a little local difficulty

Blogging turns out to be hard.

But it turns out to be harder when people of read the thing and decide to interact. In the past few days I've been slightly rude to Iain and a bit more rude to David. (see the comments on this post). I have no excuse really. I probably wouldn't have been if they'd been having a go at me (and 'having a go' is putting it a bit strong), but I felt bad because Dylan had volunteered his time for an interview and then got misinterpreted and attacked.

But I should remember that's what this stuff is all about. It's good that people post comments, and good that they disagree. So if I'm rude to people - I'm sorry, I don't mean to be. I've been a bit grumpy for the last couple of days.

And all the people waiting for the results on the third assignment - I'll get to it at the weekend. You should have something on Monday.

Comments

[Iain]

Hi Russell

I didn't feel that you'd been even slightly rude. And I'm really sorry if my first comment was read by anyone as attacking Dylan in any way shape or form, that was not my intention at all. After some clarification I realise that there was a big misunderstanding on my part - but as you said, it's a topic that you and Dylan have talked about, and you have a shared understanding of film.

I'm in awe of the amount of work, thought and sweat that go into your blog - and just to clarify I'm not suggesting you're sweaty ;-). One of the highlights for me is the way that you respond to people with real courtesy and interest.

In the thread I learned a few things:

1. Don't say things that can be misconstrued as attacking people or their views - it just upsets folk.
2. Not to be paranoid about 'media' in front of those who already get it.
3. 'Film' is OK ;-)
4. A properly asynchronous medium without the nuances of real conversations requires a particular style of debate (I kind of knew that anyway, but it just reinforces things)
5. Learning things you don't know about is good :-)

Cheers

Iain

[Ben]

I think most people would take honesty over niceness any day.

[russell]

Not me. I'd always vote for niceness over honesty. I'm just not very good at it. (And, to be honest, I'm not that good at honesty either)

My 360 reviews always used to say that broadly I was an OK manager, but I was way too snotty with anyone who disagreed with me. I'm trying to overcome that.

Actually, thinking about it, 360 reviews have a lot in common with blogs. There must be some HR organisation out there trying to marry the two up.

And Iain - I can't believe you're saying I'm sweaty. How dare you?

(I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking)

Let's move on. Anyone want to make a comment about Arthur's jedi mind tricks?

[funkypancake]

i can relate to that. i've been a right grump (mostly offline, but a bit online too) since mid-November :-(