker of mine last night and her response was, “sign me up.”
…And pass the wine.
Do you have a real life community of support for gardening, canning, and other productive home activities, or are you the only kook in your town doing this stuff?
Trolls are nothing but pussies because they are too scared to own their comments by putting their real name on it. Just sayin’.
I think you’re a genius, and those trolls can just up and die. No, really. Anyone that feels the need to lash out like that when visiting/reading your blog on their own power deserves horrid, limb rending punishment. As a fellow blogger, I’d say, yes…trolls mean you’re doing something right…but internet drama and animosity can kill a blogging buzz that not even 100 awesome comments can ease. Perhaps I, too have thin skin, and am too attached to my writing, but I’m right there with you… Let’s both work on the attachment thing though, agreed? You burning out on blogging would be like a light going out. For serious.
PS. Your idea is forehead smacking awesome, just sayin’.
i agree! you are a tremendous writer. funny, witty, introspective, SMART and enjoyable
: ) keep pluggin on!!! i love it!
Screw the trolls, they’re just jealous you’re so much more awesome than them. They don’t have the courage to do what you’re doing; that is writing about the things that you’re passionate about, baring your soul (and kids, and hubby, and life, and home) to the world. That takes guts. The trolls are just there to comment on the things they don’t have the balls to do (and they’re commenting anonymously, to boot). I personally find your blog inspiring (and your pantry, can you come do mine?) Keep up the good work, because for every troll who tries to bring you down, there are 1,000 of us who really do care.
Trolls can go suck a duck! You are awesome and I am very grateful for your writings! You are an inspiration for me. God bless you!
Totally misread the vowel in “duck” the first time around. 🙂
hoo00 bad girl!
Haha, I did too, but didn’t think about it until you pointed it out!
Trolls mean you’ve hit the blogging big time, so….a good thing??? 🙂
In any case, Wine and Weed sounds like teh awesome. I’m going to have to figure out who to booze up pronto.
I say keep telling it like it is. I read your blog because you’re real. Like me, you are trying to make a difference in your own life. Making or experiencing things that are important to you, not some troll. Not everyone can taste the difference between fresh roasted coffee and folgers. Seriously, if they don’t get it, they should just move on. I don’t see a subtitle in your blog name that says it was written for a particular person.
Wine and weed is SUCH a great idea!! Thanks so much for sharing it w/ us!:) We moved next door to our best friends and have really been an encouragement to each other w/ gardening! We even water each others gardens while one of us is gone. Our neighbors even started gardens after hearing about ours! The culdasac looks remarkably better, too, w/ all the flowers and plants growing each year!
Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I love your blog, and think you are an excellent writer. I look forward to your new posts. Love from Colorado!
OMG. What an asshole. There are so so many more good people to write for…delete and don’t even finish reading such trash. Once you get the ‘jest’ of an email…delete it if it doesn’t ~smell~ right. No need to put your nose so close…you can’t shine shit…it’s best to ~flush~ it quickly. Your site offers up more goodness than a ‘shit-head’ could ever understand. Sounds like their reading skills are lacking. Keep up the good work, if I had the same resources available to me when I was your age, well, let’s just say, I’d want to be just like you! Love your site, love all your stuff…keep your fingernails dirty…and your mind clear…you are doing a great job! 😀
Ah trolls that comment on poor grammar, and then use poor grammar themselves!
Send me the trolls 🙂
I have no problem telling internet people where they can shove their comments with offers to help them figure out how.
But for every troll, you have so many more commenters who enjoy your writing and your subjects. Thank you for your gardening exploits, recipes, and frugal tip notes, to name a few things that come out of your blog.
Also, thank you so much for your particular usage of expletives when appropriate! And not being afraid of four (three, five, six?) letter words. A woman who is not afraid to add a random “fuck yeah!” in context is the second best part of your blog after content. 😉
Re the whine portion, the people who say nastygrams are a sign your blog is popular are right, and that’s the way you have to take it. Think how incredibly pathetic that person is, they can’t spell, they hardly make sense, and they are so, so jealous because you have family, home, garden, interests in life, etc. You have to let it go, judge how to spend your time, playing with your kids, or obsessing over drivel like that, it’s pretty obvious which you choose.
