A Quick Lesson In Online Image Management
As you probably already know, I’m a pretty big fan of Zen Habits. I’ve made no bones about my outright and flagrant attempts to score a guest post there. Today, Daniel Scocco, Editor of Daily Blog Tips — which I also read — wrote a guest post for Zen Habits.
Normally I’m all for snarkiness, but I don’t even know what to say right now. Here’s the full text of the post so it does not look like I’m taking things out of context.
***
“Today I was having an argument with my girlfriend about her watching Big Brother. Basically I was trying to discourage her from watching it. I gave her many reasons not to. It is a waste of time, it is petty, it promotes vanity. In other words, it is the panis et circenses [link mine for those of you who aren't "pure" enough to know] of our days. I don’t think there is a coincidence in the fact that most people that watch Big Brother don’t know the works of George Orwell in the first place…
Anyway, after about an hour of sermon she told me she would try to stop. Thinking about the whole discussion, though, I realized that I could have summarized it in a better way: Big Brother is not something pure.
If you search in the dictionary, pure refers to things that are free of dirt or pollution, that have a uniform composition, that are complete and sinless.
The interesting thing is that this concept can be extended to virtually any field or endeavor. There are pure movies and impure movies. There is pure talk and impure talk. There are pure people and impure people.
Apply the principle of purity to your life and it will become much easier to decide the things you should be doing and the ones you shouldn’t.
Sitting in front of the television watching soap operas or reality shows is impure. It will not make you grow as a human being. It will not make you more conscious. Sometimes, in fact, it will do exactly the opposite.
Have time to spare? Learn a foreign language. Spend some time with friends and family. Read a classic book. Learn how to play an instrument. Practice a sport. These are pure things.
Not convinced that this principle applies to virtually anything? Think about your job. You could always step on other people to rise and make more money. You could always put honesty and integrity aside and do whatever it takes to gain more power.
Is such attitude pure? Would this be worth it? I don’t think so.
In the end it will be only you and a mirror, and usually only pure images get reflected.”
***
Yes, I’m sick right now and possibly not reading right. It’s possible there’s a hilarious joke in there that I’m just not getting in my guacamole-fueled stupor. Is it just me, or is the first two paragraphs of that both out of this world and wildly out of character for ZH? I’m trying to stem the urge to go over and rant and rage and scream that yes, lecturing your girlfriend for an hour about what she should or shouldn’t do in her spare time is TOTALLY PURE until I get your thoughts.
Thoughts? Anyone? Help me out here.
***
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Naomi, I’m perfectly healthy today – and I read that post tonight and thought “huh?” – I don’t think it is just you. Put it this way, I didn’t feel the urge to write “great post”. Sorry, too preachy for me today…
Healthy as well, and I’m also hyper-sensitive to anything that remotely looks like it might be some sort of holier-than-thou stick about to whack me on the head.
This post segment looked like it would lop my head off, never mind whack it. I don’t want to hear jack about someone going off about purity. I’ll pass.
[...] Here’s another interesting post I read today by IttyBiz [...]
“Huh?” from me too. Today’s not my sharpest day, but the last bit completely lost me.
Purity is in the eye of the preacher anyway. There have been a few wacko dictators in recent history that were all for purity.
Thank y’all. I’m feeling more vindicated. I mean, seriously. I’m obsessing here. I’m repeating it over and over in my head, which I know is giving the whole thing far more attention than it deserves, but whatever. Cool. Thanks. You guys rule.
Well I read “panis et circenses” as “penises and circumcision” so I am pretty sure I am not in the “pure” crowd.
But no, Naomi, it is not your guacamole or your potential high grade fever that made you recoil from this post … I am still trying to wrap my mind around the illogical back flip that the poster made when he first chastised Big Brother fans for being unfamiliar with Orwell and then reversed himself by making a blanket declaration that reading a “classic book” is a “pure” activity. Most “classic books” have plots that are pretty soapy, from The Odyssey to the modern classics by authors like Pat Conroy. Hell, that’s why Fannie Price has been banned so many times for dirty sex scenes and Dickens used to release his novels in serial form.
