A reader left a comment here yesterday: “Yeah, yeah. Let’s shower each other with compliments. You scratch my back, I will scratch yours. All are happy. I’m fed up with the over-sugarness in the photo-blogosphere. “Brilliant!”, “Incredible!”, “Great!” … blah.”
Having grown up in a negative household, I prefer having my back scratched. Too much sugar is preferable to sourness and the occasional bitter taste that life insists on feeding us. But, dear reader, I appreciate the honest comment. Thanks!
They loved my friend Adam
But he always got caught.
Man, that kid made fucking up look cool.
Aren’t we all so cool now? No.
Lyrics from Something Corporate, Cavanaugh Park
bahahahahaha, if it wasn’t for my husband i would be out there with that tin cup NOW, i know this fact all too well, even tho i’m angry at him right now
sugar coated puke, i think you’re on to something, could make a dog treat franchise out of that!! i totally agree with you, i delete negative comments on my blog, and even if i LOATHE a picture, the person that took it saw something in it, and i say ‘nice something’…. tho i’m not much into loathing anything, except my husband at the moment 
True, early on blogs me a little nervous, because I am honest and direct, but with time I realized that we could change it-but-with my comments then if it can be nice too! (you can also … refrain is another option!)
Once I had a sarcastic and nasty comment I asked myself the question, remove or not? I left for others see that he was the villain … He has not returned!
Sera thank you for this interesting discussion on Sunday morning!
zzzomgoodness lolol do you just think up this stuff from the hip???? you are an utter genius, or a witch, not sure yet haha i loves ya!!
lol i think i just projected there, somebody just called me a genius with a camera and asked if i shoot from the hip
unconscious theft of intellectual property, but that doesn’t make YOU any less of a genius lol or make me luvs ya less
throw her in the river and if she floats… she’s a witch…. and if she sinks…. she’s a witch!! did you try it, and did you meet the devil? if so, what did he say to you???
one time i had a lucid dream, and this red character showed up, hovering above me, and i said ‘who are you?’ and he said ‘i’m the devil’ and i said ‘well GET OUT OF HERE!!!!’ and he left
i was prolly shooting secretly in a mall, not wanting to get caught… hahaha my husband was not the red figure hovering over me!!
i’ve always thought my photography was verging on crap, so hearing comments like that warms the cockles of my heart
i like the cure pain one, since i have a bad back, but if it’s witchcraft i’m NOT ALLOWED lol being a Christian and all…. where did you learn that stuff??? is it just old wive’s tales?
i’ve heard of that fungus in the rye bread, alot of so called demonic possesssion was because of that…. i read the book ‘salem’s lot’ that’s the closest i came to it… i suppose if there really were people in league with the devil, then killing them might be justified, but i say convert ‘em lol… i just don’t think i believe in that stuff… so what did they have, a book of ‘spells’ in the memorial graveyard? so they would be old wives tales i guess then
Once upon a time … in the very beginning of my blogging era
I experienced similar feelings upon all this showers, it felt false
and faked, not authentic at all. Later on I experienced dudes
online that always, always was negative and angry.
Later on I came to the conclusion (after some Anna-Lyse)
that the blogosphere has it own conditions, and shall not
be confused with interpersonal emotions and sociability’s
that occurs in face-to-face (f2f) situations.
I still notice those over-positive showers, but don’t mix
them with my life, and several of them are ironic.
I think that most of us express what we mean, but those
with negative responses are not shouting out in comments,
There is no need for that, they scream elsewhere, hopefully
on the beach or in the forest he he
(( hug ))
oh is that voodoo?? i remember working in a bar once, listening to a girl tell her story of encountering satan worshipers, weird in itself, but there was these two black guys listening too, that worked in the kitchen, and one i knew was in a biker gang, a family type deal, and the other one was just a tiny thing from africa i guess, and the biker said something mean to the girl telling the story, and the tiny guy starts speaking gibberish (i couldn’t understand it) to the biker guy and the biker guy got a look of terror on his face and ran out screaming!!! the girl looks at me and says two things…. ‘voodoo’ and ‘never accept gifts from somebody in league with the devil’…. isn’t that bizarre??? the next day she said voodoo only works if you believe, like that was supposed to make me feel better lol left that job pretty quick!!!
