Bit Freaked Out

1. 82

   Mark Ewbieposted 13 years ago

   I was doing some hub hopping, thinking I'll weed out some of the you know what, reading the odd one, and then all of a sudden one of my own hubs popped up.
   
   For a moment I thought what the.. heck is this, and then with a sinking heart I wondered what on earth a hub hopper would make of it.
   
   I skipped it pretty quickly without marking it up.  It was a fairly horrible experience.  As though my third eye were watching me.

   replyreport
   1. 59

      paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've been waiting for that to happen to me. So far, so good.

      replyreport
   2. 75

      Richieb799posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I always listen to my third eye if I think something needs editing!

      replyreport
   3. 0

      Donna Ferrierposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Personally I find it hard to look at or listen to anything I've done myself...it's just a weird experience. I don't like reading my own stuff once it's finished, listening to myself sing, watching myself on a video, or listening to myself on a recording. I think a lot of people are like that.
      
      I also find that outsiders usually have a different take on what we do than we do ourselves. Someone might learn something a little different through something I've done than what I had  in mind when I wrote it, recorded it, or whatever. We speak to people in different ways without even realizing it, unless they tell us.

      replyreport
2. 79

   mega1posted 13 years ago

   if it was so bad, why not just delete it before another hub hopper comes down the road and flags it?  or was it just not your best work?  cheer up - spring will come I'll look at it if you just tell me which one of yours it is

   replyreport
   1. 82

      Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Well... I'm not saying it was bad.  Oh no.  And definitely not sub standard.  No way.
      
      More of a shock really - because I was into reading other people's stuff - having finished my effort (and glad to see the back of it), I was relaxed and feeling goood.
      
      Then all of a sudden I am confronted with my own work when I least expected it.
      
      Does that make sense?

      replyreport
      1. 60

         Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Are you referring to the chance given you to rate your own hubs up?  It would not count at any rate.  Must be a glitch as I have never found mine on the hopper.

         replyreport
         1. 82

            Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Yes I am referring to that.  As far as I could see I could have rated or flagged it.
            
            Unless of course the copiers are so far ahead of the game that they got theirs in as soon as I hit the Publish button.

            replyreport
            1. 60

               Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Rating your own hubs does not count, as I understand it.

               replyreport
      2. 62

         Daniel Carterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Mark, Mark, Mark.
         
         You are so hard on yourself. Like seeing yourself in a mirror the first time. You're a good writer and fun in the forums. I had the same thing happen, and I kinda wondered for a minute, then laughed and skipped it.
         
         People find what they need, and the right people will find the hubs your write that they need. It's all good.
         
         
         

         replyreport
         1. 82

            Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks Daniel,
            
            Putting 'funny' stuff out there is sometimes like going out on a limb.  Does it work?  Is it actually funny?  Very difficult sometimes to tell.  So the publishing of a hub, for me, is a slightly nerve wracking time.
            
            I never do enough work, or rewriting, but reach a point where enough is enough, or maybe its teatime - and then press the button.
            
            But don't get me wrong.  I am absolutely loving this.  Apart from the income side of things - but that may come.

            replyreport
3. 79

   mega1posted 13 years ago

   aren't the hubs in the hopper chosen randomly? so serendipitously Mark found his own hub in the hopper - should he be freaked? would I be? oh, probably.  Or I would think "what? AM I doing hopping when I could be writing?"  in fact, what AM I DOING in the, the . . .

   replyreport
   1. 60

      Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I suppose I don't understand what there is to be "freaked" about.  But then, nothing much freaks me out anyway!

      replyreport
      1. 61

         KristenGraceposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I saw one of my own hubs while hopping before... Didn't really freak me out and it was interesting to see what it would look like to another "hopper..."

         replyreport
4. 60

   rotlposted 13 years ago

   I can see how that could be a bit weird. It's like even the best actors say they cringe when they see themselves on screen. Something about seeing your work as others see it.
   
   You should have flagged yourself!

   replyreport
   1. 82

      Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      yeah, that's what I'm talking about rotl.  Bit strange.  Like finding an old diary or something.  Or maybe one of those 'songs' you wrote many years ago.

      replyreport
5. 82

   Mark Ewbieposted 13 years ago

   OK guys, perhaps freaked out was a bit over the top.
   
   Maybe slightly perturbed.
   
   There's a few reasons for this.
   
   1. I had gone slightly overboard with the keywords in the title and it was surprise when they appeared.
   
   2. Because the adsense doesn't show the opening paragraph didn't feel like my hub.  I balance the lines with the advert so it looks OK (to me), and without the balance it looked a bit yuck.
   
   3.  Although I obviously check what I am writing before publishing (no really) - it was just a surprise to be presented with my hub, almost by someone else, saying "look at this crap".
   
