Brothers Campfire says You Are Free To Voice Your Opinion. (Remember Kids Read Though)

Hello, Benjamin from Brother’s Campfire here!

Yesterday, the Campfire had a first.

We blocked a commenter.

The comments were nonsensical as if a bot or program was making them happen, so it stood to reason.

We do spam the enhancement pills and nutritional supplement trash but that goes without saying. Perhaps I should post more about the spammer in several different languages again but that would be boring.

It surely piqued some curiosity in the Pacific today.

The Campfire intends to allow for the voicing of opinion, so don’t hesitate to leave meaningful comments, even if I may not agree with them.

The Campfire is the beauty of sitting on a stump, freezing nearly to death while quaffing our favorite warm beverage together in conversation.

What Could Go Wrong?

Today, you can test your typing tenacity.

Today, I have chosen a tank of gasoline in exchange for over one fifth of a days labor while rocking a flatcap my family wanted me to wear. I think it is a bit on the small and sporty side, but my Beloved says it softens my look.

I prefer western-style hats, but a flatcap has its place. Looking way back, I suppose I have hardened a little.

Benjamin, Brother’s Campfire

The Gentleman’s Gazette has a whole guide on the topic, but the site gets a little foppish for this dandy.

Author: Benjamin

Benjamin Thiel is a husband, father, correctional professional and author of The Ongoing Tale at Brothers Campfire.

53 thoughts on “Brothers Campfire says You Are Free To Voice Your Opinion. (Remember Kids Read Though)

    1. Benjamin says:

      Ha ha! The Burrito 🌯 story came from North Korea. 🇰🇵 I just filled you in with a load of bologna to accompany

      Reply
        1. Benjamin says:

          I need my Beloved to get well so I can get better material. I am bottom of the barrel sitting around. 🤠🔥

          Reply
  1. Jaskiers says:

    That flatcap make you look like an oldschool detective ! I love it ! Very mysterious… You should pop out a notebook, a pen and pretend to investigate ! And a fake smoking pipe !
    I hope one day i’ll see you rockin’ a french béret ! Oui oui !
    Much love for you guys !

    Reply
  2. YouLittleCharmer says:

    I don’t believe in a heaven – but if I did it would be thus:

    “The Campfire is the beauty of sitting on a stump, freezing nearly to death while quaffing our favorite warm beverage together in conversation”

    👍🖤

    Reply
  3. kagould17 says:

    Yeah. I’ve only ever had to block one commenter, who when I said how difficult my 50 km 3 day backcountry hike was at 65, accused me of being a whiner. The more I explained I was no complaining, the more he ranted and then he took on my readers who tried to defend my. Blocked him after 3 days and switched comments to moderate. I am with you legitimate sensible comments are allowed, even if they critique me, but stupid stays away. Cheers. Allan

    Reply
  4. herbthiel says:

    The flat cap will take some getting used to but I don’t really think it softens your look. It’s just…different. I used to have one for a while but it just didn’t feel right. I still have but the Professor wears it these days.

    Reply
  5. Marlapaige says:

    I had to block several people and switch to moderated a while back. I had gone to sleep and an insane situation erupted while I was asleep. I still can’t figure out what happened, but one person commented, another didn’t like something that was posted on one of their sites and blah blah blah plus four more. Somehow three other people who never even have been to my blog before or since were dragged into the whole rigmarole.

    I told everyone to knock it off and told them to go fight on their sites and shut down comments for that post. They just started it back up while I was in the shower on a different one of my posts. I moderated everything, announced it, and told them to duke it out on their own sites. Only 2 stopped. Three kept going. I deleted those comments and kept pushing, but so did they. They just kept calling each other out for DAYS and all were modded so it wasn’t showing. I deleted the comments and blocked them. I haven’t had an issue since.

    Everyone has an opinion – and they don’t necessarily need to get blocked for disagreeing; however, once you start going ham on each other in comments, it’s a buh-bye.