(Of course, you could always publish their email address :-).
Ha! I read the title wrong! I thought that was your coping machanism. A little weed, a little wine… Weeding. Got it! So sorry to hear about the assholes. Its never fund dealing with them, let alone anonymous assholes. If it were in person you could at least hit them, or know whose car to deflate the tires on later. Love your blog. Would hate to see you go. Just take to heart that some of us really really appreciate it.
I love your honesty. I just recent came across your blog – a friend of mine shared your post ‘the terrible tragedy of the healthy eater’ and I seriously fell out laughing! I think you’re doing a great thing, sharing your perspective and tips for how to lead a better life, and although not everyone will agree or understand, you’re being true to yourself. Those who do get it will be enriched, and vice versa. Fuck those trolls! And I love the wine and weed concept, sign me up too
It was probably a Dr or dietician from the sound of it…
I agree, it’s probably an MD or maybe even a dietitian, but I’m an RD (Registered Dietitian) and I love you blog! Well, a holistic dietitian who often disagrees with MD’s. I love real food and not that diet crap, and love to culture vegetables! I just made my first fermenting crock (with the airlock), thanks to you, for relatively cheap, and had the most delicious apricot jam! Next time I make my kraut, I’m using my new airlock crock 🙂
Please don’t let this get you down, you have a lot of great information, so keep it up!
it is refreshing to read something so honest. I actually can’t believe what people spend the time to write just to bring another person down just to make themselves feel better with their own inadequacies. and they only do it because they would never have the balls to say it in person. I was scared to even enter the world of blogging due to trolls. You are doing an amazing job.
I have a huge pile of dishes in my sink everyday to spend sometime to garden, look after my kids or blog. I take a messy fun house over a clean un fun house that lacks a creative energy. I have too many hobbies, my house shows it.
I love your weeding with wine idea. WHY have I never done that before?!
Your awesome. keep it up.
I’m halfway round the world and I love reading your blogs… even tho sometimes I have to wait for a season or two for the advice to apply to our climate, but hey it gives me a good chance to get everything organised early 😀
I must confess though. I thought the title was describing your mechanism for coping with the trolls. A little weed, a little wine… It is always hard to deal with assholes. Especially anonymous assholes. In person you can at least note which car to deflate the tires on. Just take to heart that there are a lot of us who really really appreciate your efforts.
This is very, very important. I do this with my brothers and sisters and parents. We combined the May birthday parties last year with a painting party for one sister with a new house. Got 6 rooms painted, then had supper and cake.
My parents have people begging to let them help with cattle work. Neighbors, cousins, etc., beg to be able to be out riding a horse in -10F weather, or 107F weather, if the work calls for it.
I have a great friend that used to come help me with hosts of projects. Creating a brick path, sewing a Halloween costume, sanding my wood huge patio, painting my house. I helped her too, but she had an apartment! 🙂 We now live 2 states away from each other. I wish she lived down the street again.
this is FUCKING fantastic. Sorry about the shit and runner – as small online business owners, we suffer most from people copying our shit and other people wanting us to give it to them for free because they’re famous. Not exactly awesome either. Flattery is the best we could come up with too, but damn if it doesn’t suck.
Love this idea. I definently would get more work done with wine and a buddy. Sorry about the trolls. I don’t have enough traffic on my blog to have had this joyful experience, but I am sure my day will come. Keep writing for you, that is what it’s all about.
