Whoa. Interesting stuff today.
Quick reminder. I blog daily at my JibberJobber blog. I have my own little rules there, and stay on-brand. I created this blog because I needed a creative outlet, and an opportunity to feed my blogging habit in a different way. So here you see all kinds of weird stuff, I don’t follow the same rules, I haven’t put in the “follow this comment by e-mail” widget that I preach about, and I write about whatever I want. And I even use strong language sometimes. Shoot, I recently put a picture of Jessica Alba, which I don’t think I’ve ever done on the JJ blog.
Some of the things I find interesting might be considered “calling out” others. Like Onstar. That was a funny one, although Jessica Alba hasn’t replied to me yet. Dan Sweet thinks I was fishing for link-bait (what’s up with calling me an “amateur” btw??). Not really. I just thought it was so very funny, I work at home alone, and couldn’t share the story with anyone! What a lost opportunity! So I blogged about Jessica Alba.
But here’s the surprising thing. I never started this with the intention of anyone reading it. Really, I want you to see how brilliant I am over at JibberJobber. Even though I don’t really want readers here, they have come. Partly because I blogged about SOBcon 2007, each and every presentation, I got over 50 linkbacks. Hum. I didn’t ask for it. And I secretly wished that all those people would have just said “go sign up on JibberJobber and take care of your career!” Alas, that didn’t happen.
Even one of my fav bloggers (hi Char!), who celebrated a blog anniversary with me, didn’t know we had that in common… because I didn’t write about it here. She follows my personal blog (this one), not my passion and life blog (JibberJobber)? Who’d a thunk.
So here is the funny part.
I blogged about MyBlogLog being down for a while. Just because it is an integral part of my blog marketing strategy. And it upset my day. NEVER, EVER did I expect anyone from MBL to comment on my post. Kudos to Robyn for leaving a very professional, appropriate, on-brand comment. I imagine she was cussing under her breath (southern accent and all), wondering why I called them out. It’s simple, really. I run a website too. And I want to be wildly successful. And I don’t ever want the site to go down. I’m sure it will. I hope that the message I post is prettier than what they had up…. but nonetheless, I posted this because it makes me think about what will happen as I get bigger. So, sorry to the MBL team if you felt I crossed the line on that post.
Also, I was walking by the TV one morning when I heard Daisy Martinez include Spain as a country in Latin America. It really cracked me up, and was similar to the other little mistakes that I’ve seen and posted about on this blog. Guess what? Daisy must have Google alerts on her name or her show (Daisy Cooks). She responded (this still cracks me up):
Thanks for pointing out the very obvious, Jason. I always include Spain in my list of all things Latino, because it is a very common denominator in the history of all of Latin America. I’m sorry that I wasn’t clear enough in the interview, but I can assure you, having traveled through the country several time, I am perfectly aware of where Spain lies.
Regards,
Daisy
I don’t know if I pissed her off or not, I’m pretty sure this is her and not a publicist. I’ve bolded the stuff that kind of tip me off to her displeasure about my post. So here it is Daisy: I’m sorry if I crossed the line with you. I knew that you know where Spain lies. I figured it was just one of those very, very quick things that slip out… everyone makes those common mistakes. But if you include Spain in Latin America, because of it’s influence (on everything, not just food), I’ll buy that. I’m cool with that. It just sounded funny.
Plus, I agreed with you that sofrito rocks… anytime you are in my neck of the woods give me a ring, I’d love to cook with you (I love cooking) – maybe we could have a block-party. I’d even fly my mom up here so we could all cook together!
Anyway, that’s my dilemma. No one is supposed to read this blog (but you do). I may have crossed the line… but heck, I’m a blogger, what do you expect. Now, back to work, my boss is looking over my shoulder wondering why I’m blogging on my personal blog while on his dime :p!
Oh wait, I am the boss :p
Hi Jason,
I am actually going through the same question in my head. I live and blog from Pakistan and have recently been documenting the conflict at Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad. Obviously I have stirred up the extremist element because I have gotten some nasty comments posted to my blog and now I am trying to keep up with them all (read deleting them). I actually wondered the same thing: Did I go to far?
At the end of the day, it’s my blog and my opinion, if you don’t like it… don’t read it. If they can’t except other people’s opinion, humor or logic, that is really their own problem and I am not responsible for that.
Granted it took alot of insulting, derogatory comments to get me to the point of say it.
If you get a minute you can come by and check out some of the comments:
http://www.emagine-group.com/behindthechairmansdoor/
Cheers!
First of all, young man, I called you an “Amateur Linkbaiter” which might be a compliment. I’m not sure, really…
The problem comes when you want to be specific for the sake of interest and letting people see into your life, but don’t want to cause problems with well-known television cooks.
The way I look at it, any company (even a highly respected one that needs a Houston-based blogger on board like MyBlogLog) is fair game. Individuals, unless it is *really* egregious, are best told about as “a chef I saw on TV today…”
Or, unless it’s Jason Alba. He’s fair game, too.
Dan
Hello my friend. As Dan says, Jason Alba is fair game, so…
Given your post about typos I can’t resist pointing out one of your own.
Up there in the paragraph just after Daisy’s quote, you say, “…because of it’s influence….” If I remember my high school English correctly, the possessive “its” has no apostrophe. The apostrophe is used only to indicate the contraction of “it is.”
Kent
Can we include England as a North american country because of its influence in the history of all the region?