    As for the nonsensical comments – I get a few of those as well. However, I know they aren’t bots. But sometimes, it would make more sense if they were.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      Ha ha! Sounds rough! Thanks for sharing this experience! If it ever gets that bad, I will moderate. So far, so good! 🤠🔥

      Reply
      1. Marlapaige says:

        The ONLY reason I started moderating is because of Ze Battle Royale that was unwanted. I even let it settle for like 3 weeks and I took off the moderation because everything was quiet. Within an hour they figured out their comments were appearing again immediately and off to the races! So I stay moderated. It’s just easier! And it’s also easier to make sure I don’t lose all my comments LOL

        Reply
        1. Benjamin says:

          I can see that. If there is a toxic commentor, they have to be managed. I do my best to leave comments and comment arguments alone.

          Reply
          1. Marlapaige says:

            I always have too. Actually, I generally let arguments happen even with moderation. There are lines though, you know? Let’s say you and Joe Schmo decided to come on my blog and start up a ruckus based on one of my posts, and go back and forth, FINE! Even if it has nothing to really do with my post, go ahead! Enjoy it all day. I will approve all of them – I will read them and I will enjoy actually having a chance to follow the argument with popcorn!

            That’s how I’ve always run it. It’s how I still run it, I just keep moderation on in case. it had started with two bloggers who knew each other way back when and didn’t like each other. They saw each other in my comments and decided to go for broke. Then they started trash talking the other’s friends… people that had no idea I existed and I certainly didn’t know them. Then ugly things that started triggering other readers… yeah. That’s when enough is enough and you have to sort of come down and act like everyone is in time out. I did try to go back to the way it was – twice, actually. But the more people that follow me, the more it seems there are people who knew each other from lifetimes ago that do not like each other but seem to like my blog. I’ve had quite enough of these explosive chance encounters.

            Besides, at first it bothered me that I had to OK all of the comments. Now it doesn’t. I’ve found benefits to it. For example, the notifications area is constantly losing things if you’re away too long. But the little talk bubble is blue if it’s on someone else’s page and brown if it’s on yours. So you go through all the blues and make sure you get those before they disappear for eternity. You can always go back and get your messages from your pages in the comments section.

            The best part, although I don’t know if this is because of mod or not (i don’t see it once comments are approved though) is that when you click a certain button in the comments section from your page, it lines ALL of the unapproved comments up in a nice conversation that you can see. You just go through, read them in order, and accept them or reply to them. Same as you would see on someone else’s comment page but lined up just for you LOL

            I guess, lemonade is kind of necessary sometimes LOL

          2. Benjamin says:

            That is tasty. I am in the mood for some Popeyes right now. Tuesday os the big chicken day here in Colorado Springs, CO. Very cheap at Popeyes. 🤠🔥

          3. Marlapaige says:

            Ah, Tuesday here is free coffee day at the local convenience store LOL I don’t think Popeyes has ever been nice enough to give me any sort of discount when I go there, even if I give puppy dog eyes. But that’s ok. They’re good enough that I don’t even mind LOL

          4. Benjamin says:

            Oh, you give puppy dog eyes. The story unfolds a little……🤠🔥

          5. Benjamin says:

            Hmm…
            I have ducks that don’t like chickens, but I suppose that is neither here nor there.

          6. Marlapaige says:

            OK. 100% truth. He wasn’t a puppy. He just looked like a puppy. He lived to be 19. And he ALWAYS loved Popeyes and he could give puppy eyes like you couldn’t even imagine!

          7. Marlapaige says:

            I just showed you that so you could see that face and see how heartless our Popeyes workers here are!

            He lived a good and long life. I got to love him for all of those years. I’ve been very fortunate in that when I chose a pet, they seem to last a long time. One dog was 20, a cat that was 19, this little black dog was 18, two cats were 15 and 16. And I only have one rule which I will always follow: quality over quantity. If they are happy and healthy, they can just keep energizer bunny-ing it for eternity. When that changes… it all changes. So I am just so happy that I got to teach him to give puppy eyes at all sorts of drive-thrus. He did too. Most places totally caved to that face. Popeyes NEVER did. They wouldnt even throw in an extra honey mustard sauce!

