blog about blog

The other day my wife sent me an IM. She was getting caught up on my blog and said that she was thinking she should read it more often because she was actually enjoying it. As I write these posts, I have no idea who's reading or what will get a response. For example, I had a chance to chat with our friend Jennifer tonight. She made several references to things I've written recently in the blog, which made me feel good.

Yesterday I got an email from a reader named Kurt in Champaign, Illinois. He wrote, in part:

I recently came across your Web site and blog, and I've been enjoying reading your thoughts. I can especially relate to your posts about swimming, as that'’s also my favorite form of exercise (I also don't like to sweat, but I also like the relative quiet of swimming, as opposed to the noise from TVs, machines, and other people in gyms).

I had to write back and ask him how he found my blog and what made him come back for a second visit. His reply gave me a very good laugh:

I think I came across your site while doing a Google search using the term "pear-shaped" (sorry -- I know it's probably not your favorite descriptor!). And I returned because I enjoyed your writing, which is much better than what I tend to see in blogs (I'm a book editor, so I'm picky about such things.)

It's fun to get reactions from readers but I get surprised by what inspires people to post something. Of all the posts I've written, the one that has the most (eight) comments is a short paragraph I wrote on November 12 about the caffeinated cheerleader in a T-Mobile commercial. She must get Googled a lot.

I decided to look for myself on Google's blog search and found that I had been cited again on one of East Tennessee's top blogs, No Silence Here. I take that as a big compliment.