I like to think of my readers as welcome guests. It's a good thing.
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I have to admit however that I hate the fact I gave in and posted the Followers app on my sidebar. No one should be called a follower of mine - but it is there and I appreciate all of you who have so kindly patronized me. I am continually surprised I even got to 100, and now days it seems it runs steady at about 120 followers. I'm more than fine with that. If it were possible, I'd give you all a big hug.
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The reason I'm actually bringing this Follower thing up is that yesterday I believe I had 122 followers. Today it is back to 120. Now I think it is just fine that one enjoys playing volley ball with the friend, foe, and follower button - I love crazy! But if you are going to snub me and withdraw your friendship, why not tell me why. Leave a comment or something. Don't be shy. I would really like to know - you don't have to be nice either.
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Some people have told me they simply can't stomach me, that I am a blog to avoid - and much harsher things that I can't really recall any longer. Oh! Oh! One man said I was a horror. I thought that was kind of scary.
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Newcomers may not be aware of it, but I welcome insults and personal rebukes and accusations and humiliating attacks. So please, don't be shy, and tell me why you would bother to sign up as a follower one day and delete yourself the next.
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Don't feel bad either, as I tell everyone, eventually you'll drop me from your links as well.
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Thanks so much and God reward you for telling me off and explaining to the world what a horrible man I am.
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BTW - I know of no way to find out who stopped being a follower either - unless I'm really familiar with your avatar.
And then there's people like me who follow you but don't show up in that sidebar thingy because I never participate in those thingies. How can you treat me this way. Neglect. Anti-me. I'm getting signs made up and standing in front of your place as soon as I can find it on g00gle maps.
ReplyDeleteTerry, if it makes you feel any better, I am not your follower. I won't be either. And I also wouldn't follow you on twitter if you were on there :)
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, you run one of the best blogs I know of, and you're at the top of my Google Reader list (then again, that's one of the perks when your blog starts with 'abb...')
Keep it up, and who cares about the follower wars?
Thanks guys - I'm really just curious what is the drop off point for some people.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is the best, bar none. You're the real deal, Terry. It shines through and people know it.
ReplyDeleteI'd follow you to the ends of earth, dear brother Mr. Terry.
ReplyDeleteI mean it.
You make my insane life somehow more sane.
And I love you for that!
Thanks!
Terry.I follow your blog.I like it.
ReplyDeleteHave to say sometimes I do not "get" the humour,but then I am English and a big ocean divides us....just carry on blogging.
Thanks Maria and Father and A Catholic Comes Home.
ReplyDeleteI like your blog alot because your way of thinking is quite a bit different from mine and you encourage me to look at this great
ReplyDeleteFaith from different perspectives. Although, sometimes, you make me mad....actually, less mad, than exasperated.
But over all I come here about every day. And I'm no follower, I'm not that hi tech.
Hi Terry -
ReplyDeleteI am not a follower, but I read you every day because I like your outlook (and you sound like a very good man.) Keep up the good work!
Blessings from the Cleveland Diocese
By the way ,,, don'cha just hate Twitter? I find it so pointless.
ReplyDeleteIt's true, Mr.Terry has always unblocked me after he's cooled down as he's grown quite fond of my annoying ramblings. (Ummm, sure)
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I delete many comments that I think will tick you off 'cause I ain't going there no more.
Anyway, I would like to point out your continual posting of repetative blog photos. You gotta work harder.
If I see that Priest with the cigarette again I'm gonna have to report you to your blog manager.
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Another thing, I felt so bad about your beloved cat I toyed with the idea of mailing a new one to you from the Land of Oz and calling her Toto. (I didn't think about the pesky address part) Would you have guessed who done it? I couldn't stand to read about your broken heart....I was so sad too! But then I remembered - ya'll have cats up north.
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I have a very similar personality as yours and I understand that at some point people go. I get it. You - like myself, are your own worst enemy and the other people around you are perplexed by you and simply want to love you yet you bite them in return- that's me but I'm trying.
