Monday, January 16, 2017

Off to a good start

Last year was a good one on the blog and we're off to a decent start this year.

I had made a commitment in late 2015 to pick things up a bit in 2016, and managed to make 19 posts, the most since 2013. I realize that is far fewer than many of you, but with a day job and my weekly column, I think I'm doing OK.

I am sad to report I cleaned up the blog list over to the right, and took down some friends who had not posted in two years or more (and one of whom, sadly, passed away). There are some who are becoming more infrequent, but I've kept them on the list for now. I've prodded a couple with emails, telling them I hope they will rejoin the blog world, but assuring them I completely understand if they don't. I mainly wanted to tell them they had been thought of. To everything there is a season . . . and I get that.

I am pleased to have added several -- Ed, Vince, Sage, Kimberly and Bone, all of whom, like the others on the list, write beautifully of interesting events in their lives; or share about books they have read; or voice an opinion about something; or post a photo or two. I am enlightened and enriched when I read their posts, and appreciative of the time they take to share.

What it comes down to is how much I love storytelling -- both the telling (writing or, in some cases, photographing) and the hearing (reading) part, and that's what keeps me grinding out the occasional tale here, and returning often to see what my friends have posted.

I still shy away from what has become known as social media -- Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest. I guess this is some form of it, but I think it suits me better than any of these others.

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I had a few things to say about last year's election, and I assure you I am none too happy with the result.

But as the stages of grief go, I think I have arrived at acceptance, and I'm not going back to any of the others. I am still extremely skeptical of a Trump presidency but it's off the list of things I'm going into apoplexy over. Just not worth it.

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I trust 2017 is off to a good start for all of you and I look forward to meeting you here, and on your blog pages, for more storytelling.

6 comments:

Pumpkin Delight (Kimberly) said...

I'm glad you are back for another year of blogging! Thank you for the shout out.
I do think it's hard to keep it going sometimes and other times it is invigorating the write.
I'm afraid I'm not at the acceptance stage yet, but I have chosen to not write about it either as I think that will make me feel worse than I do just trying to pretend it isn't happening. :)
Anyhow, I look forward to your story telling in 2017.

Ed said...

I struggle with thinning out my list of blogs that I read even if they haven't posted for six years (the current record holder still on my blogroll). I keep hoping they will return. Sadly, I think many of them passed away which is why I have always been in favor of some fail-safe blog post that you can write ahead of time and blogger will post when there has been a certain amount of time of inactivity. Just to let others know that it is safe to delete their blog from their sidebar. The one who hasn't posted for six years still is around and kicking but went through some personal turmoil and just never has felt like returning.

I can't say I've ever felt like I've ever had a president that I could identify with as being "my" president. I envy those who identified with Obama or Bush in such a way they could say that. It also appalls me that those whose candidate didn't get elected have such sour grapes this time around. I don't recall there ever being so much protests or trash talking of the president elect before they actually took office. The one thing I have really enjoyed during Obama's tenure is that he has been the classiest president we've had in my lifetime. I'm just hoping to put in my four/eight years and hope that the next election will bring another classy candidate that I can finally identify with. I'm not going to hold my breath.

Thanks for the link. I've sorted through your blogroll before looking for good blogs to read because I can never seem to find enough of them. I'll have to look through it again.

Kelly said...

I love the way you write, Bob, so I'm always glad to see a new post from you. Yes, you did well this year. :)

I've instructed my younger daughter to post something on my blog in the event I unexpectedly die. (If I end up with something terminal, I'll give y'all a heads up!) I imagine you'd hear via the grapevine before that point, though. ;) Not counting my sister, I've have two blogging acquaintances die, that I know of. On one's, their spouse posted an entry sharing the news. On the other, someone left a comment with a link to his obit in the comments section of his last entry.

There was one blogger I used to really enjoy and I always wondered what happened to him. There were some strange turns of events before he disappeared and I have no idea what happened to him.

Ed said...

I always think back in a situation like that to the movie "Dances With Wolves" where the Kevin Costner character comes across a skeleton stuck full of arrows. The tactless wagon driver Timmons comes up behind and says something along the lines of, "someone back east is wondering why he don't write!"

sage said...

Thanks for the add (I need to update my list, too). So far 2017 is better than 2016 even with the new President that I don't particularly like. Last year, at this time, I couldn't walk due to a ruptured quad tendon.

Steve H. said...

Hey Bob, Happy New Year and keep blogging. I've been doing less posts myself as I've tried to shift more to podcasts but I keep plugging away :) Hey, and baseball season is just around the corner