So Douglas Hoffman posted a summary of his wife’s objections to John Scalzi’s book Old Man’s War. That’s not the amusing part.
Then Scalzi posted a point-by-point rebuttal in the comments thread. Surprising, but still not amusing. What’s amusing was Doug’s reply:
I’d say something erudite, but right now all I can think is — My God! Scalzi’s following my blog!
Which was followed shortly by another commenter’s reaction:
WOW, Doug - Now I have to go critique To Kill a Mockingbird on my blog so Harper Lee will visit me!
I’ve occasionally had a “famous” blogger descend from on high to comment on one of my posts, and I have to say, Doug’s reaction was always my initial instinct. I never had the balls to actually say it, though!
Well, then, Dave, what do you say to this?
I say “Nice try, Dave, but everyone can see that you just logged out and posted a comment as ‘Michael Berube’ for comic effect.”
However, it’s unlikely you have that reaction when I show up here, given that we’ve known each other for, what? Nearly 20 years?
Personally, I get a giggle every time I see the words “famous” and “blogger” next to each other.
“Personally, I get a giggle every time I see the words ‘famous’ and ‘blogger’ next to each other.”
Yeah, there ought to be a law requiring at least one of those words to be in quotes when they are paired together.
In response to your first point, I agree, but I’m still surprised — as indeed I am right now. After all, I also don’t think we’ve physically spoken to each other for about 20 years!
Well, you know. I can never forgive you for taking Greta from me.
And of course, this online thingie skews comminication something fierce. There are several people with whom I am quite friendly whom I have never physically met. To some extent most of us are words on a screen to others, with an occasional picture to suggest we’re not the proverbial dog.
Oh, that’s what it was! And all this time I thought you weren’t speaking to me because of that inter-house rivalry thing. (For the uninitiated, my wife Greta was John’s orientation aide in college. Both Greta and John lived in my residence house’s rival dormitory [I lived in Breckinridge Hall; Scalzi and Greta lived in Lower Flint. Both dorms have since met with the wrecking ball])
And to think, I never even suspected romantic entanglements! Well, you seem to have gotten over the trauma of losing Greta, though I imagine such a wound would indeed take a long time to heal…
I do think one thing we can agree on is that we both “married up.”