Sunday, March 4, 2012

A "Real" Fan!

I haven't really made an effort to let people that I interact with in RL know that I have a blog.  It is not that I don't want them to know about it.  I try not to write anything that I wouldn't say to anyone's face, and as part of my cold turkey pledge I try not to cuss.  Nothing to really be embarrassed about.

It's that most people I know aren't the least bit interested. I know this to be fact. I told a few people, and they practically fell asleep almost as soon as the word 'blog' was mentioned.  No one in my family has ever read anything I've written, which probably makes family dinners more palatable. Oh, I share posts on Facebook, if I am especially happy with my writing that day. But I don't ever expect anyone who actually sees me every workday to read it.  After all, I am just one little blog.  A minor blip on the interwebs. I understand that, and I am okay with it.  If I could just blog all day as a job, and make money doing it, I might not like it so much.  There's a big difference between writing because you want to and writing because you have to.  While I wouldn't mind making a little spending money with my blog, that's not the reason why I write.

So I was very flattered when someone from work approached me and told me how much she enjoyed reading my blog.  To be honest, when she first approached me, my first thought was 'Am I in trouble?'  But that's pretty much the first thing I think when anyone at work approaches me these days.  I have known this lady for a long time, through several regimes of Superintendents, good and bad(in education, regime is really the correct wording). She is a very nice lady, and I am glad if I can make her laugh every now and then.  

An actual English teacher reads my blog, too, and she hasn't corrected my grammar once.  It's not that my grammar is all that great--half the time when I am writing it is late and I am falling asleep.  My participles are sometimes left dangling as a result, and despite all of my talk of spelling OCD, my posts are often riddled with misspelled words.  I won't even mention gerunds.  Yet she hasn't said a word about any of that, even when I've been expecting to receive a printed copy of my post for the day, the markings from the red pen still fresh.  I am relieved that she does not do this.  

Don't get me wrong.  I adore each and every one of the people who read my blog and comment, even if they are correcting my spelling.  Since the internet is so vast, however, there's a tendency to feel that the readers out there will fade away like a mirage.  For instance, I know that my friend Jillsmo is real because she's sent me presents. Other times, especially when I am tired, I wonder if I just imagined the entire thing.  Maybe I've just imagined writing this entire blog post.  It's been a long day.  


5 comments:

  1. Ok, if you email me an address, I will send cookies to prove I am real! It is really neat when someone in your daily life admits to reading!

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  2. I'm right with you. No one even knows about my blog. Sometimes when people ask what I'm doing I say I write stories on the Internet and people comment if they feel like.

    So funny about then English teacher reading and the mirages appear before all of us, I'm sure. I enjoy reading your stuff because you make me chuckle. Thanks for that!

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  3. I understand those conversations about blogging and the glazed look in the eyes of the person you're talking to. I simply say, "I'm a writer." I gave up trying to explain blogging ages ago.

    Writing is so amazing, isn't it? You sit down and let the words click out onto the screen, never sure what will happen or whether or not, you have to hit the "delete" key and let everything disappear. On the other hand, what a thrill when a story comes together and you bring life to characters. It's addictive, isn't it:~)

    Regarding the "reality" of blogging: What's it really matter? If you like the people and they like visiting, who cares if you never meet them? There's something a bit magical about blogging. It defies known boundaries. We talk to people we'll probably never meet, but develop significant relationships with them.

    Then again, ages ago people met each other through letters. They even got married without knowing each other beyond the letters. So, in a way, we're coming a full circle:~)

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  4. So who do you think is leaving all these comments then???!!! Maybe I'm just an elaborate spam program with my OWN blog, just as a front ...

    Seriously, I LOVE how I can post something, and a few minutes later someone across the other side of the world is laughing ... with me, not at me I hope. But it's also weird that the very people - friends, family, colleagues - who you'd kind of expect to be interested in things you liked, and support you in new ventures, are probably the smallest group of readers I have!!!

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  5. I do hope I am one of the people you just spoke of... I still look forward to your posts every day. They make me happy and sometimes sad, but they most of all let me know you a little better, and that's nice. Keep writing girl... and I will keep reading!

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I welcome comments, but reserve the right to correct your spelling because I am OCD about it!