Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Tribute to the North Woods Guys

I find it really sad: a series of events that have lead to a blog being removed from the blogosphere with no forwarding address.

Some of you are familiar with Warren and Steve of the “North Woods Guys.” Just some average guys who live in northern Minnesota and use the blog as a chronicle of their lives. Like most average guys, their lives were pretty average. They were not running around picking up guys for one nighters nor were they having three-ways with married men. They were just going about life and blogging about it in their own comfortable way.

Some have called Warren the Ned Flanders of the gay blogoshpere. I think it was meant as an insult but is it really? Who would you rather have as a neighbor: Ned Flanders or Homer Simpson? We may make fun of Ned Flanders, but he would make a good neighbor. And I think the blogosphere was a better place with Warren in it.

I know that at one point North Woods Guys was being lampooned (an not too nicely) by other gay bloggers. I also know that Warren has gotten some not so kind comments on his blog. I just think it is sad that we as a world cannot stand to have just nice people around. We cannot stand for just nice people to stay just nice. I should think we would be happy and allow the people to be. We may even strive to have a life like theirs. Even if we don’t want a life like theirs, we don’t need to attack it. That is like the het’s attacking us because we want to get married. If they don’t want to marry someone of their own gender, that is ok, just don’t stop us from doing it. If people don’t want a quiet life, that is ok, just don’t malign those who do.

North Woods Guys, you will be missed.

10 comments:

Ur-spo said...

sad, but do we have the facts?
On some other blog I read they stopped as they were bored with blogging.
So I don't know their motives for pulling up stakes.
Still, I hear many liked them, so it is sad to see them go - perhaps they are merely 'regrouping' under a different name, like Tiger by the Tale.

Frank said...

Didn't catch their last post so was surprised to see the blog gone. There is always a risk of criticism when you think outloud. Some topics invite discussion and you have to be up for debate or questioning your own views. By all means, lets keep discussion civil and intelligent.

Tony Adams said...

I didn't read them often, but am acquainted with some of the bloggers who skewered them, and, in conversation with those bloggers, I learned that their real complaint with the North Woods Guys was that they sometimes lifted other bloggers material and passed it off as their own. When confronted with this, they would simply say that anything on the net is to be construed as available. I ended up standing with those who felt that "North Woods Guys" was really a fiction written by one man. I'm guessing he will emerge again, in a new blog, as a new character or two. That is rather the beauty of blogging.

Unknown said...

I think those guys are still out there, blogging under a different name. I'm glad to see them back, as I personally always enjoyed reading about their lives. Since they did not leave a forwarding address at their own blog, I'm not comfortable leaving the new address here. Nevertheless, if you look around a bit, you'll find them again. (They even have a link on their blog that comes here, BQ.)

Anonymous said...

I always enjoyed reading their blog....a fresh point of view showing a different gay life. I didn't read every day...but will miss them.

Anonymous said...

Beyond the Ned Flanderian style of that blog, which was probably more amusing than annoying to most people, the issue a lot of people had with them is that they stole images, headlines, and even text from other bloggers without attribution or acknolwedgment.

Moreover, they frequently described their "perfect love and happiness" and maintained they were "living the dream" when in fact their life sounded, frankly, less than appealing to most gay people today: they were, or believed themselves to be, totally closeted, and wanted to make not the slightest bit of effort to come out. They didn't have any other gay friends. They were extremely harsh in their judgment of people in non-monogamous relationships, and appeared to see themselves on a higher moral plane because of their "100% faithfulness."

Blogs are certainly a place for personal opinions -- and they can think and do what they want, obviously -- but when you're wondering about why other bloggers lampooned them and so on, there are your reasons.

Couple all that with a pretty dismal and easily-derided writing style and quirks (at least Warren).

Anonymous said...

Sad loss. Fiction or fact, the tale of a balanced gay couple with ordinary live and pleasures was enriching.

Anonymous said...

Gentlemen..we are alive and well and you can find us over at http://steve-warren.blogspot.com/ Our View On Superior.

After being stalked by a nut case - and other related problems - Steve and I are back - blogging.

Happy New Year.

Anonymous said...

Last comment..we are real, we are a couple, Steve is 33 and I [Warren] am 60 and we are very much alive and well.

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to them? The link you posted above (no dates on these posts? Whose bright idea was that??) is dead, and Google turns up another dead Wordpress link. Steve? Warren? Still blogging? I'm feeling nostalgic for the mid-00s blogosphere, and I wonder what you guys are doing now.