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And that missing two weeks will be a sad loss for the rest of us, Russell. Don't let the buggers get you down.

Got to echo David's sentiments - don't let people get to you.

I've received a couple of barbed emails in my time, but those kind of people just aren't worth bothering with.

I like the asides/pictures of Arthur. This blog wouldn't be 'you' if it lost them. As you don't have a ultra specific reason for blogging (only, it seems, to document your thoughts), don't sweat those 'off topic' postings. They aren't.

Don't change a thing

This I'm afraid is the classic difference between positioning and proposition.

You know why you're doing things, trying to convey an open and honest view of the world, however others don't always see it that way. What we make public is down to the interpretation of others and hence you get idiotic responses... You'll be sorely missed!

As my Dad said, it's better to be talked about then never known ...

People with opinions always cause mixed reactions - if everyone liked everything you said, you'd either be Yoda or be the ruler of a dictatorship.

[Everyone laughs at jokes of the Queen]

Life in the open is just that, open. I got into both deep research and finally blogging all as a result of observing your work and reading your blog. Take a break, big deep breath and then, well, more forwards basically.
Best wishes. Philip

hello my friend, it's been a few months since i said hello.

was touched by your note, so i thought i'd pop my head above the parapet and say; leave my friend alone you sad, sniping s****s.

he's brave enough to share his thoughts and feelings and he does not deserve the pathetic gibes of weaker people.

if you're open enough to share your criticism, i'll be at the next coffee morning, to buy you a pot of tea and watch you slowly sip your words, as the humble, sharp mind of a colleague dissolves your critisism quicker than my two lumps of granulated white sugar...x

Learn to switch off/ignore Russell. I think I'm as equally thin skinned as yourself, thus far I haven't been slagged off an awful lot - apart from on Comment is free, but who comes off scotfree over there? :) It feels good to laugh at it and very rapidly move on. Literally in one pixel and out the other.

Like Bobbie says, some folk don't realise there is a real person involved, or that that real person is listening and reading. If some folk are spending their time having a pop at you I imagine they're also a bit in awe and not a little jealous.

Don't dwell, carry on, business as usual.

time's like this i want a wise eastern proverb to wisely say don't pay any attention. but i don't know any, so i'll have to stick with 'ignore the f******.' (and don't be away too long.)

At the risk of being accused of 'luvviedom', I can only agree with the comments above.

Your blog is relentlessly first-class, Russell - its 'meandering' and 'inconsequentiality', home-y insights, gentle wit and endless self-depracation are exactly what make it so wonderfully readable.

If you stick to your guns, which I hope you don't, it's going to be a very long two weeks. Come back soon.

Agree, don't change a thing. Sorry you've experienced it.

Russell,

From the ECBC, general posts and the ad planning stuff that I don't understand reading your posts is always a total pleasure, as has been meeting and talking with you offline.

I had a similar experience with my past forays into online work and writing. Its nasty, its vitriolic and in my case it was high profile. If those making such comments had talent, they'd use it to be original and interesting. Clearly they don't.

All I can say is keep strong and please keep blogging about anything that pops into your mind, as you've been an inspiration to me and i know countless others.

All the best mate, hope to see you soon.

Oli :)

Hello mate.

You are the reason I started a blog. Blogging has genuniely enriched my life in all kinds of ways I never expected. I am grateful. I've made lots of new friends. One of them is you. And I'm pretty picky about my mates.

You rock.

Simple as that.

The critics - it kind of reminds me of religious fundamentalists who complain about telly programmes - if you don't like it here, change the channel.

Right that’s it. I bet the people who „parody“ and slag off this blog, and Russell are sitting back, relaxing and having a good laugh at all this. Are you? Are you? Well, here’s something for you, you stupid, inconsiderate fucks, come over to my place and have a go. Go on, dare you. You think Russell rambles and writes short sentences eh? Well, you should try me out for size. Simple as that. And when you do be prepared for what follows. I mean it. I really, really mean it.

So, to you Russell. I’m furious with you. Honestly, truly, properly cross. On the one hand you talk about openness and the need for “brands” to be aware and open to the fact that someone, somewhere is saying something negative about you. Whether you like it or not, you are very important to an awful lot of people. You are important. This blog is important. It may have started out as a “hobby” or some notes or whatever but it has become something else.

I’ve met you. Briefly. And you were lovely. You’ve been kind to me, hell we even went to war over meat and you got me on the bloody BBC for heavens sake. Sometimes I like what you right. Sometimes I don’t. And I know you’re a gentle guy but did it ever occur to you to turn to us for help on something like this?

So Russell, take a break but do point us in the right direction and we’ll have it sorted by the time you’re back. Blog MMA-time Mr. Colman?

sorry I swore. But I'm really cross.

Russell, you're the blogosphere equivalent of John Peel. As the criticism goes, bumbling, luvvie, sometimes inconsequential and also stimulating and multi-dimensional and mostly a pleasure to read. There are plenty of other bloggers that don't combine these traits, and ideally your critics should go and read them instead. I wonder why someone would have bothered reading enough of your material to arrive at their critical conclusions if they actively didn't enjoy doing so? It's not Victor Meldrew is it? Since your not sapping license payers money or government funding why should you have to be accountable to anyone than yourself? Keep up the good stuff.

Russell,

As others have said here, it's been enlightening and inspirational to read your stuff - I find your attitude to sharing and your general enthusiasm about stuff refreshing and quite disarming - it's not the sort of thing that people in creative businesses do - ownership of ideas, getting the credit for them and achieving some kind of peer recognition is what motivates most people in the media and this almost always leads to jealousy and cynicism. It's very easy to get laughs by taking the piss and slagging things off. It's very hard to entertain and amuse by being positive. You are one of the few people I've come across who can actually do it.
If people are parodying what you do then it's good that you have a distinctive style and persona. Most people who are well-known in their field have detractors, and most of them keep doing what they do and try to ignore it.

"Blurry hybrids are tricky. People want to know what you're doing, what your motivations are."

Ballox to that. Please continue to blur and hybridize.

i've loved you blog. since i've started my journey becoming a planner last year. it has been very insightful. and who cares what that person said. they are probably jealous that they can't be you.

your blog has been helpful to many starting and established planners. you make us all think.

I hope you decide to keep blogging
cuz most of us out here enjoy what you do.

Faris hit the nail on the head. You run a top blog and you're a top man. Keep up the good work.

Russell, you are an inspiration to a lot of us here in Romania and you know that planning and planners here would not be the same without your blog and the input that we take from it. Please do not pay attention to blog hate and continue doing what you do. We look to your blog and you for daily enthusiasm and to think it might stop is dreadful.

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who at the worst if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

Russell,
Don’t let it get you down. Just remember that you’ve changed peoples’ blogging and reading habits for the better. Parody exists in all media - film, literature, art – it’s a sign of how important your blog has become that you’ve been chosen as a subject. Take a break and hang out with Arthur who will certainly have the wisest and most upcheering comments on all of this. But above all come back soon please.

sorry to post anonymously, I know the guy who wrote this flame....he's very embarrassed, and the blog and flames are being taken down now...

well the he should have the balls to come over here and explain him self. RIGHT NOW.

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