i see your feet beneath the curtain

In spite of all my complaining to contrary, we get hundreds and hundreds of readers a day here at MM.com. Only a fraction, however, feel compelled to leave comments. I’d like to think that the rest of you, the silent majority, are just intimidated by the wit and the impressive cultural literacy of the regulars, but I suspect it’s more likely that you’re just not that interested in what we’re talking about… but yet you keep coming back, don’t you?

So, here’s my question for the evening: Why are you here? And, more importantly, how long have you been spying on me and my family from the shadows?

Seriously, fess up. Tell me something, even if it’s just the name of your state and a tiny, muted “peep.” As much as I love the regulars, I need to be reminded on occasion that other people are out there.

(note: I’d started working on a post about the Wolfowitz appointment to the World Bank, the Delay investigation, and losing the fight over ANWR, but the more I wrote, the more sick I felt. So, instead, I opted for this kind of non-post. Sorry. It’ll never happen again.)

This entry was posted in Mark's Life. Bookmark the permalink. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.

32 Comments

  1. Posted March 16, 2005 at 11:18 pm | Permalink

    hey, I’ll be first. I love the random ranting & entertaining minutiae that is markmaynard.com. But if I began commenting, it would become a deadly addiction I would then have to break, cold turkey. You see how it is.
    tina

  2. Brian
    Posted March 16, 2005 at 11:33 pm | Permalink

    My name is Brian, and I started reading your blog after my friend Forest told me about it.

  3. Posted March 17, 2005 at 12:02 am | Permalink

    Well, I met you at Leopold’s tonight but didn’t say much since I am decidely non-technical and, these days anyway, pretty apolitical. But it was nice to meet you and the other folks. Maybe next time we can talk more about things of greater importance, like beer and music.

  4. Sticks
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 12:17 am | Permalink

    I totally forgot how I found your page. Maybe through the LJ Ann Arbor / Ypsi community and then through Leighton then on to your page, who the hell knows.

    Why do I come here? It’s entertaining and informational. Like Fark, but with 10x the summation of their entire user base’s mental capacity.

    Oh yeah, I live within a block of the Big Dick.

  5. Tony Buttons
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 8:41 am | Permalink

    Three Democrats voted against the Cantwell amendment: Hawaiian Senators Akaka and Inouye, and Senator Landrieu of Louisiana. As the final vote count was 51-49, we would have won it with their support.

    You can see the votes here:

    http://ga1.org/wilderness/arcticsenatevote.html

  6. Posted March 17, 2005 at 10:53 am | Permalink

    I’m bummed beyond belief about the Arctic Wildlife Refuge. I was at the gym when I saw the news and just about cried. I had to leave in order not to embarrass myself.

  7. be OH be
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 11:03 am | Permalink

    I’ve commented a small handful of times but I guess I still qualify as an MM lurker.

    Regular contributor Brett brought this site to my attention. We go way back, having both been former personal assistants to Bea Arthur (she goes through them like piss through granny panties).

    I really like the discussions here and I must admit the trolls can be quite entertaining from a distance. That distance is approx. 210 miles. I live and work in the greater Canton, OH area. Greater than what, I do not know.

    Keep up the good work.

  8. Posted March 17, 2005 at 11:36 am | Permalink

    Dude, relax. I’ve been coming here every single day for years to see what captures your interest. I value your opinions on recent events, and you sometimes point me at news I might have otherwise missed. You can go ahead and think of me as a lurker if you want, but you’d be missing something important. Don’t be worried that most of your readers don’t post. Be proud! I practically never even read the user comments (much less post to them). Wading through the clamoring hordes isn’t why I’m here. You are.

  9. Posted March 17, 2005 at 2:11 pm | Permalink

    I saw you yesterday! Peep!

  10. Tyrel Digby
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 2:13 pm | Permalink

    I’m paid to read this site and a few dozen others. That’s all I should say.

  11. Chris
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:13 pm | Permalink

    Shortly after I discovered my high school friend Jeff had his site, so it was around then, the first time he mentioned your site in his site. Or something like that. Anyway, been checking it out ever since and telling others.

    PS- something to look forward to, my daughter-now 1 yr 2 mos. can pull her own shitty diaper off and sling it around in the air like Gypsy Rose. Purchasing new carpet once the potty training is done.

  12. brett
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:17 pm | Permalink

    Chris- It sounds like ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’.

  13. Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:18 pm | Permalink

    I read through RSS, and only come here occassionally. When I do comment, I’m generally ignored.
    I’m only reading this damn thing until another issue of Crimewave comes out, which I’ve learned to love.
    I tend not to be as interested in your news stories, mostly because I read newspapers voraciously and have too similar a belief structure to really get anything positive out of ’em. It gets too much like a feedback loop, with me all pissed off about, say, Negreponte, and then you’re all pissed off about Negreponte, and then I feel more pissed off, and then I have to go drink or masturbate to pictures of John Ritter until I’m reasonably calm again.