Some people are just assholes…and there isn’t anything you can do about it. You’re apparently doing something right by having the following you do, so ignore the trolls. Or call them out on their shit talking nonsense so the rest of us can mock them! 🙂
I grow a bunch of veggies in my garden, preserve my food, keep chickens, and attempt to keep a clean house but sometimes it’s not all that presentable. Why? Because I’m gardening, preserving food, or cleaning up after chickens. I’ve given up on having a house where people stop by and go “oh my gosh! your house is spotless!!!”. I feel my friends and loved ones know that I’m a busy girl, and that they can always count on a good meal, an ice cold beer or big glass of wine, and clean bathrooms. I ALWAYS make sure to clean the bathrooms. But scrubbing the floors? Dusting? That’s reserved for rainy days. Or non outdoor chore days. Or days I don’t feel like blowing off chores and doing something fun. Life is short. You have to live it doing what makes YOU happy. The dusty end tables and lint on the carpet will still be there long after we are gone from this world. So I’ll deal with a less than perfectly clean house and dirt under my nails if it means I get to know where some of my food comes from while getting fresh air and living life! Keep up the insightful posts. And keep dropping the curse words. There just isn’t always an acceptable non cussing replacement!
Sorry about the pesky trolls! One day, an effective Troll Repellent will be made.
I like the idea about the Wine & Weed!
I find the whole troll-thing fascinating primarily because it’s a bit mind-boggling. What is the impetus for such an email?
I mean that seriously, you know, as a question: why do trolls exist?
Perhaps the problem is that I’m trying to think about this logically and not fully grasping what value is derived from sending such an email or how that value could possibly exceed the cost one must incur to take the time to pen it.
I would love to know the answer to this question and yet I hesitated to comment because it was unclear to me that the value of knowing (assuming there is an answer and I would discover it if I posted) exceeded the effort required to post. Given that, I can’t imagine why anyone would take the time to spew hate in an email.
It has to be more complex than people simply being mean, right?
They are bored and have nothing better to do with their time other than to be argumentative. They think that they are being clever and derive a superiority out of it. Seeing how grotesque they can behave is like a sport for them. In a sense they are a joker and want to watch your world burn. At least that has been my experience with trolls, or my occasional drop into trolling back trolls.
Trolls are bullies that don’t get enough bullying done in their real life.
I feel sorry for bullies, even though I have been the object of a bully. And that was in the work place, with my job depended on keeping the bully happy! That is stressful!
I believe bullies don’t know how to behave or fit in with people. They spew out their negativity in a grasp for power over you due to their lack of understanding that love begets love, and hate begets hate. They have only received hate them selves, sadly. Someone bullied and diminished their self worth, likely when they were young, and they don’t know how to reclaim their value. We will never get rid of bullying by saying we won’t tolerate it. Bullies need intense therapy to change their ways, and that isn’t going to happen on the internet is it?!
In this venue they truly do have to be ignored.
But I am glad you outed this one in a way. It motivated me to leave a comment, when I am not one to normally comment. I love your blog, and hope that you know most people read and are inspired and are able to continue on …. with their day being brighter and more hopeful because you did take the time to write and share your perspectives. And I love the Wine and Weed. Brilliant!
Dropping in on your site is like slipping into a little café for tea and scones or juiced carrots and ginger, if that is what one prefers. It is a sweet part of my day where the great info and pretty pictures uplift and get me moving on my own projects. A delight!
I read your blog all the time but rarely comment. However, after reading the above negative load of CRAP I felt the need to tell you that I LOVE your blog, I love your sense of humor and OF COURSE IT HURTS to have ugly comments directed at you. I am sorry that one (or a few) of my fellow humans have so much time on their hands (and hate in their hearts) that they choose to spend their day on the internet offering “helpful advice” to folks like you….when clearly they should be spending that time taking a high school grammar course.
Hugs to you and yours!
Dealing with trolls and stalkers is just one of the nasty side effects of sharing our minds in this format. The anonymity opens up channels for people to behave in horrible ways. For a few years I had a crazy stalker following me from blog to blog, post to post, email address to email address, slamming me with dozens of awful hateful letters and comments every day. We were actually friendly at one time, so that made it even more awful, that she wasn’t completely anonymous (though we never met in person). I gave up blogging altogether for several months because she just wouldn’t stop. Wish I could say I found a way to rise above it, but I couldn’t get past it; it hurt so much to be torn apart like that, several times a day.
