Freaky Blog Surfing/Email experience
I know, as well as all of you know, that Strangers Cruise Our Blogs. So, you're supposed to monitor sensitive info and make sure it doesn't come up in your entries, etc, unless you don't care who sees it. But here's something I didn't consider until now: Strangers Cruise Other People's Blogs, Too, and that can lead to you!
Often, when I'm posting an entry, I change the names a little, or block some of the names out, or slightly change the names of relevant clubs, etc. Well, in keeping with that little safeguard, I'll say that I taught a book about 2 months ago that was written by jailed women and edited by a novelist. Anyway. I haven't mentioned peep about that book on this blog because it was not a source of great interest to me.
But I did mention it on Scott's blog--he posted something a while back that prompted me to comment, asking him for suggestions regarding teaching of this book and telling him what my students' impressions of it were. I barely remember it. But one of the jailed women--no longer jailed--found that entry last night and wrote me an email telling me, essentially, that I've 'misunderstood' one of the central themes of said book. She said it all very politely but, I mean, come on--when every single story in an anthology discusses child abuse, I think it's safe to say that it is a central theme to a book, no matter what formerly jailed author number four says. And, interestingly enough, I've reread the comments on Scott's blog--she addresses to me an issue that I do not raise in the comment match; perhaps she didn't follow the path of my questioning. Anyway.
Anyway, the thing is this: I'm really really annoyed that because of a careless comment on someone else's blog (in which I did give the full name of the book and author--stupid of me) this stranger has contacted me, unsolicited. I have two college degrees and teach at a state school. She has a former heroin addiction, prison record, and love of twelve-step programs.
And incidentally, I am professional, and I taught the book in a compassionate way, as I was supposed to. Do I think these women deserve second chances? Well, some of them sort of. But, for me, murder is murder. I do not have too much compassion for murderers--even those who killed out of fear. And I do not have too much compassion for drug dealers--they know what game they're playing. They know jail is probably on their horizon. This uncomfortable stretch between feeling compassion for the criminal and/or compassion for the insane was the crux of the problem I was trying to discuss with Scott--not whether or not child abuse figured into it. Frankly, saying it doesn't shows me little but denial.
The lesson is this: do not simply safeguard your own blog; safeguard your comments, too. Don't leave full titles or names that could lead back to you. And on these comment systems where you're required to leave an email address, consider whether or not you want to leave your real one.
To do that comment over again--well, yes, I would leave those comments again. The email addy--yes, I'd leave it again. But I woudn't have put the full title of the text in question! That's for sure! I don't need this kind of headache on a Sunday morning when I'm working on my Michael Jackson Project!!
I know, as well as all of you know, that Strangers Cruise Our Blogs. So, you're supposed to monitor sensitive info and make sure it doesn't come up in your entries, etc, unless you don't care who sees it. But here's something I didn't consider until now: Strangers Cruise Other People's Blogs, Too, and that can lead to you!
Often, when I'm posting an entry, I change the names a little, or block some of the names out, or slightly change the names of relevant clubs, etc. Well, in keeping with that little safeguard, I'll say that I taught a book about 2 months ago that was written by jailed women and edited by a novelist. Anyway. I haven't mentioned peep about that book on this blog because it was not a source of great interest to me.
But I did mention it on Scott's blog--he posted something a while back that prompted me to comment, asking him for suggestions regarding teaching of this book and telling him what my students' impressions of it were. I barely remember it. But one of the jailed women--no longer jailed--found that entry last night and wrote me an email telling me, essentially, that I've 'misunderstood' one of the central themes of said book. She said it all very politely but, I mean, come on--when every single story in an anthology discusses child abuse, I think it's safe to say that it is a central theme to a book, no matter what formerly jailed author number four says. And, interestingly enough, I've reread the comments on Scott's blog--she addresses to me an issue that I do not raise in the comment match; perhaps she didn't follow the path of my questioning. Anyway.
Anyway, the thing is this: I'm really really annoyed that because of a careless comment on someone else's blog (in which I did give the full name of the book and author--stupid of me) this stranger has contacted me, unsolicited. I have two college degrees and teach at a state school. She has a former heroin addiction, prison record, and love of twelve-step programs.
And incidentally, I am professional, and I taught the book in a compassionate way, as I was supposed to. Do I think these women deserve second chances? Well, some of them sort of. But, for me, murder is murder. I do not have too much compassion for murderers--even those who killed out of fear. And I do not have too much compassion for drug dealers--they know what game they're playing. They know jail is probably on their horizon. This uncomfortable stretch between feeling compassion for the criminal and/or compassion for the insane was the crux of the problem I was trying to discuss with Scott--not whether or not child abuse figured into it. Frankly, saying it doesn't shows me little but denial.
The lesson is this: do not simply safeguard your own blog; safeguard your comments, too. Don't leave full titles or names that could lead back to you. And on these comment systems where you're required to leave an email address, consider whether or not you want to leave your real one.
To do that comment over again--well, yes, I would leave those comments again. The email addy--yes, I'd leave it again. But I woudn't have put the full title of the text in question! That's for sure! I don't need this kind of headache on a Sunday morning when I'm working on my Michael Jackson Project!!
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