I know it's a little too late to be writing this given that the whole "Minishorts and Kennysia Blogs Under Fire" saga is more or less over but then again after my usual blogsurfing I came across this very good post from this very good post. Then again…seeing that in a couple more weeks some of us are going be in the limelight again (hopefully) due to Blogathon 2005. I thought that it might be a very good idea continue those posts to at least remind myself of one thing.

My blog is mine alone and I hold responsibility over what I write.

So without further ado, I wrote this:

Edrei's List Of Responding To Blogging Criticism:

1. Take a walk…a long walk.
2. Play games where you know you'll win with a little challenge.
3. Get drunk or at least a little tipsy.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3.
5. Always look at the critique from their point of view without resorting to your own point of view or creative thoughts of murder and violence.
6. Ask someone else how in the world would you accomplish step 5.
7. Never use negative sounding replies unless absolutely necerssary.
8. Repeat steps 1 to 3 again
9. Be as obliging, diplomatic and courteous as you can without bursting a vein even if the critique makes no sense and is insulting.
10. Do not humour or inflate the ego of the critic. That's just asking for trouble. Just back up your facts and hang on to it.
11. Don't waste time defending your personal integrity no matter how tempting it is.
12. Let the critique go.
13. Let the critique go.
14. Let the critique go.
15. Let the critique go.
16. Last but not least…repeat steps 1 to 3 one final time.

Now before anyone points out that I don't do this. I like to clarify that this list is what I am TRYING to do in the first place. I'm not exactly what you call a person with a long fuse and given my sense of insecurity about some things in my life, it can be pretty hard for me to remember my own advice without someone there to gently nudge me in the back.

All in all though, it just comes back with trying to remember the reasons you blog and hang on to those reasons. It isn't really fair sometimes when you begin to blog for an audience then claim that your blog is of your own when you are under fire and its convienient for you to claim so. Sometimes things like that cut both ways and knowing that it stings you rather badly is one way of finding out that it may be true in the first place.

We just got to learn to take responsibility for our own actions that's all and realise that whatever we bloggers post about in our daily lives is our responsibility to bear no matter whatever good or bad effect comes out of it especially in regards to us.

Just remember this.

There are 6 billion people out there. What's a few anonymous bad apples compared to what you can find out there? At the end of it all, there is still a world for your taking and friends who are there to remind you why you're their friend. You just have to work on that instead.

Because when you do.

I'm going to really ask you how you do it.

Additional Note: I wonder if anyone gets the Baz Luhrmann reference in this post?