  14. Teddy Glass
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:31 pm | Permalink

    Chris, have you thought about putting your daughter in touch with the people at Extreme Associates? The shit slinging sounds like it might be right up their alley.

  15. C.C.
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:38 pm | Permalink

    My cousin killed himself last year. His mom gave me his old computer. This was one of about fifty sites that he had bookmarked. I still visit.

  16. Ken
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:51 pm | Permalink

    I first commented and got mentioned in an extra-special debris sandwich. Crap! Have I really been reading this site for two years?! “Back then, the only way to comment was to send an email directly to Mark.”

  17. Ken
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 4:52 pm | Permalink

    That last quote was to be said in my best old man voice.

  18. Posted March 17, 2005 at 6:48 pm | Permalink

    Teddy Glass
    thats fucked up

  19. chris
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 7:37 pm | Permalink

    Wow CC I am sorry. BTW, the shitty diaper daughter Chris is not me, blabbermouth Chris. I gues you will know its me because I am blathering.

  20. Kari
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 8:55 pm | Permalink

    I recently moved from Ypsi to a town of 2100 in northeast Kentucky (ugh!). I think I found MM.com by searching “Ypsi blog” during a fit of homesickness. It’s just a relief to be reminded that like-minded, sane people are out there, even if they’re nowhere nearby. I don’t usually post because I am indeed intimidated by the wit and knowledge of the regulars. I simply can’t keep up with their mental and linguistic gymnastics. That, and I know almost nothing about Bea Arthur.

  21. Burt
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 10:04 pm | Permalink

    I love reading this site for the political comedy. Maynard is so wrong on everything, it makes for hilarious reading.
    I get the biggest kick out of his “progressive” book club (I guess the “L” word isn’t fashionable). I can just picture a bunch of pony-tailed communists sitting around wringing their hands about President Bush. They probably drive to the meetings in their SUVs, then gripe about drilling in Alaska. Keep up the good work!

  22. Ken
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 10:23 pm | Permalink

    I think you are mistaken. It is the Progresso Book Club. It’s corporate sponsorship.

  23. mark
    Posted March 17, 2005 at 10:49 pm | Permalink

    Yay! The trolls found their way home!

  24. mark
    Posted March 18, 2005 at 7:56 am | Permalink

    I will try to respond to the rest of you (and, yes, even the perpetually ignored JS) this weekend….

  25. Posted March 18, 2005 at 8:16 am | Permalink

    I first came here a couple of weeks ago from ypsidixit’s blog when I was on expedition to discover local bloggers. I was pleasantly surprised by the number and variety.

    So, how does it feel to be quoted by the BBC? That’s pretty cool.

    If you figure out a way to encourage lurkers to participate regularly, please pass it on! My own family won’t post comments.

  26. chris
    Posted March 18, 2005 at 10:36 pm | Permalink

    mark, I didn’t know you were a “L”esbian.

  27. JF
    Posted March 19, 2005 at 1:11 pm | Permalink

    I too am a “lurker”. Just come by once in a while for some good humor. Cannot people can be so far apart on pretty much every issue. I try not to post unless I find something good to “cut and paste”. Right Ken?

    JF

  28. Dick Cheney's Extended Taint
    Posted March 19, 2005 at 6:06 pm | Permalink

    Kari,

    I found myself in Northern Kentucky not long ago and discovered their interesting local chamber of commerce slogan. Hoping to inspire travelers to hang around for a while (or at least have the locals not leave), they combined the word “stay” with the abbreviation for the region, “N”, and the state. All over the airport and my hotel were posters of local scenery with a single word at the top:

    STAYNKY

    Unfortunately, my itinerary was not flexible. So I was unable to experience the unique local charm as promised by the posters.

  29. Ken
    Posted March 19, 2005 at 8:53 pm | Permalink

    You have elevated it to an artform, Jarod.

  30. JF
    Posted March 19, 2005 at 11:39 pm | Permalink

    Ken,

    Any suggested sites you would like something pasted from? I will be glad to do it for you since very few take the time to read the links we list on this site?

    I am here for you. Remember “I work hard so you don’t have to”.

    JF

  31. Teddy Glass
    Posted March 22, 2005 at 12:14 pm | Permalink

    Quite honestly, I’m here because I’m not smart enough to post on Metafilter.

  32. Posted March 22, 2006 at 4:06 pm | Permalink

    games texas hold
    Rafael!prospectively dazzle covered Cubanize poker tables http://poker-tables.moved.to/

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Connect

BUY LOCAL... or shop at Amazon through this link Banner Initiative coal mining kids