You are aware your bolg is listed in the 'Kool-aid Watch'?
ReplyDeleteI knew from the first when I read your blog the followers are zombie-like in their adoration and praise of you.
Creeps me out.
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Pablo, It's all a bit true about the followers who believe Terry to be something that he's not and it's because of his saintly posts. You can write saintly and not actually be saintly. (Which BTW is not for me to decide- just a passing comment.) Terry has never claimed to be saintly and he's like all of us bloggers as I personally have a great affection for my blog followers as well. I know I suck but a few of them seem to like me anyway - Go figure.
ReplyDeletePeople are drawn to Christ and I think drawn to Terry because of his faith and I believe he sincerely loves people and is deeply concerned for their salvation but he doesn't always express it in normalish ways.
If your exposing Terry as human and as screwed up as the rest of us then I would agree. It's a mistake on our part to put anyone on a pedestal - they always fall at some point and get hurt.
If your waiting to find the perfect friend - your going to be friendless. If your waiting for saints - your gonna have to wait till we die. No death - no sainthood.
Perhaps we could take what Terry writes at face value and learn from the messages and pray for the messenger who BTW has enriched my faith in Christ enormously.
I gotta go - A random Marvin Gaye song has just popped onto the radio! It's a sign!!!! hahahahaha
Belinda, I never get angry or mad.
ReplyDeletePablo, what is the 'kool-aid watch'?
Cernui - sorry I exasperate you - I do like pushing buttons though - I'm told it is passive aggressive.
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Merc - I don't use twitter and stopped facebook. Yep - I hate them.
Cleveland diocese - I'm only good at the moment of absolution - and then it isn't mine. But thanks!
God bless you all. Outside of Belinda, anyone else willing to give me a slap-down? Cath?
Terry,
ReplyDeleteI'm a consistent (daily) reader, do I have to be follower? That Yahoo link stuff unsettles me. Hey constructive criticism is a good thing. Humor too. I really respect what you have to say and I consider it.
Thanks and God bless.
…Hey constructive criticism is a good thing. Humor too. I really respect what you have to say and I consider it….
ReplyDeleteYeah. What she said.
A friend of mine asked me about someone that was voicing their opinions at a conference.
“I’m only sticking around until they start handing out kool-aid” was my reply.
By the way, more people laughed at my remark than they did at his attempts at humor. I didn’t think anyone was listening to me.
This remark refers to the ‘reverend’ Jim Jones of Guyana.
Your blog is an oasis for the Church Militant to stop by and be refreshed.
“…If you’re waiting to find the perfect friend - you’re going to be friendless. If you're waiting for saints - your gonna have to wait till we die. No death - no sainthood…”
Oh Madam, I am so sorry you feel this way.
I have met the perfect friends. I have met Saints.
They all have one common denominator: Christ Jesus.
A few that were non Catholics I pray for in my Holy Rosary intentions, that God had mercy on them through invincible ignorance on their part.
Some of those perfect friends that you have not seen with your eyes and those Saints around you that you do not recognize will be shown to you upon your death.
Pray for them as they have prayed for you, storming Heaven with their petitions on your behalf.
There is something called seeing through the eyes of Christ.
The Woman at the Well is a good example of this. It is a good contemplation for us.
Mr. Terry,
Que Dios te bendiga.
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Thanks Eve - no one has to be a follower.
ReplyDeletePablo - I thought it was a Jim Jones reference but then I thought - maybe there really is a watch list. Anyway - I think I 'get' you and I always appreciate your comments. Thanks.
No, I like your blog alot, and I'm generally on board with you once I figure out your peculiar angle and humor on a post, but every once and I while you do lose me, and that's when I get more exasperated. I can't tell if you're joking or really taking a shot.
ReplyDeleteBut that's not terribly often
Pablo, are you saying that I could be a saint before I die?
ReplyDeleteHow can I make that happen? Can I still be crabby?
