Skip to main content

Momentary pauses in cyberspace... Why Leave a Comment If You Have No Intention of Coming Back?

Different Stands Out Mug by TET. Available on Redbubble.
Different Stands Out Mug by TET.
View on RedBubble.
I got to thinking about blogs and the fact that anyone can leave a comment to my posts. When someone comments, the polite thing to do is to respond with a comment under theirs. This may prompt an additional comment but really that person has no real intention of in depth discussion. They're just passing through.

It's a lot like walking down the street with a complete stranger approaching from the opposite direction. Your intention is to simply pass them by but as you come within talking distance the stranger says "Hi, nice day isn't it?" Like they needed to share that little highlight of information to brighten your day too.

You can smile and nod in agreement, or go so far as to say "Yes isn't it," whilst passing by without so much as a break in stride. It's all that is required to be polite.

Sometimes though, you want a bit more from your stranger. Why did they decide to say 'Hi' to you? Unfortunately you can't back track and ask your stranger that question without feeling awkward. You can't get to know them right then.

You can only hope they walk past again another day, so that you can begin those first steps towards making a friend. The more they walk past the more familiar you each become.

I wonder about people who leave comments and seemingly never 'walk' this way again? Are they not interested in reading my reply? Why did they comment in the first place if they knew they weren't coming back? What's in it for them if they didn't wish to be acknowledged?

I don't have any answers but maybe you can shed some light? Yes you, who will read this and be prompted to say 'Hi'.


TET Life Topics:

Comments

  1. TET (David Arandle)January 14, 2006 10:37 AM

    I know that usually when I comment on a blog, nessa, that I will watch for a response for a few days afterward. Maybe I just like to be acknowledged? Look at me. I made an effort. Say something back. I actually agree with your point of view, though friendships from comments are rare. It's more like a brief conversation you might have with a stranger sitting next to you on the bus.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJanuary 18, 2006 7:20 PM

    Well here I am commenting on your blog comment which was inspired by my blog comment which was......
    I think we might have something close to a conversation here.
    I tried to e-mail to you a while ago and got nothing back so I'll just say hi again. I don't take the bus so you sitting next to me on a bus just isn't gonna happen. Can we be strangers on a plane instead? First class?

    ReplyDelete
  3. TET (David Arandle)January 18, 2006 11:26 PM

    Rachel, I'm guessing maybe your mail got lost in my spam (very sorry if it did. I do scan the subject lines of all emails before I delete them but have been known to miss the odd genuine email). Feel free to email me again if you wish (use: etourist@arttimeproductions.com).

    I'd love to think we were strangers talking in first class on a plane but you'd more likely need to slum it in economy (or maybe even further back in 'cargo') to stand a chance of meeting me ;)

    Maybe I'm sitting next to the last vacant seat in the departure lounge and you've just arrived...

    ReplyDelete
  4. TeAnneJanuary 19, 2006 3:18 AM

    Hi David. Your artwork is just great. :)
    TeAnne

    ReplyDelete
  5. TET (David Arandle)January 19, 2006 9:56 AM

    Thanks TeAnne. This site is undergoing a major face uplift in February (which is why the layout of this blog isn't quite so great yet - still working on it). You'll be able to buy prints of some works for a very reasonable price. If you want to stay informed of what I'm up to - signing up to my newsletter is a good idea (I only send it once a month too).

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated by an actual human (me, TET) and may not publish right away. I do read all comments and only reject those not directly related to the post or are spam/scams (I'm looking at you Illuminati recruiters... I mean scammers. Stop commenting on my Illuminati post!).

Buy Gifts and Apparel featuring art by TET.

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review: Thunderbolts* (2025) *No Spoilers*

G oing into  Thunderbolts*  I was a tiny bit concerned that not seeing the previous Marvel Movie, Captain America: Brave New World , might be a problem. Fortunately, if you've seen the trailer to that film, you mostly have all you need to understand the brief references to it here. The bigger issue you may bump up against is not really knowing who any of this team is, if you haven't been watching every Marvel movie or TV series. The movie is counting on you at least knowing who Yolena (Florence Pugh), Bucky (Sebastian Stan), and Red Guardian (David Harbour) is to draw you into seeing the film. It is kind of a better experience if you know who John Walker - Captain America Lite (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr - Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Antonia Dreykov - Task Master (Olga Kurylenko) are but there is enough backstory given, to at least place them in context of the wider MCU as misfits. Having said that, the story really lends itself to filling in the backstory on almost all...
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

