Friday, October 27, 2006

SEDUCTION - Final Part IV

As I begin the final part of my blogger seduction story, to recap,I had evolved from being a skeptic of personal encounters between people who only knew each other through blogging, to an individual willing to consider the possibility of such a meeting, possibly with others present, and/or in an open public setting.

During those months preceding my change in point of view, my understanding and experiences were influenced by gradually increasing interaction with a few bloggers. On occasion they, and other readers, provided favorable supportive comments in response to my increasing written contributions. In a select few instances I exchanged offline emails with some of the bloggers. If I had any doubt about their authenticity, which by then I did not, some of them have since been pictured or written about elsewhere on the Internet, in print publications including the New York Times, AARP magazine, Le Monde, The Guardian, other.

Some of my other experiences included, unexpectedly being asked to write a guest post or piece on the blog that had so captured my attention in the beginning. At the time of that request I thought the blogger making it surely had questionable judgement, then concluded when I agreed to do so, that I must truly be crazy.

Another time, I was contacted by a business newspaper reporter in a large U.S. city, in a state other than my own, asking if they could get a quote from me, based on a comment I'd made on a blog, for a series the newspaper was going to publish. I did not seek out blogs of prominent individuals, nor did I avoid commenting on any I encountered, no matter what the individual's stature, if the piece/views that were written stimulated my interest.

While experiences such as these can be positive and reinforcing of the view that what I say, perhaps, how I say it, is welcomed and valued by some others, they are incidental activities associated with a much broader purpose in having a blog, from my perspective now.

I would be remiss if I did not say the act of writing that guest post for another blogger, with subsequent frequent and repeated encouragement by additional bloggers to continue writing was the catalyst that unleashed the writing I now undertake.

Subject matter may range from the mundane to the serious, from the personal to issues affecting our country and the world. Ageism, all those other discriminatory "isms" will not be welcome here. I'll need a good dose of humor from time to time. I likely won't be able to get along without referring to a little music, especially some jazz. Even if I make this blog writing journey alone without readers or receiving comments, I won't be lonely.

Writing for this blog will be an experiment for me in which I expect to learn about myself along the way. I plan to have fun, pleasure, and joy from this venture. I will welcome any and all who want to come along for the ride, or just visit from time to time. You may well read in the time ahead on this blog, thoughts on a variety of different topics, encompassing variously, a view of yesterday, today and tomorrow -- the past, present and future.

8 comments:

  1. Joared, thanks so much for the birthday wishes!

    I look forward to reading your posts along the way, and I believe that you will garner as much pleasure out of blogging as the rest of us do!

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  2. Hi Joared,
    Welcome to the 1% of the blogosphere that actually takes the step to creating a blog.

    It's going to be a lot of fun.

    My mom sent me. ;-)

    BTW, now when you leave a comment on a blogger blog, you can sign in with your blogger name and others readers of that blog will be able to find your new blog.
    --Steve

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  3. Sorry I'm late in welcoming you to the Land of Blog! (All I can say is that life intrudes on blogging now and again.) You are a wonderful, long-awaited addition here! I enjoy seeing your comments at TGB and look forward to your posts here. Again, welcome and all the best!

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  4. Looking forward to reading more of your blogs. I enjoyed your four-part introduction.

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  5. Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging....Enjoy it and have fun! Because that's what it's all about.

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  6. Good grief! You are doing this to encourage your own introspection? Some of us know 'way too much about ourselves, already, and just want to get away from what we know. *grin* You know that I can't be all bad, don't you? