Wheee! Today when I checked my blog I was delighted to see Edie had become my 50th follower - she came on board from the new Bloggers' Book Club that Lily started recently - my last post was the response to that initiative - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. Our next book is to be Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, an acclaimed Irish writer who won the Man-Booker prize a few years ago for The Master. The Bloggers' Book Club is open to all those who are interested in reading and commenting on the selected book - just check over with Lily and put yourself on her list - so far there are about 16 members, which gives a nice assortment of opinion on the book.I hope those of you who take the time to read my blog enjoy it - I really like to get your comments and feedback as it makes the blogging worthwhile, I don't think I'd enjoy it half as much if I was blogging into a vacuum! So keep the comments coming. I try to be diligent and reply to all commenters so be sure to enable notification of following comments when you post a comment on this or any blog - a handy tip! I do try to visit a few blogs I follow every day and leave a comment where I feel I have something to say.
I haven't really gone down the road of blog awards of a chain genre that require me to post them on to othe bloggers as I find them a bit intrusive - I see some of the bloggers I follow stay resolutely blog award free which is probably good blog etiquette - I just did one - the High Five (good things that happened in the past year) which was a nice one and didn't put too much strain on the nominees (I hope!). On the other hand it is nice to be recognised and given an award by a cyber friend, and perhaps I'm just being presumptuous that they would bug the recipients who'd feel compelled to do whatever steps are needed.
Of course my ego was deliciously massaged by the nomination for the Irish Blog Awards which got me to two shortlists - and even my son was suitably impressed - in a backhand compliment sort of way he said "You got to the shortlist? The final twenty-five from a longlist of over a hundred? Wow!" So I'm not sure that was flattering or he was in shock - but it encourages blogging - even if purists discount it as not being real writing. I enjoy it and that's the primary reason anyone should blog - for their own enjoyment - even if it's a polemic-type blog or a specialist one like cooking or gardening.
So keep on dropping by and leaving your comments - and invite your friends to join - I might even double the numbers in a year or two. I'm always amazed when I see blogs with hundreds of followers and post comments - and wonder how do the bloggers respond to them all. Perhaps they get impersonal at that stage! I feel I've made some lovely cyber-friends in the past year and a half, with common links like Africa, travel, reading, cooking, and knitting. Even if we never meet in the real world, there's a lot of fun to be had in the blogosphere - so hang in there!
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16 comments:
Well done, Catherine! We're delighted to follow you, and those 50 little images on the right are a lovely reminder that it's a community.
Congratulations on 50 followers. It is a thrill to know you are not talking to yourself. Here'e to your next 50!
Catherine, hope you're keeping well. Sorry I haven't popped by in so long.
Between changing my own blog around, trying to catch up on assignments, and the snail slow internet connection here, there's always something preventing me from catching up with everyone.
However, summer's nearly here and I'm slowly getting more organised so hoping to get more time for everything.
Going to grab a copy of Brooklyn somewhere and join you in reading it. :)
Congratulations, Catherine! Having followers - and commenters -is the very best part of blogging, I think.
I enjoy your blog's variety. And it is your personality that creates what I enjoy. It's not as quite as good as sitting down over a cup of tea. But without blogging I'd not have met you. Isn't technology great?
I love your 'Fifty' balloon! Congrats! :D
That's great news Catherine. Your balloon is lovely.
I following your invitation & joined the book club too. The library rang to say they have the book so I'm off there to collect it tomorrow. No grandchildren in tow!
Congratulations Catherine. I'm not sure how I first came across your blog but am really enjoying it.
Just finished reading Brooklyn. I decided I would get this book read earlier than last month's. I put myself under pressure last month leaving it so late!
Here's to the next 50 followers to your blog :)
Catherine - I'm so excited to be your fiftieth follower! Blogging definitely has a community feel. I think it's great that we can connect with people across the world and have a kinship of sorts. In some ways, reading blogs is a littler voyersome because it gives the reader small glimspses into the writer's life. I love it because I've always been the type to listen in other people's conversations when we're out at restaurants or peek in their carts at the store to see what they're buying (especially at the grocery store). I love getting to know new people.
Thanks too for the link.
Thanks everyone for your good wishes! Here's to the next 50 indeed!
MISE - agree it's a real little community this blogging one - I think if there are thousands of followers it gets a bit hard to keep up with replying to them all! Still I am amazed and amused at the feedback a popular blog like yours (not being sycophantic here, just I clicked post comment notification on your jamjar post and the comments are still coming in!) and wonder if that's feasible to respond to - hardly individually!
All the best, Catherine.
ANN - it seems I've gained a few more followers since, serendipity or what! Yes it's fun and I do like the feedback, makes it worthwhile. It is a beautiful day in Waterford and like someone said yesterday Mary Robinson was here for some commemoration when she was President and in her speech was lauding Lismore and saying how anywhere else it would be a major draw and its magic was that it was largely undiscovered. Some wag in the pub that night said when asked what the President said replied - Not sure exactly but she seemed to think Lismore would be a grand place if it was somewhere else! Not sure if true or apocryphal but it is funny and plausible with the pub characters round here! See you in June no doubt - I'll try not to stalk you unknowingly again with the camera!
All the best, Catherine
SUSAN C - great to see you joined the book club - I have read Brooklyn and ordered Let the Great World Spin from the library. I must drop by your blog too - haven't for a while, and good luck with everything - you seem to have a busy life.Hope you are enjoying this beautiful Sunday - I'm off to the Farmers' Market now!
All the best, Catherine
STEPHANIE V - yes the blogging is a great way to meet people from all over the globe without leaving your desk - a new take on the Armchair Traveller I guess - Proust would have approved, didn't he write a travelogue of his room once? I think it was Proust though I stand corrected if not - Alain de Botton philosophised on it in The Art of Travel! Glad you enjoy the posts and thanks for keeping in touch.
All the best, Catherine.
RACHEL - thanks for calling by , the balloon is from Google Images, probably should have credited it as there's possible copyright violation out there somewhere! Oh well I'm doing so now. Your blog is fun too, and you seem to be so busy with travelling and having a great time - and knitting to boot! Nothing like multi-talented and multi-tasking!
All the best, Catherine.
WIINIFRED - hope you enjoy the book, I read it a few months ago, great that you joined the bookclub and hope that more people do so! It's a fun take on the blog and it complements realworld bookclubs well. I am off to our real world one tomorrow night for our annual social night out - food and wine and watching a movie - Some Like it Hot! A classic comedy we all love.Keep in touch and thanks for following!
All the best, Catherine.
LILY - thanks for visiting - not sure if you get comment notification over on Wordpress so I will drop by your blog later, we are all ahead of the posse on Brooklyn and I ordered the next one from the library Friday. I think you can follow my blog if you wish from the list at the side, give it a shot if you wish.
Hope you are enjoying this beautiful Sunday, too nice to be at the desk so I'm off to the farmers' market now and then a cycle later!
All the best, Catherine.
EDIE - isn't it great that you have that accolade! My 50th follower, and now I have 53 so it's a bit serendipitous- good times. Glad you like the blog, and it is a nice community. I don't think we are all saddos who don't have a real life, or other interests, as some people would portray us. (usually non-bloggers!). I agree about the voyeurism but in a nice way - not at all pervy or nosy - I have what I call a healthy curiosity in other people - hubby says it's a nice way of being nosy which I'll go along with! and your comment about the earwigging in conversations in cafés reminds me of Maeve Binchy the Irish writer who always used such places as source material for her stories! So maybe there's a lesson in there for all the aspiring writers.
All the best, Catherine.
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