OUR COMMENTERS!Now that it's deeply November, we here in the U.S. of A. have entered into that dangerous Wad O' Time known as **THE HOLIDAYS**. (Of course, if you believe the Retail Giants, we entered into that WO'T right around September 30th and never get out of it until July. Except on February 15th, when we are allowed to take a small breath right before they put out Cadbury Cream Eggs and chocolate bunnies and bikinis and sunblock. Because you know, then it is time for Easter and Memorial Day and Fourth of July. But I digress. Who, me? La.)
In the midst of all of these festivities and hubbubberies (I did just make up a new plural there), it is easy to lose track of things that are important to us, the blogging community. Born out of this concern and exigence was Thank Your First Commenter Day, a blogging community holiday brainchild of Neil, host of Citizen of the Month. On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2005, Neil decided to use his blog to thank his very first commenter for giving him some validation for putting himself out there in the blogosphere. He suggested that all his fellow bloggers do the same. I did that and thanked my first commenter, St. Jim of So. Maryland for commenting on one of my very first posts back in my early days of blogging, now over 2 years and some 204 posts ago. Even though St. Jim is a friend of mine, it still was exciting to have a comment and some feedback on the Internets. Regular visitors to the Dept. may notice that St. Jim has been in absentia for some time now. Perhaps I have thanked him too vociferously and he now thinks I am stalking him. Which I am not. (I don't stalk anyone these days, except maybe occasionally Daniel Day-Lewis and that is primarily out of habit. A bad, old habit that is, like smoking for some people, hard to break and almost instinctive in nature.)
Sigh.
Bearing that in mind, I am adapting Thank Your First Commenter Day this year a bit and simply thanking all my commenters. Let's face it, all of us bloggers are a bit vain and/or egotistical in our own way, or we wouldn't be putting it out there on the Internets for everyone. We would be squirreling our innermost thoughts away in password-protected Word documents or scribbling them in inky longhand on countless spiral notebooks hidden in cartons deceptively marked "Tax Receipts 1985-1990" under the steps. We want to be read. And, more importantly, we want to know we've been read!
I love my commenters! DO YOU HEAR THAT? I LOVE YOU, MY COMMENTERS! I love that you read DEPT. OF NANCE and that you have something to say. Being naturally chatty myself, I automatically want to respond to you. So I do. In comments. Such fun! Thanks a bunch for chatting along with me. And if you've never commented before, I hope sometime that you do. And, St. Jim, thanks again. And sorry if I've frightened you. Sigh. It's only once a year. Tradition, you know. And as for you, DD-L, oh never mind. I'm so over you it's not even funny.
I heart you, too. And greatly look forward to reading your comments, whether here or around the blogosphere.
ReplyDeleteAfter all, what would any of do without commenters? Would we even be writing these blogs! Have a great thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteOh, I feel the love! ; ) Right back at ya Nance and Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteAwe, how lovely :)
ReplyDeleteMuch big love back at you Nance. Thanks for ever brightening our days! How could we NOT comment?
ReplyDeleteThe pressure, the pressure to comment! It's huge, it's immense, I have "witty commment block" But you already knew that. : )
ReplyDeleteSo sweet! You're welome :)
ReplyDeleteWe love you too!
ReplyDeleteAnd I removed the "information" as per your advice.
It's an outright lovefest!
ReplyDeleteWe love you too!
gina--XXOO. Nothing wrong with a little blog love.
ReplyDeletescarlet--As women, we need to keep the mystery alive.
princess ot u--i'm all about personalizing my blog and treating my commenters as individuals. even if my blog becomes an international sensation, i will still provide a personal touch. it's important.
v-grrrl--nothing can top the pressure i feel at having the right number of "r's" in your name as i answer your comments personally.
j.--i do try to make the Dept. a nice place to visit. thanks for noticing and for visiting.
nina--thanks for using the word "lovely." i find it under-utilized in this context.
anali--i did have a happy thanksgiving, thank you. i'm sorry yours had a slight drawback with the whole Molasses Incident. i say toss the remainder into a food bank collection bin and never switch from what works.
neil--nice to see you here at the Dept. i see that your blog has become something of a public service blog as of late. is this part of your therapy? it's interesting to watch how your blog has developed over the years.
ortizzle--you have been greatly missed here and throughout the blogosphere. though understandable, your absence has been tough on us. nice to see that when the leash is loosened, you still know where to run for some mindless fun!! lol. and thanks for the kind words.
You like us; you really, really like us.
ReplyDeleteOh, and you would, too, cross the street for DD-L.
ReplyDeleteWe love you right back, Nance! Funny...the people who have the most comments (and I'm not namin' names here) never say anything similar to "thanks for coming by". It's left to the rest of us to show gratitude, class and manners to those who give us another reason to keep writing. I'm grateful for you, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm annoyed because I could have sworn I left a comment the other day! At any rate, thank you for blogging! I love your entries, and I'm glad I found you on the internet!
ReplyDeletenancy in a2--my street or a real dangerous and busy one?
ReplyDeletewordgirl--i would hate to think i am a comment whore, and naturally, i'd love tons more comments, but honestly, much of it is my naturally chatty nature and innate sense of etiquette. perhaps "love" is a bit strong, true; "appreciate", definitely. and i miss some people when i don't hear from them.
jenomena--i hear you about blogger. i wish they'd fix their issues, of which there are many. i had a few comments eaten myself on other blogs. just make sure that you see the yellow banner at the top of the comment window that reads, "Your comment has been saved" before you close out the box and leave. if you don't, you have to validate again. sigh. it's such a bitch.
Hey Nance, I came over here in response to your comment on Gina's blog, about how NaBloPoMo folks haven't got time for anyone else. And since I sadly resemble that remark, here I am. Plus, you said, that really frosts my cupcakes, which reminded me of a dear friend who says things frost her cake all the time. Too cute.
ReplyDeleteNow excuse me while I go read your blog, and see what you're about over here! :)
Hi, j at jellyjules etc, and thanks so much for stopping by! Who is this friend, and is this friend aware that he/she is infringing upon my copyrighted signature phrase? LOL. I've been saying it for ages now, but heck! that's what I get for never paying hoity-toity lawyers to make it official.
ReplyDeletehope you find something you like and keep coming back for more. i'll zip over to your little corner of the internets to see what's happening, too.
Nance, I believe you would dart across I-5 in Los Angeles during rush hour for DD-L. Of course, traffic would be at a standstill during rush hour.
ReplyDelete