I think you’re fantastic. A reader suggested your site to me a few months ago and now it’s one of my favorites. Keep on truckin’.
Hi Chandelle.
I had the same problem with a friend of a friend (Debi) who was loathsomely vitriolic about myself and other friends of Debi’s on-line, so myself and another friend ‘named & shamed’ this demented sick creep on-line and sent her back to the hole from which she had crept.
Please do not allow or let these jealous / unintelligent / vicious …. …. people to stop you writing.
Just think of how their faces must look as they drip their poison on-line.. just like witches, with bitter screwed up lips and squinty eyes. They may think it is doing YOU damage but it is not, it is actually causing their own Soul & Spirit to be seriously harmed.
Now think of a happy person who laughs and is overjoyed to find and read amusing / informative / etc Blogs (such as Erica’s) and wishes other people joy in their lives and you will see a completely different face. A happy face.. smiley, open, approachable, friendly.. do I have to go on?
God help the people who are connected with the Trolls for they are doomed to be with an old witch.. ugh.
Go back and pick up your pen ‘writing woman’ and tell the witches what my mother said to a London cabbie who tried to cut her up, “Dear man, go and make love elsewhere”.. think about it!
Sara
(Also, just curious but what post was that troll responding to? I just paged through and can’t find anything where you’re claiming to offer “legitimate nutritional advice,” much less dumping on anyone seeking it.)
Wine & Weed is a great idea! I already kind of do this with my sister, Mom, and one of my friends… but until you JUST said it… I hadn’t thought of including wine. Which I will now be doing. 🙂 Starting this weekend! Sorry to hear negative comments are getting to you, must be grade school (he wouldn’t throw rocks at you if he didn’t like you!) mentality. I’m a fan cause you keep the Pacific North West gardening vibe alive for me when I’m stuck inside at a desk job on fantastic sunny days like today. So thank you for that! Hope that somehow helps counteract the trolls. 🙂 ~ L
I appreciate you and the quality content to produce so much. Thanks for continuing to write even when life gets crazy and detractors pop up!
I have said it before and will say it again: you are a genius! Seriously. This town is full of people doing this sort of work, but I love the idea of combining socializing with gardening. I know just the right person too. Thanks for the idea!
Erica, I love your Weed & Whine idea. It’s brilliant! Now to find friends who are interested in the weeding part…
As for the trolls, like many things in life, it is a lesson in balance, attachment, response and even grace. You are brave enough to put yourself out there and as a now public person you will catch shit for that from a small minority as long as you are in that sphere. I encourage you to keep doing what you are doing (cause you are hilarious, inspiring and way better than my Western States Gardening Encyclopedia) and try not to take a the rantings of hateful, jealous and sometimes just plain crazy people to heart.
Aww, I thought you were going to talk about cannabis.
Well then you could Weed and Weed. Not sure how much you would get down however 😉
Yeah, she and I both live in Washington state, so I figured she was talking about the recreational sort of weed. 😉
Love, love, LOVE your blog. I’m so sorry you’re getting crap from idiots that can’t write proper English and have nothing worth saying. Keep doin’ your thing. 🙂
Wine and weed… totally awesome.
Dang it! I thought you were offering weed but it turns out you’re only offering wine. :o(
I too, (being from Colorado), thought you meant some other kind of weed. 😉
I actually love this idea. Two summers ago I started canning with a friend. It makes ALL the difference in the world. I’ve never invited someone to garden with me, but canning together was a huge hit, and we both went home with great stuff.
Meh, trolls are just weak little bullies. Ignore them and most of all don’t feed them. What you are doing is of actual use to a great many people. It’s inspirational, uplifting and informative. It’s also quite humorous at times and your style of writing is accessible and fun, much like a friend. Chin up, and carry on!
More love coming from Colorado. I love your blog. I cannot thank you enough for the many laughs, valuable gardening and preserving info and introducing me to Mr. Money Mustache’s blog as well. Brush off the asshole and keep up your amazing work!