            The saddest part about that? He actually did like honey mustard sauce. They all thought I was full of it and it was for me. I got the ones in the bag, if they gave an extra he could get some on his chicken bits. But they never would. How do you say no to REAL puppy eyes?

          8. Marlapaige says:

            I know I can’t. Not even a little bit. It’s why I won’t go to the pound unescorted. It was a rule my ex came up with and I eventually had to acknowledge he was right. I’d adopt 7 dogs at a go and then have to bring them back because of some reason or another until I was just left with one. So I could only go with someone else who would force me to pick one LOL

          9. Marlapaige says:

            Certain cats for me. They have to be really, extremely stupid looking or like they can outsmart a Stephen Hawking. All the “normal” cats are kind of just cats. The stupid ones do stupid things and that makes them great. The smart ones do wicked smart things which makes them irritating as can be, but also, great.

          10. Benjamin says:

            I had a cat named Sasha that came when called. At least when I called.

          11. Marlapaige says:

            I had a house-tiger named Gryffin. I am not a particular fan of cats – like I said, only dumb cats. I got him when he was so little he could sleep in the palm of my hand. He was one of the wicked smart ones and I figured that out right away. I decided he was too smart to be a cat and he should be a dog. So, psych major that I am, I ran an experiment. He would come when called, sit on command, get down, go lay down, go sit behind the couch for time out, cuddle on command, and would growl when people knocked on the front door. He couldn’t exactly figure out his meow until he was 17 though… he would “mew” and it was so delicate and small despite the fact he was taller than that black dog I showed you pictures of. He never did figure out that he was a cat. You could just put him into a house full of dogs without any warning or introduction and he was just fine. The only dog he ever had a problem with was one that we found out didn’t like cats. Of course, that was the moment we found out too… but Gryf didn’t care. He started growling and acting like an angry dog. The pit bull actually stopped and looked at ME like “um…something is wrong with this cat. I think they’re supposed to hiss.” Gryf just took the moment of the dog not paying attention to run up to bed. But he couldn’t be in the same room as ANY other cats. He loathed them. Kittens too. If you had cats, he’d come up to you and start sniffing and snorfing you smelling them, but they couldn’t come near him. But he was ok with mice (I had 2 that I got for a school assignment). The only truly cat things he did was dislike birds, and dumb things because he could land on all fours (like jump up at the back door and get his claws stuck on the screen door and be stuck upside down for a while – he would do this to the glass door when it was closed and he liked going as high as he could and bounce off and land on his feet. Didn’ work with the screen). He also broke the cat genie code. He knew how to make it go off without having to step foot in it. It was an automatic one that would go off ten minutes after the cat was done, but he figured out the blinking or something, I’m still not sure what. But he would go over and push the button until it started and then run through the house flushing all of the toilets. I have NO idea why… But he never missed a toilet, and he would open the doors to get to them if he had to.

            Pets are actually weirder than most of their owners LOL

          12. Benjamin says:

            Owners can be quite the individuals! I wonder how much of our personality our pets absorb.

          13. Marlapaige says:

            More than any of us care to admit. We like to think our pets are insane and we are totally normal. Nature v Nurture LOL

          14. Marlapaige says:

            I write on my phone or by using my phone as a hot spot in a condo with broken windows in 22 degree weather despite working 3 jobs. So I think that perhaps “normal” is relative LOL

          15. Benjamin says:

            I write on my phone as well. I wrote a story about a dragon once, Marla.

  6. equipsblog says:

    You’ve already written a post about the benefits of sitting around the campfire and sharing respectful opinions, whether you agree with them or not. Fun post.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin says:

      Have you thought about stopping by the Campfire and writing a line as an author?

      Reply

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