“I write, therefore I am”

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‘You read, therefore I am grateful’

I was sitting around the other morning, trying not to think about how weird it is that it’s not even 12 degrees outside and I’m scratching away at chigger bites (from our recent Panamanian Adventure; see last week’s post for deets and pix), when I noticed I got a ‘pingback’.

Our two lovely guides plus one irritating Panama tour participant who, among other things, insisted on being addressed as ‘Raven’. She got chigger-bit too. But she deserved it

For non-members of the Blogosphere, which would be darn-near all of you, bless your Faithful Little Hearts, this ‘ping’ meant somebody cited my blog, good ole Lutheranliar looks at life, in their blog. Which is an incredibly nice thing to do, and doesn’t happen all that much. At least not to me. Before I go on, I simply must thank this nice Blogger Person, Orla by name, who writes “Fancy Paper: little things that make you happy”. When I checked that ‘pingback’, I found that she had nominated me for something called the Blogger Recognition Award. (It’s protocol to thank your nominator, but I like to think that I would do so anyway.) Thank you, Orla!

What does happen to me? Cats hiding in plain sight. Or Sitting on Guys’ Heads in Times Square

Again, according to protocol, we Nominees are also supposed to say how we got started blogging, give two tips to beginning bloggers, and last but not least, list some blogs we like and follow.

Whew. Let’s dig in. So, how did I get started?

It was actually to stop driving my daughter (known in the Blogosphere as The Child) crazy. See, before I started writing my stories down in this blog, I told them. To friends, to colleagues, to family. And I told them many times. They’re pretty good stories, if I do say so myself. But I told them over and over again, and sometimes multiple times to the same audience. (Sorry, Mr. Technician in Recording Studio A at Ogilvy; I know you must have heard about The Time I Dated Steve Martin like, 50 times.)

A photo from The Time Everything in Australia Tried to Kill Us. I haven’t written this one yet. Stay tuned

So one day The Child caught me winding up to launch into The Boss and The Silo or The Client Who Thought We Were Shooting a Movie in the Bois de Boulogne or The Time Vladimir Horowitz Woke Me Up In The Middle of The Night one too many times, I guess. Because she said to me “why don’t you write those stories down?” I explained that I didn’t want to do that because — thinking she meant write them down in a diary — I figured no one would ever see them. Well, maybe after I was dead, but what fun is that?

And she goes “no, not a diary; you should write them in a blog.”

Me: “What’s a ‘blog’?”

Well. She ‘splained it all to me. (Did you know that ‘blog’ is ‘web’ plus ‘log’?) And now, given that I have a whole sidebar category devoted to her and her exploits, I bet she’s as glad about helping me set up my blog as she is about helping me set up my Facebook account (see incriminating photo at top).

So I guess I sort of backed into blogging. As in, I didn’t start out to blog — I started out to write. I’ve written stuff my whole life, sometimes for fun and sometimes for pay, which was in the Ad Biz and was (mostly) even more fun. (If you’re bored and/or have a minute or two to spare, you can dig into my Writing Past in ‘Who is LutheranLiar?’.)  Since no coin has crossed my palm writing blog stuff, I’m thinking it’s for fun.

It’s been loads of fun writing about my Long-Suffering Family and its scandal-ridden history. You can read all about Some Forbears Who Were Related To Each Other And I Don’t Mean By Marriage right here

As for helpful tips, I honestly can’t think of any. Unless it’s to have a Very Clever Tech-Savvy Child. Oh, she did also say it was a good idea to read other people’s blogs. So, without further ado, I’ll give you a few to try. (The nominators suggest 15, but gosh, I couldn’t possibly follow 15 bloggers — not and do them all justice, that is. So I’ll list five now — in no particular order — and promise to add more soon.)

Fatty McCupcakes. Yes, you read that right. ‘Fatty’ is stretching things a bit, so to speak, but she is indeed loud, proud, and funny as all get out.

Actual Conversations With My Husband: The humor and horror of a happy marriage. The title alone makes this one worth a peek, n’est-ce pas?

The Dependent Independent. Some guy in Maine, who usually posts photos. In a verbally-laden world, he’s a breath of fresh, usually nippy, air.

Maid’s Day Off: stuff I’m thinking about when I’m doing other stuff. She “only hopes to tell you stories that will make you smile – or laugh if I’m doing it right.” You’re doing it right, Miss Maid.

And, last but certainly not least, the Horse that Brung Me: Fancypaper: little things that make you happy.  Which is totally true. (Thanks again, Orla!)

So, Faithful Readers, feel free to stray. As I say in ‘X-tra Reading Pleasure’, where I sort of semi-permanently keep a not-just-me list of Other Bloggers Worth Reading, even I get sick of Lutheranliar.

If a (b)log falls into a pond in the woods and there is no one there to read it, does it still make a splash? Just ask The Dude, who, by the way, never ever reads my stuff. Not even the stuff about him. Heh heh heh

New York City. January 2018

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42 thoughts on ““I write, therefore I am””

  1. Pingback: Free Trail Mix For Everyone!! | Must Hike Must Eat

  3. Congratulations on the pingback and award. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a pingback but if I do I’ll understand what it is from your experience. Fun to read how you got started. You make me laugh and that is always a good thing!

  8. Greatly deserved! I love how The Child encouraged you to share your stories, we are all so lucky. And the blogs you mention are some I enjoy, too! ?

  9. Yes, you certainly look at things differently as is your blog which I enjoy reading and Orla’s. The dude in my life is my proofreader, and when I get annoyed that same person is one to yell out “get your fingers away from that keyboard” 🙂 Love the cat photo!

  10. It doesn’t surprise me much that your lovely The Child was a part of getting you into blogging. She seems to have the same adventurous bent as her mom! I so enjoy your stories and am so glad you share them.

    • Thank you, Cathy. I kind of hated to provide that list. Part of me wants my Faithful Followers to operate under the illusion that I’m the only Funny Blogger on the Block (!)

  12. Ah, I do more than post photos……. I write captions for them too. 😉

    Well. I could say “thanks” for linking to my site, but I’d rather thank you for continuing to write for one of my favorite blogs. 🙂

    • Aw shucks, adamjasonp! And thanks for the kind words of encouragement. Your photos — and captions — never fail to please! So glad you didn’t mind being ‘linked’ (!)

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