But the weirdest thing about the post is the way he slams Big Brother’s voyeuristic tendencies while also creating an uncomfortable voyeuristic moment himself. One can speculate many dark reasons why he would feel comfortable lecturing his girlfriend for AN HOUR on her viewing habits, and none of them gel with the type of fellow who should be dishing out advice on Zen Habits.
I worship Margie.
I am with you too, Naomi.
I have often found Leo’s vegan/health/anti-fat stuff a little preachy, but I always just shrugged it off… but… this post really takes the cake. Who the hell does the poster think he is, lecturing his girlfriend like that?
Are there seriously people in this world who only do 100% serious, 100% “pure” things all the time? Wow, what dull and sanctimonious pricks they must be…
Isn’t “Zen Habits” about balance? I don’t get it.
My readers rule.
I think my response can be summarized in four pure words: What a Fucking Tool.
@ Sonia – I think your summary is perfect.
I guess he’s never experienced “pure” relaxation.
Maybe he needs to get really wasted…
Sonia! You swore! Again! I’m so proud of you! (Look at all the exclamation marks. It’s crazy. Do you call them ‘marks’ or ‘points’ in the States?)
Whatever. I love it.
@ Willy – dude needs some zen. Him, not you.
i watch big brother and have read orwell’s books. i could be doing something productive instead of watching big brother, but fuck i need to unwind and sometimes i need to do something mindless. i do believe in improving yourself, but sometimes you just need to chill.
if i told my wife what she should and should not be watching i would probably have to search the park across the street with a flashlight in the dark for my severed penis and i don’t really want to do that.
@ Michael Brito – Like I said, dude. Everyone needs a wife like yours. You could rent her out, SuperNanny style, just to kick people’s asses.
I was reading through that post and was thinking the whole time that the girlfriend can pretty much decide for herself what the hell she wants to do. She must have had an epiphany, though. Like, maybe, after an hour of preaching she’d realized that she’d better say she’s not gonna watch Big Brother anymore to save herself from any future lectures about purity.
*blinks*
Okay. Living in Sin City, I’m the last person to talk about purity. Despite the fact I think there’s too many reality shows on the air, I have to admit, there’s one or two I consider guilty pleasures. So what if it’s junk food for the soul? Who wants chicken soup when there’s a perfectly good bag of potato chips within reach?
He’s not talking about purity at all. He’s talking about whether the ends justify the means or the means justify the ends. Except that, actually, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Whatever. Take another bong hit, dude.
I was almost done with my comment, and then I realized: who the hell in their right mind would listen to this guy go on in a “sermon” for AN HOUR?
Clearly, these two are made for each other.
Um yeah, it does come off a wee bit judgmental and pretentious. I feel bad for the gf. I think when you focus so much on what other people are doing wrong, it’s an extension of how you feel about yourself. He probably feels guilty himself and is taking it all out on her.
That post actually got me really hot under the collar, and bearing in mind it’s 9.30am where I am, that’s pretty good going. In fact I got so ‘ranted up’ that I decided to go over to the Zen Habits blog and kick some ass!
My attempts at kicking ass and chewing bubblegum led to me posting the longest comment in Christendom! I don’t think I’ve ever been that productive or thoughtful at this time in the morning!
So, Naomi, not only have you got me seriously indignant, you’ve also got me working. I think I owe you a beer.
OK, yup, I will chime in too. When I read it yesterday my first thought was – WTF? Let’s see, you can lecture her for wasting her time but you are wasting your time lecturing someone else and trying to control their lives? Seems pretty arogant to me. And yes, totally out of character for Zen Habits.
I just chalked the entire thing up to bad judgment and moved on though. Not worth losing too many brain waves over.
Jamie’s marketing lesson of the day:
All PR is good PR. ZH probably had the site stats take a leap while everyone ran over to comment.
Hey! Naomi! Does this mean you’ve ditched Zen as your crush? Do I finally have a chance at being your love interest, with my link posted beside yours through the blogosphere? Oh man, and the potential to whisk you away from that godforsaken place you live in to bring you to another, even more godforsaken place with at least 24-hour liquor available at all corner stores?
(I never liked Zen Habits anyways, btw. It didn’t pass my two-week subscription test.)