YOU ROCK!!! Your blog is my favorite and today you held top spot hands down! You broke the “F’ barrier with such grace! I have been visited by those god awful trolls also. Then you go on to offer a fantastic idea for getting shit done. Going to totally steal that idea!!!
PLEASE don’t stop, keep it fun, keep it real…… AWESOME!
Time is too precious and life too darn short to waste it on the negatives. As soon as the first negative word pops up, delete the comment. Who needs them? Besides, you’ve a Wine and Weed to get moving on! Take care now.
Unbelievable. I cannot believe the crap that people will write to each other in this anonymous Internets world. Even if I was truly, verifiably angry with someone, I could never compose such a message to another person. Jaysus. Keep on plugging Erica, your blog is awesome and a serious inspiration for folks such as myself who don’t yet have the option of gardening. You rock, and trolls can go eff themselves.
Erica, I’m not a blogger, but I do publish a magazine so I have some experience when people decide they just have to be a total asshole about something you’ve written. (And yes, that type of comment goes beyond disagreement or constructive criticism, of course). Personally, I tend to tell myself a story about someone where everything is going wrong in their life and they’re in a bad mood and taking things out on other people and how sad it is that they’re in that position.
That’s not a great way of dealing with it, though, so I want to share with you The Bloggess’ way of dealing with this. When you get a comment like that, change it. Edit the comment to say the exact opposite of what the person said – wow, you’re awesome, you’re great, blah blah blah. And then publish it. It will freak them out, and give you, at the least, some less than charitable giggles.
Honestly, you write a blog because you have something to say. You invite comments for a conversation. But none of us is required to put up with abuse in real life, and we’re not required to do it in electronic life, either. Remember that the world is full of people from all levels of the emotional spectrum, and one of the lower level just found your blog… sad for them, but it doesn’t have to be sad for you. If they want ‘free speech’ – they can start their own blog.
Let me know if you try the ‘change the comment’ scheme… I think it would be hilarious. (Not appropriate for my site, unfortunately.)
i had no idea you could do that! so awesome. I hope you try it Erica. Could be a load of fun. Love the Bloggess.
x2 !! –
&- trolls have no life — you do!
Thank you for sharing your blog with us!
Yeah, I’m not a huge fan of the, “You’re so popular that monkeys fling shit at you. And that’s good!” So, that means you get to fuck all the female monkeys, right? Or does it mean that as long as you are hiding behind a rock masturbating while looking at the alpha female, you won’t get your ass kicked? I can’t remember. These primate behavioral studies are so confusing.
Anyway, I had to laugh at that email you quoted above. Has that moron not seen your mad cooking skillz and your amazing 6 pack abs? Wait, a second, maybe I need to start flinging shit at you, too.
And I’m always up for a w/whine and weed. As long as it’s always hosted at my house.
I am lucky enough to be a part of the Virginia Urban Homesteaders League, and it is such a blessing. Members host classes to share their knowledge, we have seed and Larder Swaps, a great Facebook community, an active meet-up page, and, most importantly, AMAZING people. It really helps so much to have like-minded friends.
Hi Lanette, maybe you guys could be our ‘sister’ group… I am from The Urban Homesteading Club (Canberra & Surrounds) in Australia!!
This old mom attempts to get the 19 & 23 yr. old to watch their language, but I have to say, I love your blog and either learn something or get a good chuckle reading it. Wish I had someone to wine & weed with, but too many moves have left us far away from most friends and family. Plus, except for the 23 yr. old, I think most people think I’m a bit kookie btwn the garden, chickens and cultures brewing in every corner of the house. I never can understand why if a person doesn’t agree with something, such as a blog they are reading, they don’t just walk away and quit reading. Just remember what we tell our children…sticks and stones, right? Thanks for all your great blog posts.
That was such an ugly posting from the troll it hurt MY feelings just reading it. I envy your spunk, I would have folded and gone home 🙁 thanks for hanging tough and giving us all your brilliant postings! You are appreciated more than you know.
Even if you WERE an 11th grade fat girl, this is the best NW gardening blog I have seen so far. So, your troll can take his/her poor, badly-nutritioned, single, Grocery Outlet impression and stick it in his/her heiny so that I can read more blog posts.