reminds me of the movie ‘moonstruck’ with the old lady at the airport, ‘i put a curse on dat plane that it’s going to CRASH!!’ Cher says ‘i don’t believe in curses’, and the old lady goes ‘och niether do i’
very interesting article… just goes to show that power of belief, any lie becomes true to you, and you make it true IN YOU, if you believe
yes, it’s much better to find an absolute truth, than search for ‘beliefs’, good night sera, i’m not angry anymore, talking with you cheered me up
oh i have one more thing to say, have you noticed that absolute truth and GOD is difficult to believe, but that other stuff is easy to believe? it says in the Bible that the way to destruction is broad, and to take the narrow path
thanks for the great talk
Thank You
My choice is to relate to Your warm words – You made my writing Sunday!
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Back to the feather
Of course we’re all diving in superlative pond, but what does that say ? That we all enjoy sharing good warm vibes, that we’re here on the Net for this, because we need it (or else we were elsewhere !
, and I myself too tell me often that I put too many sugarwords but I do feel them, for the images i comment, for the people i feel behind, and for that over positive sharing that helps us feeling just a little (or more, it often saved my days !) GOOD. So don’t count on me to add pepper in the sugar but honey only cause you deserve it, Serasugarphine !
I see you made my comment a topic of your today’s post.
The only thing that’s left to blame is that I’m Russian and I still learn the language. 
Sorry about the misspelling/typo. I’d blame it on a headache, but I had none.
Sorry to hear about the lack of love you experienced in your childhood. On other hand, the things are pretty bad, if one needs an external praise to boost one’s self-esteem. No one better than us knows our pluses and minuses, our strengths and weaknesses. I believe a praise from outside is not able to change a thing in what we truly are. That’s why Nostalgia is a praise free zone, even though some folks like to break the First Law of Nostalgia now and then.
PS. That verbal diarrhea from a lady who hates her husband doesn’t do any good to your blog. You got to do something about that. On other hand, it’s your blog. What do I know.
great shot, well spotted
I guess we have a sugar-coated Elaine shower here.
Muah!
Well why is it not the truth when we say that it is great …
Why is it more the truth when we said that it’s bullshit …
Bien à toi !
Well, honest – love your comic, love your style, love your point of view, love how you make me smile…if i didn’t i wouldn’t comment…Kept up with the great work!
Diving, Jumping Fishing?.. I pick Fishing!
Okay, so we tell you that your work is great. The reason is simple: it is. It not sugar coating; it is fact. I love your blog. Its great, and I am so glad that I was introduced to it.
Puh-leeze! I don’t follow just ANY blog. Yours rocks. End of story.
And I love that you love mine. I love our sugariness.
ROCK STAR! I just popped over to Gary’s blog and saw that he gave you a shout out! You’re loved. Deal with it.
I prefer honesty to sugar coated everything, and in the past on my previous blog I was hounded by a few bloggers who did not like/agree with my words or did not like my photographs. I always left the comments on and answered as best I could because I do believe in free speech. If negative comments are constructive, I’m happy to receive them, and I do like to hear other opinions when they differ from my own, but rudeness and nastiness I simply won’t accept.
But, (there’s always a BIG but wherever you go these days……), I would much rather have one reader who reads my words and leaves a positive/negative comment that is honest and heartfelt than ten bloggers who simply say ‘Nice shot/nice light’…… arrrggghhhhhhh!! I’d rather be despised than simply ‘browsed’.
As always, you make me think, and your blog inspires and delights….. and that was not sugar coated at all.
If you can’t jump, dive or fish off a bridge, what can you do? Cross it?
BORING.
Go Sera and Sarah! Two of my favorite gals ever. XO
I have blog pet peeves as well.