@ James – where do you live with 24-hour liquor stores, I’m so there!
Quebec :)
Booze is available at many gas stations, almost all grocery stores, all corner and convenience stores, most restaurants and of course, all liquor stores and bars. Bars close at 3am and many open before 9am. The legal age is 18. In a five minute walk from my home, I can load up on anything from beer to scotch and everything in between – and from four different locations.
You’re all invited.
@Brett – 24 hour liquor licenses are one of the best things to happen to England since some dude picked up a knife and looked at a loaf of bread with a glint in his eye!
Have time to spare? Learn a foreign language. Spend some time with friends and family. Read a classic book. Lecture your girlfriend on TV habits. Judge other people for the way they spend their time. Be a total prick to those you love. These are pure things.
Using the word “purity” as a placeholder for “all things good” results in nothing but a content-free word.
See http://www.overcomingbias.com/2007/01/against_admirab.html
As a Jew the word “pure” makes me nervous.
Very nervous.
“Let’s start building the secret annex in the attic” kind of nervous.
-Sally J.
(Who as a general rule, stays away from preachy fundamentalist wankers)
I have to say, I don’t know why Leo’s posted this guest post on his site. Ranting at someone for an hour doesn’t seem very ‘zen’ to me…
I suggest everyone find their own purity. Pure happiness might be something you find doing something un-pure; like sitting around watching soaps all day, or _not_ learning a foreign language in your spare time.
I don’t know about everyone else, but Daniel just made my “don’t give a shit what they say” list. Yeah, right next to the music snobs.
@ James Chartrand – I should have guessed! Howdy neighbour (I live in Eastern Ontario, about 20 minutes from Quebec) – it used to be a right of passage to cross over and pick up some beer…
@ James Parr – I think I’d fit right in over there, I have that glint in my eye :)
Naomi, I swear all the time! I frighten interns! My sister has pretty much refused to talk with me any more on the telephone! I do try to keep it mild on my blog, I may be overcompensating, but I always figure a big piece of my little audience is folks who aren’t used the rough and tumble of the online conversation.
That Istvan person did a very nice job in Leo’s comments. I admit that I’ve never been able to warm up to Leo’s blog, although he seems like a sweet fellow. I’m a little alarmed that he didn’t see the assbaggery of that post, though.
And no, we have exclamation points here, not marks.
@ Brett – No kidding! Let me guess… Hawkesbury? I’m about 20 minutes east of the Ontario border myself.
“In the end it will be only you and a mirror, and usually only pure images get reflected.”
Bull poopie. Knee deep.
All best, Jan
He didn’t deserve a girlfriend! I hope she’s watching her Big Brother somewhere-else by now.
Wow, I see that I am late to the party, but I think that I can clear things up a little. It looks to me like Daniel Scocco is making an attempt to give a real-life lesson in the eight-fold path, which is the essence of Buddhist thought, without actually saying the B-word. Broken down into three categories, the eightfold path is a method of ending suffering:
Wisdom
1. Right View
2. Right Intention
Ethical Conduct
3. Right Speech
4. Right Action
5. Right Livelihood
Mental Development
6. Right Effort
7. Right Mindfulness
8. Right Concentration
Sonia is right, this could have been handled in a better manner. And the post could have been less preachy. Brian Clark did a much better post last year, in a similar vein, and I ripped him off!
Like Daniel, I experience a great deal of suffering when my wife watches crap like Big Brother and House Hunters and Silicone Wives of the OC, and keeps flipping channels. She’s like a friggin’ hummingbird with ADD and a clicker!
We do not “fight” about it, but she does spend a lot of evenings on the couch alone, while I read and work and write or whatever (sometimes I play Desktop Tower Defense!). I learned before we got married that she has her path and I have mine.
Cheers!
[...] A Quick Lesson In Online Image Management [...]
I think yes, that’s what he’s trying to do, but Istvan very skillfully pointed out that that is not what he actually did. I suspect Daniel watched a DVD on Buddhism or something and is now trying to run around converting people. Istvan’s point is that when you feel yourself getting all judgy and attached about someone else’s stuff, it’s time to spend more time yourself on the meditation cushion.
Also, purity is not really an apt word to use–the lotus is a symbol for Buddhism because it’s a beautiful “pure” white flower that grows with its roots in slime.
That, plus it’s the language and concept that were used as an excuse to murder millions of people in the Third Reich, starting with tens of thousands of disabled babies. Not to get all Godwin’s Law-ish, but it was. For a writer to throw around his disdain and Latin references and then overlook the single most important historical event of the 20th century is, well, lame.
@ James Chartrand – I’m a little further west than that (but still what they would call Eastern Ontario, at least in Toronto…) between Ottawa and North Bay. I’m about 35 minutes from Chapeau (Highway 148 to Hull), and 20 minutes from Rapides des Joachims.
No doubt this means nothing to most of the readers here (!) but in a nutshell (with apologies to Star Wars) “If there’s a bright center to the universe, I’m in the town that it’s farthest from.”
Yep, good old Deep River, Ontario.
@Brett: *raises hand* It means something to me! Sort of. I’ve been to visit James and know the area a little bit – not very well, but I’ve seen those names on the road maps.
Okay, I just went over to ZH and read all 120+ comments. Yikes. Now I remember why I don’t normally do that. Mainly because it’s hard to have a conversation with 30,000 people.
>Sonia, Istvan did have a great quote, and I suspect that you are correct in Daniel’s recent drive-by exposure to the Buddha. Perhaps he received a copy of the Dhammapada for Christmas. One of my favorite parts of that is the very first stanza. When I first started studying Zen and Buddhism, I got a little carried away with my newfound clarity. Now I wait for people to ask.
>Sally, you have a cool blog. My wife is into scrapbooking, I sent her the link.
>James, I live in Maine, so we’re almost neighbors (not much further than my wife’s family in CT). I may come by for a scotch sometime!
@ Brett – Oh, very cool! That isn’t that far at all, and I’m always thrilled to find people not so far away. And ones who know where Quebec is. Or that we really do speak English, even if we’re French. Sometimes. Not always. Depends if we like you ;)
@ Stephen – The local fav these days is Sortilege, which is a Canadian maple whisky. Sweet and smooth and perfect on ice.
@ Naomi – I, too, went to read the comments on Zen. I want to throw up now. I’m glad I unsubscribed a while back, and reading those comments assured that I will never – ever, even if it came with the biggest recommendation from the entire blogosphere – subscribe again.
@James: oh man…Sortilege…the nectar of the gods.
@ Harry – Found something even better. Chicoutai (pronounced chi’kootay). Cloudberry liqueur.
Did I mention that my readers rule? Take that, crazy traffic-building pure-o-rific PR stunt!
(His, not mine.)
[...] IttyBiz » A Quick Lesson In Online Image Management [...]
I’ve got the sneaking suspicion that he didn’t get laid that night.
I read this and thought what the…
Like Michael said, looks the guy was on crack or something when he wrote the post. It makes absolutely no sense and reads terrible.
Mmhhh…
Monika
Was the girlfriend perhaps Alex? In which case purity is completely out of the question anyway.
What about the purity of sitting and mindlessly doing nothing…….just to regenerate the spirit. Sometimes one just need do not do things, and not learn things. And just be. Wow that’s so Zen.
Mel, dude. You need a blog! That was excellent.
Naomi, what do you think, was it a stunt? It seemed too clumsy and ill-considered to be a stunt (although it sure generated a lot of attention). But I am pathetic at spotting stunts.
@ Sonia – I have no idea. I’m still pendulumming. On one hand, if it were a stunt, it would have been a very, very good one. Controversy, big names involved, a grain of truth veiled in general ridiculousness. If you and I are both in the spin business and can’t see it as a stunt it’s a pretty fucking good stunt.
On the other hand, it’s Leo. Granted, I have no objectivity with Leo, but still. It really doesn’t seem to be his thing. He’s doubled his sub base from 16K to 32K (ish) in about three months. He really doesn’t need a traffic boost.
I have two theories. One, he put it up because he said he would and didn’t feel cool bailing. Two, he put it up to warn off the chaff who are yammering for guest posts. The wheat will be unconcerned because they would never come out with something like that. The chaff will see that there’s room for the whole shebang to go horribly, horribly wrong.