Self-Aggrandizement?

Yesterday I received an anonymous comment on my blog entry Ride the Rockies Registration Closes Today. "Self-aggrandizement is a much higher priority," wrote the reader in response to a good natured comment my mom had posted accusing me of working on my blog rather than returning her call that morning.

At first I was embarrassed so I deleted the anonymous comment (and my mom's comment that prompted it) and changed the settings on my blog so that I can moderate comments before they are posted.

Then I looked up self-aggrandizement. I mistakenly thought self-aggrandizement essentially meant "shameless self promotion" (which in many cases is an accurate description of BEEFMAN Bloggeth!). But then I looked it up. According to YourDictionary.com, self-aggrandizment is "the act of making oneself more powerful, wealthy, etc., esp. in a ruthless way."

BEEFMAN has neither made me more powerful or wealthy (I wish) and I don't think I've ever promoted myself in a way that is ruthless.

Today I received a comment from a reader in Washington State on my post from a few weeks ago, Is Colorado Bike Friendly? "Hi Daren, enjoyed your blog on RTR 2008. We made the lottery for 2009, so now I'm a little intimidated/scared. Thanks for all the tips."

Thanks, Barb (whom I have never met), I'm glad you appreciated the tips. Don't be scared. Just keep training. You'll be fine...and you will have the ride of your life! BTW, we also made it into the lottery. Maybe we'll meet each other on the ride. I'll be the guy wearing the "Beef. It's What's for Dinner" jersey shamelessly promoting beef as an important part of a healthy diet!

I guess when you put yourself out there on the internet you open yourself up to random insults and criticism. I have received both. Some coward even went to the extent of e-mailing my employer to complain about my shameless self-promotion without contacting me. Really? Seriously.

I started BEEFMAN as a way to keep my friends and family (and whoever else finds it interesting) up to date on my exploits without clogging their inbox with e-mails and multi-megabyte pictures. I'm not sure if the anonymous reader is a family member or friend just messing with me. If you are, please identify yourself in future comments so I can enjoy the joke.

But if "anonymous" is someone truly offended by my shameless self-promotion, then just don't bother reading. And don't bother commenting. I won't post comments from anonymous cowards.

Daren

P.S. While looking up self-aggrandizement I ran across a blog called Self-Aggrandizement, the story of Joshua Bryce Newman, "a 29-year old film mogul, entrepreneurial wunderkind, and general smart-ass, living in New York City." The first thing you see when you open Joshua's blog is the tagline: "Now with 137% more unabashed egotism!" I love it...and have enjoyed reading the random thoughts of Joshua Bryce Newman. Thanks, Anonymous, for leading me to this site. Check it out. You'll hate it!