I don’t like when people leave empty comment, such as “great”, “good job” etc. If I don’t have anything to say, I don’t say anything. It happens a lot — doesn’t mean the blog isn’t good though.
I don’t like people who keep on apologizing for not updating their blogs, and who always say they will write something good etc. Just stop whining already and write something… or nothing at all!
The very first reason I am coming to your blog or to anyone’s blog is that I like them. That’s why I would come here everyday. And then I would look at the what I like and tell you what I like. This is no reason of sugarcoating. I know anyone is posting because they want to share the good things in the post/photo with others. My job is to find that good things and say something about how “I” like it. I would not go to someone blog and try to find what is wrong in it and talk about that. That is insane… that would be me with something wrong in my brain.
About the constructive criticism, I still won’t do it it unless the person would write specifically asking for it. “I am putting this photo that I don’t like… so now… you also find out what you don’t like it and tell me about it.” Now what sort of crazy person would start blogging with that mood. Right?
Single word comments leave thinking someone is either moving too fast to too many destinations or is not verbally gifted. Is nobody taught anymore that if you having nothing nice to say it’s best to say nothing?
Brilliant! Incredible! Great! Ican keep sugar-coating if you want.
I prefer it to ugliness, too especially when it’s just for the sake of being negative or under the guise of pretending to be deep and intellectual. Anyhow, love your SL photos. I have to admit, I have done a lot of goofy and wild things in SL but I have never puked. I’ll have to visit one of the slum sims and find a toilet to interact with!
Too true. Our children are the greatest gift – they are to be nurtured, loved and taught to soar with the eagles. I am so sorry that you did not have the great childhood you deserved. But, as ugly as things can be, they do shape the person we become – and you are incredible!
ok, i will stop commenting on your blog sera, since the negative guy says i have verbal diarrhea, i can see why you made the post you did, with his attitude
But the donkey doesn’t read at all!
GROOOLF ???? oh ! it’s interesting ! lol !
The thing is….why would we NOT surround ourselves with positive reinforcement??? There is a huge difference between constructive criticism and negative energy. I learned a long time ago to steer myself away from the latter. It’s a death knell to the soul. Thanks, Seraphine, for drawing attention to the things that make us think.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaa Sugar, hmmmmmm hooo honey, honey hmmmmm
ah, so hard to talk about it … but a little bit encouragement is always great stimulants for someone’s work … I personally do not express my ‘excitement’ when do not like a picture so much , but I still say a few nice words ! I definitely know that people are very sensitive and do not like any kind of criticism, although they say they are open to critiques and suggestions … .
Hugs and prayers and positive thoughts to your friends.
as said elaine ..
Sugar … honey honey ..
Bien à toi !
Spice
can be
Nice
too
Like the slightly disconcerting angle on the bridge shot
It’s so easy to throw a superlative ot two. To come up with an interesting thought requires some effort, which we often have no time for. No wonder, the practice of giving kids money for entertainment and showering them with toys instead of spending time with them is so popular nowadays.
I had no idea so many people who read your blog, Ms. Sera, have a sweet tooth and like to “surround themselves with positive reinforcement”. Hahaha.
Seraphine: I have found the vast majority of bloggers I’ve encountered to be on the level and super people!
)
Maybe I get caught up in writing little compliments about stuff that I like. My superlatives are generally heartfelt.
By the way, I love that sign. I used to look for a good bridge to jump from but not anymore. Life is good now
Eh who cares if someone is complaining about Elaine. Its not their blog. They can just stop coming here, very simple.
As to sugarcoating everything, its a very bad idea. Some things in life are meant to be bad. If they weren’t we would be stupid enough to keep doing them.
I don’t want sugarcoated, I don’t want blunt, I just want honest.
I tihnk the main problem is that we are miserly with praise but always ready to rush in with a cupful of criticism. Sometimes, it seems people are perched like vultures waiting for us to stumble so they can swoop in and rake us with their high and nighty claws.
“Wait till they get a load of me.”
callie