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6/30/2008

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.

25 comments:

Christy said...

I agree. I think even if you are lying out your ass, your lies show something about you.

Plus I tend to think the truth is bigger than the facts. That what you choose to write or think about is a bigger universal truth than, unquantifiable, more like "love" than the gritty reality of a porno. (But facts, like porn, have a place in the world too....)

(Now you're wondering if I'm really a male convict and not a yoga mommie, aren't you??)

Audubon Ron said...

Go Lou, Go! Go Lou, Go!

Is this anything like a 10K or marathon?

Emily/Randomability said...

Now you've passed the p[oint of no return! You're half way there. you can't quit now!

Momisodes said...

Me? REally? I popped your comment cherry? ;) Perhaps this is why I've been so attached to you all along!

Everything you said about me. Ditto. I wish you and Annie lived across the street from us :)

You are 1 of the only blog friends I have left standing with me in this blog365 marathon. I'm not sure if I can keep up this pace for another 6 months...

Alice said...

LOL - I always wonder what will happen if I get hit by a bus. Will Babycakes know how to get onto my blog and let everyone know I'll be outta commission for a bit or permanently?

Keep on going Lou!

Anglophile Football Fanatic said...

You are such a dear to keep going - and for being so freely linky loving. And, how nice to give the fellas a shout out. You know? You and those two are the only guys I read?

Holly said...

I love Momisodes!

You are one dedicated blogger! Thanks for your thoughtful comments on my blog, too.

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

Ah, I wouldn't trade the Blog 365 thing for anything. Momisodes (Sandy) and Sarcastic Mom (Lotus) are among my first bloggy friends. (I know Lotus friended me on the Blog 365 page and I think Momisodes did, too. If she didn't, she was one of the VERY few I friended.)

You, dear Lou, are the first non-family member who commented on my blog, or at least who REGULARLY commented -- not because I did the PhotoHunt or Works for Me Wednesday or any of those other freakishly fun things I do most weeks -- but because you liked what I had to say. Or something like that. :)

I very well MAY end up blogging the whole rest of the year. It pains me a little to think that I won't, because I don't like to quit, either. And I don't often quit.

But sometimes quitting -- or being willing to quit -- is a healthy choice.

When I signed up for Blog 365, I'd had my blog for five months. I'd blogged some really ridiculous number of times (over 200, I believe). I'd only missed handful of days blogging in that time. I signed up for Blog 365 on New Year's Eve, the same day I heard about it My theory was, "I've blogged over 200 times since July; I might as well."

In short, I really didn't know, precisely, what I was getting myself into. And I was in a bit of a different "head space" at the time. I'm learning to cut myself some slack.

Now, if the only point of Blog 365 is to have posted every day (and it's not, I KNOW this), I could write 182.5 posts over the next few weeks, bank them, and be done with it. And I might be able to come up with 182.5 reasonably good blog topics. But I don't think I would. It doesn't feel authentic or right.

I don't see my decision to "let it go" as failure on my part. (Nor do I think you're implying that it is failure.)

I'm pretty pleased with what I've accomplished in the last six months (in the last year, actually). I am a better writer. I am a better photographer. I have made some bloggy friends. And I have READERS (go figure!) who like what I have to say.

I enjoyed my blog last summer, fall and early winter when I had just a handful of readers, mostly people I knew in "real life."

But now? It's better, and getting better every week.

Unknown said...

Christy: Thanks. I wasn't worried until now.

Audobon Ron: Yeah, something like that.

Emily: Don't worry. I'm not quitting. On the other hand, i am constantly on the lookout for buses.

Sandy: This is truly something you have to do one. day. at. a. time. The Chinese say: "The longest journey begins with a single step."

Alice: You pose an interesting problem there. How many of us would just disappear if something unfortunate happened?

AFF: When I start pointing out people - you're first.

holly: I'm new with you, and vice versa. You may not be so thankful once you get to know me better.

Rebecca: You gave me boundaries. I was having a good time being a 'commenting bad boy' and you gave me boundaries. And you made me think. I love you for that.

the planet of janet said...

i just read sandy's blog on the same topic ... and i will repeat here what i said there:

i miss my faves when they don’t post — and that includes you.

as for me? i am an unofficial blog365′er. i actually have posted every single freakin’ day since jan 2 (i missed jan 1 for some weird reason or another) … including the leap-year day, which was supposed to be a day off.

whatever. i enjoy it. if i didn’t, i wouldn’t bother.

and that would be my advice to you as well. if you don’t like it, don’t do it. but those of us who hang around in your neighborhood do it for a reason

Jientje said...