Please keep them coming!
butthurt navel-gazing bwhahahahahahhahahahaha funny chit girl!!! On topic…yeah, let the a’holes slide and enjoy your day. You are doing soooo much good, helping us along, sharing your successes and failures. Never doubt that you are a breath of fresh air in the often toxic world that has become the social media.
Stinkin’ trolls! We can just hope they don’t get back to their caves in time and the light of day turns them into stone… About having a clean house–Always spiff things up the first time a person comes to see you. Forever after, they will just think you’ve had a really rough day when they come over and things are normal. Works!
Wow, that was a nasty troll! As someone who is a bit overly schooled in Nutrition, I feel you are fully qualified to give sound advice…just sayin’. I loved your post and laughed along the way as I read, but I was also feeling your pain. It does hurt even when you know it’s a troll who has nothing better to do. Carry on sharing your wisdom, I am enjoying it all!
I was just going through the latest spam on my blog and I’m wondering if that “11th grade fat girl” comment was spam. I’ve noticed that lately, the spam messages have changed from gibberish to stuff that sounds almost legit – except that it has nothing to do with what I wrote about. Like this:
“The next time I read a weblog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as considerably as this one. I mean, I know it was my selection to read, but I in fact thought youd have something interesting to say. All I hear is usually a bunch of whining about something that you simply could fix if you werent too busy searching for attention.”
LOL! It sounds *almost* like a legit comment but still has that weird awkwardness, like the 11th grade fat girl comment. In any event Akismet flagged it as spam. The “author” has a gibberish name and also sent several other (different) spam messages. My guess is that spammers are finally figuring out how bad their English is, so are now just cutting and pasting stuff they’re lifting from Facebook and elsewhere instead of trying to compose their message themselves.
But… what is the goal of these posts?? Are they linking to some virus laden website or something? It’s not like they’re trying to sell Viagra.. or are they?
The goal of the spammers is to get you to approve a post so a link to their “business” appears on your page. Actually, I’m not sure a real person is behind any of these since they don’t appear to skew my stats; my guess is the stuff is posted by bots. The quote I posted above was from ‘Prealayzell’ who has also authored 4 of the 14 new spam messages that I have this morning. Each message is different; some praising, some criticizing the post they’re on, but in a way that indicates they never read the post. If I approved them, there would then be links to “cheapchinajordans” and “buynfljerseys” on my blog.
This morning, ‘Sarthersagews’ commented with something similar to what I posted above:
“The next time I read a blog, I hope that it doesnt disappoint me as significantly as this 1. I mean, I know it was my option to read, but I essentially thought youd have some thing fascinating to say. All I hear is really a bunch of whining about something which you could fix if you werent too busy searching for attention.”
So they’re just reusing the same themes in quotes, hoping one of them will get through.
Sarthersagews also links to “cheapestjordans”. Cheap Jordans (shoes?) and NFL Jerseys seem to be what they’re pitching the most by way of spam comments.
I highly recommend the Akismet plugin for catching spam. It’s about 99.9% accurate and separates out all the spam so you can delete it permanently. It’s available for WordPress, but I’m not sure if it can be used on Blogger blogs or not.
I got that same one the other day and it actually had me pause, head tilting thinking to myself “the hell?”
Then I shrugged and deleted it. Its kind of ridiculous and I always wondered if people got paid to put up comments like that on blogs who would obviously delete them, but bots makes a lot more sense.
I know! It’s like Negging! That’s what this is!
Oh, does that make it my turn? Let me try!
(sorry for the link, but its to a comic about it and it leaves me in giggles)
http://xkcd.com/1027/
No, that comment was in direct response to a prior comment (by the same commenter, nearly as vile) being deleted for violating my “don’t be a dick” comment policy. Akismet, my spam filter, is amazingly good at catching those spam type comments.
You can tell the trolls because the return email address they give when commenting is something like: gofuckyourself @ yahoo.com or shutup @ bitch.com.