   Anyway, I have wasted far too much of your forum time with this.

   replyreport
   1. 77

      Shadesbreathposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      LOL @ "wasting forum time."  That's an oxymoron.  But, hey, be glad you hopped to yourself. I've never done that. It must be a good luck sign that something cool is coming your way.
      
      Or else it could mean that a huge chasm is going to open up under your desk and swallow you into the bowels of the earth, where it will not be your third eye watching, but the earth's third eye passing you through. Or something.
      
      Just saying.

      replyreport
      1. 82

         Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Shades, it could be karma I suppose.  All a bit spooky really.  Partly comes from getting into character when writing - what if it really were true?

         replyreport
         1. 77

            Shadesbreathposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Getting into character when writing is the joy in writing. As far as spooky, could be good as long as you are still alive and possessed of all your appendages at the other side of the adventure.

            replyreport
   2. 74

      Eaglekiwiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I bet you find it hard to take a compliment as well
      
      Enjoy the moment,gosh my last hub hoppin event was not nearly as exciting.

      replyreport
      1. 82

         Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I find the compliment thing really hard.  I want everyone to love me and so on, but as soon as they say it... I have to go off for a while.

         replyreport
6. 61

   Pandoras Boxposted 13 years ago

   Okay Mark, calm down there.
   
   I want you to go back to your account now, and click on any published hub.
   
   It's okay! Calm down it's okay, we're all here with you, you'll be alright.
   
   Now, open your eyes and look directly at your published hub. Okay, good. Open the other eye now. That's it, there ya go.
   
   It's nice right? See your name there, Mark Ewbie, that's you! You did that! Read it slowly now, it's okay, right? No horrificly embarassing spelling errors, paragraph breaks in the right place, it's all good, see?
   
   What's that? Oh just scroll up and hit the edit button and fix that one up real quick. There ya go. All better.
   
   But the flow is good, isn't it? You're taking your readers on a trip, a pleasant diversion from the hum-drum humility of their own lives and into your's? And it's funny? You think it's funny? It's funny. You're funny, see?
   
   Mark Ewbie, comedic writer on the topics of life. Mark Ewbie, published internet writer.
   
   Darn. Now you got me freaked out. Hmmm, I'ma go stare at my hubs.

   replyreport
   1. 82

      Mark Ewbieposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thats brilliant Pandora.  I'm going to copy it and put it on Squidoo.
      
      Not really (in case anyone thinks I mean it).
      
      I need to go and check for that error you mentioned...
      
      edit:  One more thing Pandora.  With writing like wot you wrote up there above, why don't you do more hubs?

      replyreport
      1. 61

         Pandoras Boxposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you Mark, that's something coming from you.
         
         But the truth is that my spark is entirely dependent on the spark of others. I have no originality whatsoever.
         
         Plus I'm just trying to make money. I do actually have some (lots) of plans for some stuff on this account, and maybe sometime in the new year I'll get something done here. Wow, four somes in one sentence. Awesome.
         
         See yeah, I'm not that funny.
         
         But you definitely are, and I think your hubs are really good stuff. I'm certain if I encountered one in the hopper I'd rate it up, funny and awesome.
         
         Dunno how you guys do it, I'd be staring at a blank computer screen all day long if I tried to be funny.

         replyreport
7. 90

   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   What's more freakish is to find something you wrote years back and not realize that it is yours.. So there you are, probably thinking, '"Wow, I can really appreciate what this dude is saying!" and then it hits you - you wrote it.
   
   I have had that happen to me several times. I have even laughed out loud at my own stuff
   
   Similarly embarrassing is  when I am trying to figure out some dumb techy thing and Google  finds the answer in my own article on my own site. Duh!!

   replyreport
8. 60

   Randy Godwinposted 13 years ago

   Sure, most of us are our own worse critics.  But then sometimes I read something I wrote in the past and say "wow, I don't remember writing this, it's actually pretty good."  It's almost as if I am reading something someone else wrote. 
   
   But this is rare, sadly!

   replyreport
   1. 90

      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You can make it happen more frequently by going farther back in time and writing more.
      
      You do have to observe the Temporal Writing Act of 2415, of course. No telling people about stuff they shouldn't know about yet. You are bound by that even if it is in your "Nominal or Apparent Future". Most reputable Time Machine vendors make you aware of that act as well as the more obvious things like "don't kill anyone".
      
      Amusingly, I won't get in trouble for this because it will be seen as fictional satire, and thus exempt.  I so wish I could tell you more, of course,

      replyreport
      1. 60

         Randy Godwinposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Ha!  Any experienced time traveler knows that!

         replyreport