O wad some Power the giftie gie us / To see oursels as ithers see us!

My good friend Mela has decided she hates our blog and so will not become a contributor. She writes,

So, like, someone writes a post, and just to show that he's up with what's really important in the world, he does a bit of reference-dropping. Someone else comes along, and with self-satisfied confidence that his place in this little world is secure, he thinks "I get your references." And just to cement the fact, he writes a reply, which says "I see your four references, and to prove it to you, I raise you four more, related by dubious wit, and perhaps some linguistics as evidence of my intellect." And just so it's not too obvious that he's one-upping the first guy, he veils his reply thinly with humor, or (gasp) irony...

I suggest we not make so many references, linguistic and other, and we not try so hard at self-affirmation with self-satisfied chortling at dubious humor. Probably we ought to be less pompous and know-it-allish in our little world.

Sorry, Mela. Habits are hard to break. Maybe gene therapy?