Responding to comments

I truly appreciate any and all people that take the time to read what I have to say in this blog. Some will agree and some won't with my points of view. There's an occasional compliment, perhaps a suggestion for a future topic, which I'm always open to, but sometimes my style of shooting from the hip will get me flat-out chewed up and spit out by people that strongly disagree. That's just the way it goes. As they say, "It ain't personal", at least not to me.

If you've read this blog for any length of time, you've likely noticed that I've responded to a lot of reader comments, especially the ones that are tearing me up. I attempt to do so in a light-hearted manner, acknowledging their point, and maybe poking a little fun back at them, and myself as well. My stuff isn't meant to be taken seriously. I get ideas, throw them out there, and see what happens. It's not like I just came down from the mountain with the tablets -- ya know?

However, technical problems have occured. For some reason, I'm temporarily unable to respond to comments made in my own blog. Nobody seems to know whether the problem lies with Blogger, Google, or even the Oakland Press web site. I'm not tech-savvy and am trying my best to get this problem resolved with people that know a lot more about such things than I do. Time will tell, and yes, I've heard a lot of complaints from people I know that can't seem to get their comments through either, or at best, have to use the "anonymous" option, as a last resort. Sometimes even THAT doesn't work and they've given up entirely.

That being the case, I would like to respond in this post to 2 blog comments I received recently.

To the reader that ripped me for the Justin Verlander bit --

I don't remember being on a banana boat, but I do seem to have a vague memory of riding shotgun in a turnip truck. Anyway, is it a bad sign when I wake up in the middle of the night and belt out Harry Belafonte's "Dayo", for no apparent reason? As for the blog? Not to worry. It will probably get worse. How long will I be doing it? Take that up with OP sports editor Jeff Kuehn. Who do you think got me into this mess in the first place, anyway?

To the reader that tore me up over Hank and Adolph:

That was good stuff. Thing is, if a child of mine were to marry into 10 different scenarios, as you suggest, I think polygamy laws might come into play. This is Michigan, not Saudi Arabia, or maybe Utah. Beyond that, their preferences are their business -- not mine. When they get wings, they'll fly wherever life takes them. Honesty, being respectful, and if you make a mess -- then clean it up yourself, are good things. And there's that little detail about turning the lights off when you leave a room. As for music? Can't think of anything I don't like. Well, maybe when somebody pulls up next to me at a stop light and the bass from their sound system is making my whole car vibrate. That can be annoying. Even went to an opera once. Loved the costumes, and the outfits the performers wore on stage weren't too shabby either, ahem, but I had no idea what they were singing about. Not sure, but I think it was Italian.