And then I happened to review the list of visitors during the last 24 hours:
1. Novi Sad (Serbia)
2. London (England)
3. Taipei (Taiwan)
4. Eastham, Massachusetts (U.S.)
5. Mountain View, California (U.S.)
6. Warsaw, Mazowiecke (Poland)
7. Italy
8. Little Rock, Arkansas (U.S.)
9. Hilton Head Island, South Carolina (U.S.)
10. Fort Worth, Texas (U.S.)
11. Jakarta, Jakarta Raya (Indonesia)
12. Council Bluffs, Iowa (U.S.)
13. Longview, Texas (U.S.)
14. Manti, Utah (U.S.)
15. Chihuahua (Mexico)
16. Tubarão, Santa Catarina (Brazil)
17. Honolulu, Hawaii (U.S.)
18. Birmingham, Alabama (U.S.)
19. Russellville, Arkansas (U.S.)
20. Strongsville, Ohio (U.S.)
21. Clayton, North Carolina (U.S.)
22. Chicago, Illinois (U.S.)
23. Hopkins, Minnesota (U.S.)
24. Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)
25. Warner Robins, Georgia (U.S.)
26. Savannah, Georgia (U.S.)
27. Sunnyvale, California (U.S.)
28. Kristianstad, Skane Lan (Sweden)
29. Mumbai, Maharashtra (India)
30. Fountain Valley, California (U.S.)
31. Jyväskylä, Western Finland (Finland)
32. Quezon City (Philippines)
33. Carrollton, Texas (U.S.)
34. Calcutta, West Bengal (India)
35. Whitchurch, Shropshire (England)
and my heart was made happy.
That list doesn’t even include some of my regular commenters from Oregon and Florida and British Columbia and New Zealand and Australia and the Netherlands, all of whom apparently are taking a long-deserved vacation (whether individually or together, I cannot say).
And then there’s the fact that ever since I wrote the first post with fear and trembling nearly four years ago, I have managed to save most of the little flags of the countries of the world that have visited my blog. Know how many I have saved so far?
131.
Who woulda thunk?
Of course, it isn’t about quantity; it’s about quality. Some of those folks may show up for a second or two, not like what they see, and depart posthaste, saying, “This isn’t my cup of tea.”
And that’s okay.
There will always be naysayers.
You can’t please everybody.
Actually, you can please all of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Somebody famous said that, I think. Either Abraham Lincoln or Lady Gaga.
Everybody blogs differently. Some people post photographs almost exclusively, some people have a mixture of text and photos, and some people have mostly words. I’m in the last two groups, moving back and forth between them depending on my mood. But mostly, in my heart of hearts, I’m a word person.
My friend Rosezilla (whose real name is Tracie) down in Florida says, “A word is worth a thousand pictures,” and I tend to agree.
I will make you a solemn promise. If you continue to read my blog, I will never post photo after photo of my children and grandchildren. I will never post a recipe that contains twelve ingredients and thirty-six photographs. I will never show you any handcrafts I have made, in or out of rehab, computer-assisted or otherwise, except for possibly the occasional poem or short story.
If you don’t continue to read my blog, I make you another solemn promise:
You will never know what you’re missing.
Note. The photo on the right was selected at random from thousands of possibilities. The person in the photo is not Mrs. Rhymeswithplague nor is it a child or grandchild of ours. As to whether it might be me, I refuse to answer on the grounds that it may tend to incriminate me.
Note 2. I would like to make two exceptions to the “no handicrafts” rule, and those are Pat of Arkansas and Katherine DeChevalle who produce exquisite greeting cards and oil paintings, respectively. In fact, I am a recipient personally of their work, and am in awe of their talents and abilities. When I said “handicrafts” I was thinking mostly of knitted squares for afghans and pasted-together covers for boxes of Kleenex.
Count me in, down in Fort Myers! I've been a)visiting with my son, daughter in law and grandbaby, and b) having my house redone as far as cables and wires and what-not so that our computers and phones and t.v. work better by my son so I haven't had a lot of computer 1) access or 2) time. So that's why I've been AWOL. But I pop in whenever I can, and I'd be disappointed if you were gone.
ReplyDeleteKeep On Blogging Bro! Yo! Dude! Howza - howza - howza! Hot doggity ding dang doo! (Isn't that how you American chappies talk?)
ReplyDeleteRosezilla, children, grandchildren, and rewiring to speed up computer facilities are all acceptable excuses for being absent in Blogland.
ReplyDeleteYorkshire P., Bro!, Yo!, and Dude! cross the Atlantic just fine. In They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, Gig Young said "Yowza - yowza - yowza!", NOT "Howza - Howza - Howza!". But I haven't heard anyone say "Hot doggity ding dang doo!" since Hillary Clinton withdrew from the 2008 Presidential race....
I had a long break from blogging for many of the reasons you articulated, plus a few of my own, and I regretted it.
ReplyDeleteIt was like I'd lost the one friend I could really talk to, who would laugh at my lame jokes and nod in agreement even when I was spouting nonsense.
And now I write for that one imaginary friend. Of course it is nice to think that there is an audience to this one sided conversation, but to misquote Descartes, "I think, therfore I blog."
Which is a long-winded way of saying I hope to read more from you. Just as long you avoid recipes, handicrafts and grandchildren!
Shooting Parrots, unlike yourself, I have never spouted nonsense (!!!), but I have many imaginary friends. And I have seen many a blog that consisted of nothing but recipes, handicrafts, and grandchildren...
ReplyDeletemaybe you can't please everybody but at least you should try to please me
ReplyDeleteI had to run an extra virus scan on my computer this afternoon. It was acting a bit strange. One of the strange things is that my list of favorite places, which usually refreshes itself with each new post, was showing no posts from rhymeswithplague. I thought it a bit unusual, but checked no further; folks have their own reasons for posting or not posting. However, after the virus scan, there you were (or, rather, your site showed up in bold type) with not just one, but three new posts! I am delighted, of course, to know that you received encouragement from reviewing your list of visitors. I'm not ready for you to quit posting!
ReplyDeleteI laughed over your response to YP re::Hot diggety ding dang doo!"
Onward, now, to the more recent posts. And... thank you, dear sir, for the kind words!
But...but...does this mean that the world will now never get to see your collection of hand-knitted tea-cosies or hear your recipe for Pineapple upside down cake? Shucks... :-D x
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, the tea-cosies will have to remain our little secret, and I'll have you know my pineapples are never upside-down, but when I get back home (I'm out of town just now) I will add a recipe in the comments on this post for Mrs. RWP's world-famous Three Holer Cake.
ReplyDeleteHave a good journey. How about dropping by my blog when you get back ... it needs a man with an erudite wit and whose pineapples are in fine fettle around the place. ;-D X
ReplyDeleteIf it becomes a chore, just take a break. But chores always have to get done sometime.
ReplyDeleteAnd you'd be missed, so hope you stick with it.
Pat, it is good to know that one of your favorite things is having my blog on your list of strange places. (Did I get that right? I was speed reading....)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, keep your eyes peeled for that recipe, although I may make it a separate post.
Wine, chores do *not* always have to get done. I don't know if I have shared this with you before, but my favorite hint in Phyllis Diller's book of helpful household hints was if your children write their names in the dust on your dining room table, don't let them write the date.
Putz, your wish is my command...NOT.