A short, short list of contests and blog hops at the bottom!
V is for Voldemort and the Very Annoying Mr. Anonymous
Voldemort is brilliant, beyond evil, a complete sociopath. He doesn't have an ounce of beauty or compassion or understanding in him making him a fabulous and unstable villain. We never know who he'll go after next because he's willing to sacrifice anything and anyone.
My favorite part about Voldemort, however, is that a boy is the one who destroys him. I love YA lit in part because kids and YA characters are often naive and unjaded. They believe in right vs wrong. They are passionate enough and foolish enough to fight unswervingly for what's right and just. I love that Voldemort can't understand love and friendship and virtue - everything that makes up HP.
And now the Very Annoying Mr. Anonymous
A few weeks back, I changed my preferences and allowed people without a Google Account to comment Anonymously on my blogs. After doing so, I had some lovely conversations with people I might not have heard from otherwise - and I really enjoyed them. However, I also starting getting attacked - yes attacked! - by the Very Annoying Mr. Anonymous.
Mr. Anonymous doesn't spell very well. His grammar and capitalization skills are poor. Even as a grammar teacher, I understand we all make mistakes (myself included). But it makes me angry when the Very Annoying Mr. Anonymous does it - partly because I know he's not reading my posts (which makes me feel better about bad-mouthing him here...I don't like to make people - even annoying people - feel bad about themselves).
When Mr. Anonymous comments, he tells me he likes what I'm saying in my posts or that I have a very fresh perspective or that I'm really smart and he wants to talk with me more about how I can help him improve his blog but HE'S LYING! He just wants me to visit his blog and buy something stupid like magnetic paperclips or the world's shiniest (self-proclaimed) shoe polish. Well, Mr. Anonymous, you're not fooling me - no matter how many posts you visit (or how outdated those posts may be), I will win this fight! *shakes fist dramatically in air*
Unfortunately the only (reasonable) way to win is to either turn on CAPTCHA - which I just can't do - or turn off the ability to comment anonymously. I wish there was some other way, but there isn't. So, I'm sorry. I really am. Mr. Anonymous ruined our fun like that seventh grade student who sticks his chewed up wad of gum under my desks so many times that no one is allowed to chew gum in class anymore. Very annoying, isn't it?
Contests and Blog Hops
The Writer's Voice competition begins May 1st.
Operation Awesome is hosting another Secret Agent Contest on May 1st.
Secondary Characters Blog Hop hosted by the wonderful ladies: Rachel Schieffelbein, Theresa Paol, Kelley Lynn, Jessica Salyer, Jenny Morris, and Suzi Retzlaff will be May 22.
Alex J Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp, Livia Peterson and Al Diaz are hosting The Best and Worst Remakes Blogfest on May 17.
I turned off anonymous last year due to a troll. Unfortunately, there's no other way to stop them.
ReplyDeleteYeah, no anonymous here, either.
ReplyDeleteI think we all end up doing the dramatic fist shaking and then turning off anonymous commenting. Unfortunately, it is a sad commentary on what is going on.
ReplyDeleteAs for your Voldemort post... I do think it does take the purest heart to beat the worst evil. And not many adults can say that any longer. We become jaded the longer we are here in this world. I can see why YA Lit can be the most fun to write. Where else are you going to find a pure heart????
Voldemort is a perfect villain!
ReplyDeleteYes, Anonymous is quite annoying!
Voldermort is perfect for V. Don't feel bad about turning off anonymous comments. We did too about a month ago because we were getting so much span, even showing up in the blog comments.
ReplyDeleteDeleting spam always keeps me busy, too. I hate it. Although sometimes the comments are kind of hilarious. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and turn off anonymous commenting myself.
ReplyDeleteSorry about them anonymous spammers. They sure do ruin the fun for everybody.
ReplyDeleteI stopped anonymous comments a few months ago because spam was getting through the filter and I despise captcha.
ReplyDeleteAnd your V was the same as mine!
I don't have it on either, we know the real Villain of the day Mr. Anonymous...
ReplyDeleteI have my comments set so I have to approve each one. A relative of mine has made it his work to destroy mine simply because he is jealous and wants to be a writer. Who's stopping him?
ReplyDeleteVoldemort's origin is of particular interest to me.
V is for Voldemort...I totally agree!
ReplyDeleteI will never forget the horror I felt reading Chamber of Secrets as a twelve year old and realizing that intelligent Tom Marvolo Riddle was Lord Voldemort...that revelation was a lot scarier than Lord Voldemort himself :)
Wordpress has Akismet that traps spam comments but I understand how annoying a Very Annoying Anonymous can be! We'll always read your posts, no matter what :)
I don't know how Mr. Anonymous gets around so much, but he's ALL over the place. :)
ReplyDeleteI hate those anonymous commentators. I had to change the guestbook at my old Angelfire site to a spam-free service and took the link to the real guestbook off the page. It worked pretty well, though the occasional spam still came up.
ReplyDelete