half a lap

Today is half of the 'one lap around the Sun' that blog365 represents. I am still here. I am still in it. Kamen Lee, the initiator of blog365, is not. And so are many others. Not in it, that is.

I have thought about dropping out from time to time. But as quickly as the thought has come to my mind it has been dismissed. And I'll tell you why.

I have been doing computers for a living for some time. Since 1982, more or less. I have always been a 'troubleshooter'. A fixer of problems. The guy they call when all else has failed. And I have a reputation as someone who does. not. give. up. And I don't. And I won't.

I gave this commitment to blog365 some thought before I jumped in. After all, although I was a late comer to NaBloPoMo last November, I was in soon enough to have had a taste of 'everyday' blogging and I felt I could do this. I was ready to take on the challenge. And a challenge it is. And I love it.

More than that, I am totally in love with the people I have found out here. There is a deep emotional attachment that I am sometimes afraid to consider. It's easy to dismiss this feeling - the people are just lines of text or pretty pictures in their blogs. They aren't 'real'. You can't touch them. They have no substance. You don't know that what you see online is really them. But I still feel as I do even though the naysayers would say what they would say.

These posts, these little snippets of peoples' minds, are out here like wash hung on the line. After a while, the wash on the line begins to say a lot about the person hanging that wash out there. And after a while, the posts out here begin to say a lot about the people who put them up. And those people begin to take shape - they begin to assume form and a reality that belies their place on the page.

Sandy from Momisodes was my first commenter on this blog. In the last six and a half months she has become a trusted friend and confidant. She is truly, really and truly, a friend. Just as any friend I could jump in my car and go see is a 'friend', she is a friend. And there are others. Many others to whom I am emotionally attached. There's Fred Zigler and Vikki North. Two people I would rather rip my arm off than give up. And Lotus and Veronica and her Mom, Kim. And Kelley. And Amanda. Allison and Rebecca and the most courageous Tiff. And Ron. Duck!, Ron. And Mike. And the anonymous ones. Like my adorable (I so love this woman) Hyphen Mama. And the incredible Huckdoll. And there ARE more.

Over the next few weeks or so I'm going to point out to you, some of the people I have come to know and love. Not LOVE, love. Not even Love, love. Just love. You know, like you love your best drinking buddy, or your best girlfriend you tell EVERYTHING to. That kind of love. And I won't do it everyday. Just once in a while. I wouldn't want to bore you.

So I said all that to say this. I, for one, am committed to blog365. For what it's worth, I will be here. And when blog365 is over and we have lapped the Sun, I will more than likely STILL be here. Because this has become an integral part of my life. One I enjoy immensely. I will be here. Unless, of course, I get hit by the proverbial bus.