Too Much To Dream

Trolls and other home invaders

Okay, Mr. Paulsen has had enough of a scare -- though the phone call he refers to (see the comments) could have come from anyone for any reason -- if he is as obnoxious in real life as he is on other people's websites, I am sure there is a long list of people who'd love to call him names.

By the way, I do not approve of calling people's phone numbers and harrassing them. If someone who admires me thought they were helping by making an obscene phone call to Mr. Paulsen, let me tell this person now that they were not. If I had wanted Mr. Paulsen called, I would have done it myself. I put his info up on this page (I have since removed the address and phone number) to show Mr. Paulsen that one can't hide on the internet behind a fake name. (Actually, I wasn't even sure that this was his real info, until he helpfully confirmed that it was.) And no one here is my "little toadie" -- they made the decision to do what they did (if they really did) on their own time and out of their own free will, and if they get in trouble with the police because of it that is their fault not mine.

And to answer Mr. Paulsen's repeated claims that what he did was okay, because my website is "publicly accessible," I must remind him (and anyone else) that this site is not an open forum like a newsgroup or a message board. I consider this site to be more like a house -- my house. Sure, a house is publicly accessible, in that it has doors and windows, but there are also laws and customs regarding how the public must behave in and around someone's private home. I am sure that Mr. Paulsen would not appreciate having strangers watch him through the windows of wherever he lived, even if it was only to observe his most innocuous behavior (watching tv, eating, and so on). Also, I am sure that if he invites a friend, acquaintance, or stranger into his home he expects those persons not to start fistfights, smash the furniture, pee on the carpet, or call him, the host, names. Why does he and other trolls like him think this is fine to do on someone's personally-owned website? (I consider calling someone names and generally being unpleasant without adding anything to the conversation to be the equivalent of peeing on someone's carpet.)

I pay for this site, and I provide it free of charge (donation buttons notwithstanding). I consider the comments part of the site to be kind of like a salon where people can get together and discuss things. I don't mind a little snark, some disagreement -- but if you can't keep to the barest minimum standards of civility then I suggest you find some other weblog to read. There are so many other blogs out there. For the most part I do try, when I leave a comment on someone else's blog, not to call them names, swear at them, and so forth, no matter how much I disagree with what they have said. (That's what I have my own blog for.) If I have been as rude as Mr. Paulsen on anyone else's blog, let me take this opportunity to apologize, and say that it will not happen again. But as far as I can recall, I have not gone to anyone else's website and left comments calling the host or his other commenters such names as "fucking bitch." After all, I am not in my own "house," as it were.

On the other hand, in my own "house" -- this blog -- I can curse and swear all I want. I do try to at least make my tantrums entertaining. If you really can't stand what I have to say, and want to call me names, use your own website to do it. Then I will mock your post on my site, and you can mock me further on yours, and so on. But you don't get to have a nice, pretty site full of sensitive poetry, and then use mine to make your messes. I did not set up this website for you, anymore than I pay rent on an apartment for someone else to live in. I really don't see how hard this is to understand.