Note: Again, I apologize for the lame formatting of this post. Still trying to figure out my technical difficulties…thanks for understanding, and reading anyway…
You know how I was saying in my LAST POST that I check out my blog stats to see who’s linkin’ over here? Well, didn’t I find an interesting one tonight?? I don’t know what the fark this message board is, but they sure have a big hatred for we scrapbookers. Here is the LINK that linked to me… Of course, the original topic was HOF-gate and THIS ARTICLE from KSL.com:
“Online war of words erupts between scrapbookers
December 7, 2007Paul Nelson, KSL Newsradio
There is a bitter and hurtful war of words going on over the Internet among a certain group of people. You may be shocked to hear who it is. You walk into the scrapbooking store Treasured Memories in Salt Lake City and the atmosphere is pretty calm. Owner Michael Mellen said, “All of my customers are just happy. They’re coming in to preserve their memories. “Mellen says scrapbooking is about the joy of memories and sharing wonderful times, and all that. He says part of the fun is the diverse artistic expression each person has. “I’ve got stuff in my store that I think is as ugly as sin, but people buy it, and there will be something I think is awesome and they’ll pass it right by [saying], ‘Oh, that’s stupid,'” he said. That why he’s surprised at some of the hate-filled comments scrapbookers are throwing at each other online. “That anybody would care enough to go attack somebody else’s designs, or whatever, is just stupid. These people should have better things to do, like spend money in my store,” he said. For example, the Web site scrapsmack.blogspot.com has entries questioning the parental skills of a woman named Heidi Swapp. They also call a woman named Jeanette Herdman the b-word. One of the most bitter chat threads is over a woman named Kristina Contes, who was stripped of her Hall of Fame honor. She’s called things like, well, I’m not comfortable even telling you which letter it starts with. Rusty Pickle Sales and Marketing Representative Nanette Hanks said, “People in the industry get, I think, to where they want it and they want it now, and they get mean and ugly, and it’s kind of a turn-off. “Hanks says these people represent an extremely small portion of scrapbookers. Still, she says there’s no reason to call a woman stripped of Hall of Fame honors a name that would make a sailor blush. “I don’t know. Maybe the people complaining about it and calling her bad names should maybe spend some more time making cuter pages. They might be there, too,” she said. Some bloggers compare the stripping of the honor to the Barry Bonds steroid scandal. Other people say there’s a growing rift between regular scrapbookers and digital scrapbookers. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see a rumble.” [End of article]
And here is just a sampling of their fine comments about us on from the forum at FARK.com.
As a husband of a scrabooker, I can say with certainty that they are a vicious bunch.
Unreal…Will never understand interest in this.
I guess it’s constructive when they’re not being DEstructive.
For some reason, I picture a bunch of overwieght middle-aged white women sitting in a circle passing around scrapbooks saying ‘ooh Denise’s page looks like shiat! Yeah, and Denise is a ho too! She’s a ho who makes shiatty scrapbooks!’
I work with a doc who’s a scrapbooker…she spends all day working on these things. What happened to a plain old photo album?
The company I work for is a major scrapbook supplier. I can tell you that scrapbookers can be some of the most rude, biatchy, vicious women on the planet. I have never been treated more rudely than the customers of my company.
It is a hobby and they treat their work like it’s going to be hung in the Smithsonian.
If you can avoid the hobby and women that do it, please do so.
I know that not all of them are like that, but the stereotype of fat, rude women exists for a reason. I will not go to scrapbooking conventions simply because of the customer “size” factor.
I’ve come to the conclusion that scrapbooking is a plot to keep women from actually having an impact on society or the economy (aside from scrapbooking supply sales). If you have that much time on your hands, ladies, go get a farking job or take classes or even engage in a more useful craft!
Another link someone posted over there was this old You Tube of Kristina Contes. It’s not relevant to anything, except that I finally learned the correct way to say her last name.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUvMm-GlBMo]
So, here we go again, first they slam us in the WSJ article about Martha Stewart scrapbook products, and now this…the above article and all the nasty comments. It made me wonder about other groups of crafters and hobbyists: Are there such slams being written about quilters, golfers, cross-stitchers? And if not, why not? What is it about scrapbooking and scrapbookers that gets everyone else’s panties in such a wad?
After the WSJ article, initially my feelings were hurt and I took it very personally ~ because my love for this hobby and the people who do it is deep and undying. But then I stopped to ‘consider the source,’ as mom always used to say, and realized that it ISN’T personal. It’s more about misperceptions and jealousy and those with nothing better to do than judge those they don’t know anything about. I mean, if I was trolling the Farking internet and came upon an article about a scandal in the fly fishing world, I might read it with interest but I certainly wouldn’t feel I had any authority to comment on it or the people involved or the fly fishers out there in the world. So, while reading the negative comments this time was entertaining and informative, I’m not going to take it personally anymore. ’They know not of what they speak.’
What do you think of the article and the comments? Do you take offense? Got any scathing comebacks you’d like to post? Have at it…
