When I started this blog seven months ago, I admitted that I wasn't sure what I was doing. I knew there were blogs out there, but had not read very many of them. So I jumped into the pool and started talking about things that I was thinking about, or reading about. We all lead interesting lives and I have been fortunate to have lots of things to talk about.
I started Recipe Mondays to share with you some of my favorite creations (and the creations of others). I talked about archives and looked to include archival content when I could, especially when this blog was picked up on Archives Blogs.
I created a political blog to track the 2006 midterm elections and it has been transformed into watching the ever growing larger snowball of the 2008 presidential race. I have even started a third blog, which I have yet to contribute any thing further to, with the idea of creating a clearinghouse for my family to keep in touch with each other.
As I became more comfortable blogging, I ventured out into the blogosphere and discovered all sorts of blogs on an incredible variety of topics. After getting recommendations from others, I started reading blogs of individuals I considered "celebrity bloggers." Everybody has something to say, it is just a matter of who you get to come and read it. I said at the outset of this "project," "If you have a blog and no one reads it, is it really there?" Evidently, at least looking at the map found on the blog, people are stopping by.
I received the ultimate accolade the other day when I checked in on my blog and found that not one, but two of the "celebrity bloggers" I read regularly had come to my blog, read it AND left comments. Restaurant Gal, who offers a window into the restaurant business that I can't get enough of, and Kim Ayres, who writes "Ramblings of the Bearded One," from his perch in Scotland, both stopped by. I don't recall having left a comment on Restaurant Gal's blog recently, but had just mentioned to Kim that I wanted his wife's chocolate cake recipe after he mentioned its chocolately goodness in a recent post. He offered a substitute, Blackberry Crumble.
It had never occurred to me that people other than those I know were coming to read this. To that end, I thank all of my friends as well, for they can hear those stories from me "in the flesh," but they have often contributed fodder for the blog and I am grateful to them. To those of you who have come by who don't know me, I thank you as well. I am moved by the idea that you have found something worthwhile here and I will continue to try to make you think, smile, frown, or make you stop and go hmmm. Leave a comment and let me know how I am doing and I will continue to try and do it the best I can.
2 comments:
Celebrity blogger? That's a new one to me. Wow. There are blogs out there that get hundreds, even thousands of visitors ecah day whereas I'm still in double figures.
As a matter of course I will always visit and comment on the blog of someone new to my site. To my mind it's a common courtesy. It also gives me a chance to see what kind of people are actually reading my ramblings. I've never been entirely sure why anyone does. Unlike Restaurant Gal, I don't have a definite theme so it's much harder to find a niche readership.
I'm curious about your blogger name - Brave Astronaut - is it a literal description, a reference to a book or TV character, or an in-joke of some kind?
I was really happy to see this post from you--I read your blog regularly and truly appreciate its eclectic nature. As one of the people who knows you and some of the others who show up in your anecdotes, but who lives a bit outside our beloved DC Beltway, I appreciate having a window into what going on "back home." BTW--I'm expecting a full description of opening day. Looks like you've got a great day for it. You inspired me to start my blog(s), and as I said in a post there, anything that encourages people to communicate ideas is a good thing.
Keep up the good work!
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