October 02nd, 2024

Ya'll are not going to believe this, I mean I don't, why should you?  But this coming Friday, October 4th will be our 8 year blogiversary!  Wow!  Eight Years!

I say OUR anniversary because it really is a partnership.  I write it, you read it and sometimes you even comment on it!  There would be little point in me writing it if nobody was reading it. I mean, I can have all these crazy thoughts and observations, ideas and experiences without ever touching a keyboard.  Those things would still happen and it would not be a Blog. It would just be me living my life the way I always did prior to October 4th 2016 when I first dipped my toe, ever so tentatively into the blogiverse.

My readership has ebbed and flowed over those 8 years.  Some days/weeks/months are better than others, but isn't that the way of life?  Peaks and valleys, highs and lows. Good times and Bad. Amen, Amen.   And readership?  LOL  That's hilarious.  I have a lot of chutzpah referring to it so.  In the beginning I assumed that perhaps some family and a few close friends would be kind and take a little peekie at it out of politeness or kindness and that would be the end of it.   And I could at least say, "I tried" with the "and I failed" a silent addition.

But to my surprise not only did some people I know keep reading it, but people I don't know were reading it!  Wow!  That was unexpected..  And while it was an amazing compliment, it was also an added pressure. Am I writing something worth reading?  Should I change my style? Should I experiment with other topics?  Ultimately I decided that much like Sammy Davis Jr and Popeye, I gotta be me.  The first rule of writing is to be genuine and authentic.  Whether you like what I have to say, what I talk about or how I write it or not,  what I present is always 100% Sam.

Over the years, I occasionally get an email from someone I've never heard of who is an aspiring writer that offers to submit  a few articles on my site. I suppose for the experience and exposure.  The first time it happened I gave it a great deal of thought before I responded with a polite, "No thank you but I wish you good luck!"  I agonized over it. It wasn't just a flippant, nope.  It was a decision that I wrestled with for several days and nights before choosing. 

​ I felt at least a tiny bit of pressure.  I felt as if I had the obligation to allow someone else an opportunity to get their feet wet; to use my blog as a jumping off point, perhaps, for their own.   Ultimately, I realized that my blog is mine. Just me.  And since some people like it and honestly, even if people hate it so much that they avoid it like a plague, at least it's not diluted or miscontrued.  I take full responsiblity because it is my responsibility.

Sometimes I have a lot of material to write about and other times, very little.  A few of my ideas have been good ones, most of them are at least ok but it's easy to admit that a few have been seriously meh.   My apologies for the ones that didn't spark but I suppose that's life too.

I hope that over the years I have maybe occasionally entertained, informed, educated or even truly annoyed some of you. Enough that you still, occasionally, pop in to see what thoughts, events, ideas and questions have been rummaging around in my little punkin' head.

So once again, I thank each and every one of you, because without you, there's really no blog. Happy 8th Blogiversary to us!

Hugs all 'round

PS  Apparently there is another storm on our horizon.  Thus far the experts believe that it'll be just a lot of rain but even rain can knock out power/internet/so forth. Sooo if I'm not around early next week, that is, no doubt, the reason. Take heart, much like MacArthur and Schwarzenegger,  I shall return.