500 Hits and Counting...Who *Are* They All??

Yes, the handy-dandy counter I put on this blog about a month after its inception has hit the 500 mark. These are not all unique hits, I think, but include repeat visits from faithful readers like the AB and the AW, among others. Even I sometimes succumb to the temptation to re-read my own words. But all that still comes nowhere near the number 500....

The obvious conclusion is that there are lurkers out there. They know who they are, at least if they've taken the advice inscribed on Apollo's temple at Delphi, but I guess they don't want to share their identity with the rest of us.

Why is this bothersome? Two reasons, really: first of all, they might be sinister beings such as maleficent members of the GG; and secondly (which really hurts), they never leave comments. Not for the first time, dear reader, I pose to you the rhetorical question: how would you feel if you blogged day in and day out, and no one ever left a comment? The answer, in a word or two: pretty lousy.

Now there: I've written four sentences in a row using a colon in each. How often do you find blogs like that in the world of cyberspace? Dare I believe that this is a cyberspatial first? And if so, what of it?

Well, there you go - three sentences in a row ending with question marks. As you can see, I've reverted to dashes for the moment. If there's a way to do an em-dash on an IBM keyboard, I've never heard of it (on the Mac, of course, it's a snap). So I just use n-dashes, set off by a space on either side. Some people use two n-dashes with no spaces, which also works, but looks a little less elegant, IMHO. Best of all, of course, would be an em-dash with no spaces, but that seems not to be an option on this particular keyboard. What is needed is an update of Strunk & White for the world of blogging so that we can all practice good grammar and punctuation even as we pour out our wisdom into cyberspace.

I guess this is really a plea: if anything in a blog resonates with you, or annoys you, or makes you laugh or cry, say so! This applies not only to this blog (though mostly so), but to all blogs in general. We all crave reinforcement, and it's always nice to know who your friends and/or enemies are. (The AB gets a lot of "non-positive" fan mail, but I'm sure if asked she would say better that than nothing.)

Okay, okay, maybe I'll be sorry I wrote this. Perhaps I will be inundated with vituperation and the feds will start pounding on the door. But even that might make for a good blog, don't you think? What *do* you think, ye lurkers out there - if, mayhap, you think at all? Take a few moments to let the rest of us know.