Dear Mrs. Belinda,
ReplyDeleteFather Leo Francis McNamara pronounced the Priestly blessing “Benedicat vos omnipotens Deus, Pater, et Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus.”over a thalidomide child and the next day, the child, that was born with flippers instead of arms and legs, awoke with arms and legs.
Fr. Margil and the tree of the Crosses. The Padre was going into the monastery to pray and stuck his cane in the ground. It sprouted into a tree that grows thorns in the shape of crosses.
We are all called to be Saints.
Some amongst us have not been given an St. in front of their names, for whatever reason God chooses, but we are all called to be Saints. It is possible. All things are possible through Christ.
We do not have to perform miracles, but we can please God; His grace, should He grant it, can make us Saints anywhere He pleases.
If you want to please God, follow the eleventh commandment.
The wife of someone, I forget her real name,wiped the sweat from the brow of Christ when He had fallen, and was rewarded with His image on her veil. Her name was changed to vero icon and her name also carries an St. before it.
The veil is an outward sign of a woman’s obedience to God.
As did Saint Veronica, use your veil Madam, to wipe the tears from the face of Christ that us men cause Him to shed everyday because we choose sin.
May God grant you an St. before your name.
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"Some of those perfect friends that you have not seen with your eyes and those Saints around you that you do not recognize will be shown to you upon your death."
ReplyDeletePablo, that's beautiful. I've long thought that we may sometimes encounter saints, but are too stupid, too prideful, and too jaded to know.
Only God knows the heart, and only God knows the secret lives of anyone.
I like Terry's blog because he does not "have all the answers", but he loves Christ, and I can tell it's true, even though I'm a spiritual lightweight. He's fiercely orthodox, but full of charity. He doesn't seek and find scandal, and he doesn't attack. I think he shows a lot of character and charitable discipline, and I love his knowledge of the saints.
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteTerry, I'm still officially following you; but a few days ago, I thought about stopping and it had nothing to do with you at all.
Last month, I had some technical problems with kept me from going online as often as I used to do. Without really thinking about it, I found myself prioritising book blogs and Horror blogs and just leaving the Catholic blogs alone. (I did read your anti-mantilla post, but I refrained from leaving a comment because I realised I didn't think of myself as "part of the gang" any longer.) It wasn't really a conscious choice; I just had other blogs I wanted to read more.
I do still consider you my friend, but there's no rule that friends have to read each other's blogs, is there? Indeed, if it comes to that, how many times in the past few weeks have you visited mine? ;-)
Anyway, if you suddenly lose my raccoon avatar, please know it wasn't because of anything you blogged.
Enbrethiliel - I thought you might be getting sick of me and the Catholic blogosphere. I admit I'm terrible about reading my friend's blogs all of the time - and when I do I frequently do not leave comments.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to be such a disapointment to my friends.
When I read "I'm sorry to be such a disapointment to my friends." It' gave me distress.
ReplyDeleteYour not anymore of a disappointment than the rest of the human population is, and yet I feel the exact same way about myself.
When I post comments on your blog I often discover to my horror ( as everything is about my anxiety) that I'm usually "Off topic" or didn't "get" the post as it was written.
I think your a sincere and compassionate person but like all of us, it's hard to not be human.
I have a great affection for all of my blogger buddies - you included as I speak with bloggers more than most all of my relatives.(Not including my children and blog admin.) Your blog is the only place on the planet where I am comfortable enough to write what I really think and I enjoy that as most people do not appreciate what I think. hahahahaha
It may not be welcomed but it keeps it real on my end and I like that.
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How come you don't make a blog for gay people entirely?
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteAh, Terry, I didn't mean to make you feel repentant. =( I was just making an oblique observation about online friendships, particularly those tied to blogs. We got to know each other because we both had Catholic blogs, and now that I no longer have one, it makes some sense that we'd no longer really "visit."
But yeah, I still love you! And surely you know that love is more than comments and public following! Isn't that the point of this post?
Yes, I agree with Miss E.
ReplyDelete