You said it all, and you said it well.
I totally agree, nothing worth while ever comes easy in life.
I have often read your comments on Sandy's blog, she was one of my first commenters too! I love the friends I've met through Nablopomo, and 365.
Wouldn't miss it for the world ...
Anyway, it's nice meeting you too!

Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba) said...

Awwww, Lou! :) Seriously, that's sweet. I appreciate it. And I love you, too.

I have at least one missing punctuation mark and one comma splice in my comment. I must have a fever. :)

Vikki North said...

I so admire you and you are such a dear friend, Lou. Have a great 4th of July.

Vikki
(Thanks for the heads-up today.)

Unknown said...

If you ever move...it had better be across the street from ME! You don't mind the ghetto, right? (que the Elvis song... "Iiiiiiin the ghettoooooooooo"). After all, it was your suggestion that I start strippin' in the front window to keep the hooligans from robbing my neighbors. It might as well pay off somehow!

Thank you for your kind words. I love you, too! My little bloggy community is so important to me, too.

Anonymous said...

Sweet.

You. Are. Sweet.

Thank you my friend. That made my day.

And it needed making.

Anonymous said...

*grin*
So much love :D
I'm still committed too, even though I'm right now only collecting daily pictures to post them on a later date. With this crappy line there's no other way, but I'm still game too :)
I love blogging too much to quit :)
And like you I have met too many great people to do so :D

Anonymous said...

Everyone else was all 'I want you to move across the street from me'

Not me.

I would love to take you and Annie out and get you rip roaring drunk.

That, my friend, would be teh awesome.

Smootches to you, always.

Veronica Foale said...

Good luck with keeping going!

And thankyou. Just, thankyou.

Anonymous said...

What an accomplishment to date. The Boston Marathon has a checkpoint in the race called Heartbreak Hill. If you get over it, you're gliding downhill (to some extent). That's where you are,you're coming up the hill. Keep going. And thank you so much for the props. I enjoy your blog immensely.

Crimzen Creative said...

Stick with it even when the leader drops out. I too have met many great bloggers (you included) from NaBloPoMo (or whatever is was in Nov'07) and am grateful. It is hard to keep up with everyone sometimes but my true blogger pals I love and will always keep tabs on (even if I do have to take a break now and then).

There is NO WAY I could have come close to daily posting for a year. Luckily I can hide behind the business :-) Perhaps someday I will make my private blog public...

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for stopping by. You made my day with your comment, and I realize that you are not far from where I grew up, and, in fact, you live in the city where my friend Stacy and her family moved. Small, small world.

I'm not doing the 365 thing but I post almost every day except Saturday and am amazed by those who can keep going like you have without that one little free day I take. Congrats on making it halfway there already! I always enjoy seeing your comments on some of the same blogs I read, so it was a treat to see you stop by mine, and I intend to drop by over here more often, too. Good to know that for at least another 6 months there will be posts to read. :)

Anonymous said...

be careful of busses Lou, I like this blog. I actually read yours first above all the rest in my favourites.

Lotus (Sarcastic Mom) said...

Hell, I think amongst all 18.5 blogs of mine, I'm still in this thing, too! Because, you know, the rule was post every day, not in the same place, necessarily. ;-)
I'm glad we met on 365, Lou. Who else would now be asking me for The Rack every day, if we hadn't?
<3

Ndinombethe said...

I'm loving blogging too - too much perhaps - taking precedence over work sometimes. Enjoying your blog so really pleased to hear you're not going anywhere.

Anonymous said...

*waves* I just want to thank you Lou for giving Hyphen the arte y pico award.. because she then gave it to me. I had lusted after that award for ages. I was having a bad day and then "voila" hyphen gave me the award that I really wanted.and literally made my day a whole lot better..

I agree with what you have said about the friends that you have made whilst blogging. I feel the same way about a lot of people that I know that I will possibly never meet "IRL" and now I have run out of commentbreath ..phew