Who ARE you?

I've noticed something recently in my blog reading that is both puzzling and depressing. You know how it is when you have read someone's blog for a while. You may not actually know them, not in a flesh and blood way, but you think you have a pretty good idea about their personality, how they think and what they value. Then, they post something that has you going "Wha?" closely followed by "Who are you and what have you done with my blog-friend?"

Sometimes it's politics that rears its ugly head. Sometimes it's something else in the real world, like a squabble between members of a quilt guild or family, or current events. But when it happens, stuff comes out of their keyboard that has you scratching your head and wondering if you really knew them at all. There's something about the anonymity of blogs and other electronic text communication media that lowers the barriers in your brain if you're not careful. Witness the current news about cyber-bullying and its destructive results. It's likely that even the most hardened hearts would have a difficult time saying things to your face that they so blithely type. And without the context of facial expression and tone of voice, many statements that might be merely cross can become truly damaging.

When a blogger lets fly out of the blue with what you consider to be a cruel, intolerant or destructive remark, you can't help but wonder if all that you read in the past was a carefully constructed "front" and this is the real person. One that you don't like so much. Blogging can be like dating - at first, you dress up nice and use your "party manners". After a while, you get comfortable in the situation and maybe start to slip a little, and expose some of the warts and flaws you have been carefully concealing. Over the past three years, I have run into some bloggers who appeared to be like that. If I had read their blog now for the first time, maybe I wouldn't go back. But since you feel like you have a "history" with them, you keep visiting in hopes to prove yourself wrong. And mostly it happens. The posts that confused you so were an aberration, a bad day, a slip of the temper.

But sometimes they're not. And you have to sadly bid that blogger's writings goodbye because life is too short to wallow in bitterness and strife. I try to tread the line between expressing my opinion and disparaging others who feel differently. Dear Readers, if you feel that I have slipped into negativity in my writing - call me out on it.

P.S. - I bet a lot of you regular readers are worried that I'm writing about you. It's OK, calm down - I'm not! In the main, through blogging I have found some of the most thoughtful, generous and charming people I could ever hope to meet, and I value our communication.

Huh?

I just got the weirdest email. Back in June another blogger wrote about the Simplicity strip cutting machine. I commented on it and said this:

The only problem I see is that the strip cutter cuts pinked edges. I can never sew an accurate 1/4" seam with pinked edges. I know from experience using jelly roll strips. As for the bias tape maker, you can buy a little doo-dad that folds the strip as you slide it through. A lot cheaper than Simplicity's machine, I'm sure, and quite effective. You get the strip started through the gizmo and pull it along the strip of fabric following closely behind with your steam iron as you move across your ironing board.

Now, today I get an email from a lady who bought one, was dissatisfied with it and returned it. She said she read about it in my blog. The way she put it, it sounded like I wrote this glowing recommendation of the strip cutter and misled her. Duh? I didn't even post about it, just commented on the other blog. And my comment was definitely ambivalent. So I'm very confused. I'm wondering if she followed the other commenters back to their blogs to get their email addresses and griped to them too. I noticed she commented on the original post on the other blog and said just about what she said to me in the email. I also noticed that her profile is blocked so you can't see anything about her.

Have you heard from her?