TV Series Review: Star Wars: Andor - Season 2 (2025, Disney+) *No Spoilers*

D isney+'s Star Wars: Andor  the first season is widely regarded as some of the best Star Wars since the original trilogy, and I don't disagree in my  Andor Season 1  review. Despite that, it does have its problems, mainly a lot of space between action pieces. That's not to say nothing is happening in those spaces, but I do remember being frustrated how long season one took to get to a promised heist scene, going from conversation to conversation over several episodes. However, when Andor does have action, it usually delivers, with action that serves the story rather than action because 'it's time for some action now'. Unfortunately that gave Andor the reputation for being Star Wars 'for grown ups'. People who understand how tension and intrigue can come just as much from character interaction, who is talking to who, and what they're saying. That lead to low viewership and the show's proposed number of seasons being reduced to just two (I believe...
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

I'm Confused About Why People Prefer to Say Discombobulated?

D iscombobulated. Is a word that I think someone rediscovered about three or four years ago (maybe more because the pandemic years have thrown out my sense of time) and now I hear it a lot. It's not a new word by any means, but when I started hearing multiple celebrities using it in everyday sentences, I actively had to look up what it meant. Define it with as many synonyms as you like but essentially it's just another word meaning 'confused'. Seinfeld Quotes: Quotes.net The words are pretty much interchangeable. He was discombobulated by too many choices. He was confused by too many choices.  My confusion is the length of the word. It's unnecessarily long with too many syllables. There are many other words that mean confused, and therefore also mean discombobulated. Most of them are shorter and easier to say. So why not just say 'confused'? Perhaps discombobulated sounds more intelligent, maybe?  Hawaii Five-0 Quotes: Quotes.net I've noticed it gets us...
3 comments
Continue Reading »

Australian Federal Election 2025 - World's Most Boring Government Re-elected by Landside - We're Even More Fine!

Anthony Albanese Victory by ChatGPT and TET. W hen I started writing about the 2025 Federal election the polls were suggesting the world's most boring government was crusing to a defeat . As it turns out, boring is good, and Australia wants more of it, handing the current government a landslide win with a majority vote. Anthony Albanese became the first PM since John Howard to win a consecutive term, and the first Labor PM since Bob Hawke to do so. Some of that comes down to the leadership revolving door both major parties had through the mid 2000s. Although Anthony is my preferred PM over Dutton the irony is Dutton sounds more like a leader with a fairly commanding voice and an ability to speak well, without sounding like he's waffling and dodging questions, even if he is. Anthony, on the other hand, does have the ability (and speech writer) to say a lot of inspiring things but it gets lost in the delivery. He doesn't seem to know when to emphasise a point for effect. In h...
2 comments
Continue Reading »

Resident Dragon: Checking In with My Daily Gag Cartoon/Comic About a Fire Dragon Living in the Suburbs

A t the beginning of the year I introduced you to my latest cartoon/comic series, Resident Dragon (because a dragon's got to live somewhere).  A daily - well, week-day-ly - gag cartoon about Red the Fire Dragon, living in a shared house in the suburbs, with his human friend, TET and his two pets, Grrr Dog and Cool Froyd the cat. Back then I had about 100 cartoons sketched out, with eleven completely digitally inked and coloured.  As of writing this, I haven't yet skipped a day of my schedule, and am seven toons short of an even 200 sketched out, with 31 fully inked and coloured. Actually, it's 33 but I only publish one full colour toon each week, so I have two in the wings. I'm not planning on doing daily toons forever. My goal is to hit 366 so I have enough to fill a daily desk calendar, should I decide to sell one. Currently you can buy individual prints of my finished toons in my Resident Dragon Store . When I have enough finished toons I will be compiling them into...
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

Movie Review: Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) *No Spoilers*

T his is another film that I would have liked to have seen in a theatre but, for whatever reason, didn't get to. Having now seen  Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga  (2024) almost a year later I'm glad I didn't. Which is not to say it's bad. Like its predecessor Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), which I enjoyed in a cinema immensely, this film would definitely benefit from being on a big screen for the spectacle and epic visuals of it all.  However unlike its predecessor there is so much going on, with back and forth between the waring parties, and Furiosa's story as well, you can't just sit back and kind of enjoy the ride. It's like writer/director, George Miller, wanted to cram in as many of his ideas as possible for the post apocalyptic world of Mad Max, because it's not likely he'll make another one, but whoever does, has a rich, detailed world of on screen source material to draw upon. The story begins with young Furiosa (Alyla Browne) and her journey from the ...
Post a Comment
Continue Reading »

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood  Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...
1 comment
Continue Reading »