Let me know if you are ever in need of a molecular biologist.

Even though I haven’t met most of my blogfriends in person, I still feel closer to them than I do to many of the people I know in real life. Perhaps that’s sad, but I do think writing is a great way to get to know someone. I don’t really make friends easily, but since I’ve started blogging I feel like I socialize a lot more than I did before. With the people I met through blogging and then met in person later on, it was like we were old friends. I find myself thinking about the people I only know through writing, hoping for good things for them and their families, and I would miss them if they went away. I include you in that, Chris. So keep blogging.
courtney´s last blog ..I’m Just Going To Pretend It Hasn’t Been More Than A Week Since I Last Posted. Sound Good? Good.

Happy blogiversary!

I’ve developed some friendships online that have become friendships offline, something that’s probably easier for someone in Atlanta than Adelaide. Most of all, though, blogging helped me learn how to use and leverage social media, which has meant that, after only 2 months of being on my own, my firm’s website now comes up front page when one googles my area of expertise and “atlanta.” The day I made the front page, I started getting phonecalls. So, see? There are benefits.

As Maggie and others have said, however, do it when and how you want to do it. When I was a kid, when I had a good day, I got excited about writing about it in my journal (sometimes while the “day” was still happening, so I still had time to make it an even better day). I try to do the same now, instead of feeling like I gotta keep putting words on a screen so that I can keep up with expectations.
muskrat´s last blog ..on father’s day

Also, you have beer.
rassles´s last blog ..The Declaration of Creative License

Joe – That was cruel!

Jill – A hobby. That’s a good way of looking at it. I like it.

Ariza – Well said!

April – I miss CoMo sometimes. Seems a different life now.

Mongola – Thanks!

Veloci – Thanks.

Susan – Five years is a long time. I think that’s why I try and blog about different topics, I’d exhaust a single topic very quickly!

Zen Mom – I think I’ll be around for a wee while yet.

Laura – I know, with such wringing of hands. You’d think I was a teenager.

MJRC – That is dead on. The last couple of years have been amazing and, if nothing else, I’ve got this record of that time. I just need to figure out a way to make it permanent…

Yello – Thanks.

NATUI – Me too.

Cat – You did! You can’t!

Carolyn – Wasn’t that hard, just links!

JK – You’ve got it sorted, just dip your toe in when the mood strikes.

Ms Picket – I don’t know what the hell I want to write. That’s one of my problems. But I think you’re right on your last thought.

Maggie – I think I just have to get past this idea of ’success’ as a blogger. What the hell does that mean anyway?

Rol – I think that this is the best advice. Get over it.

Gwen – True. I probably wouldn’t write without the blog. I feel obligated, so I force myself to write. I have no self-discipline.

SSG – I did, why did you send them?

Tys – You forgot to say that we are both longwinded.

CMGD – Football season approaches.

Jacob – I’m not sure about the internet friendship thing either, but it’s the reason for me to keep blogging right now.

Gypsy – I’m totally hooked on the stats thing. Would be a hard habit to quit.

Xbox – I don’t know about ‘very high’.

Heather – Yeah, I like your blog for that – you write what is true for you.

Heza – Improving humanity is well beyond anything I aspire to do!

Jen – Well said. Glad that you found me again.

Blues – I think that’s part of my problem, the obligation – perceived or not – of it.

Nichole – I don’t mean a thing.

Mooselet – That’s the best thing, writing things here that I wouldn’t dare to say out loud.

Alice – I like your model – short, frequent posts.

Flutter – No worries.

Damon – Thanks.

Ginny – Maybe what I need is a good debate. What shall we do? Abortion? That would be ‘fun’.

Headbang – That 10,000 hours quote is a fine one and an excellent point!

Wow, lots of comments. Back for the rest later.

That feels so sweet, from so far away. And so very very lovely.

But really, this post speaks to me on so many levels.

For me, i started writing a blog because my husband said I should to practice writing. I thought that maybe he and maybe my mom would read it. That changed. I found people I cared about, or at least I found lives I cared about lived by people I didn’t know, and suddenly, this practice in writing became an experiment in relationships.

Sometimes, like in real life, I feel guilty about letting those relationships slide, because I can’t write as much, because I can’t read as much. Sometimes, in real life, I think writing a blog is not really writing. And just exhausting. And maybe a waste of time.

You have shared things here (like this) that are both bloggy and “real” writing. You, my dear Down Under Man, you inspire me. If you wanted to post practice chapters of a novel, I would read it.

Also: I am pretty sure if we bumped into each other with name tags on that said “freeman” and “ms picket”, we would just hug right away, clink beers, and yeah, be friends.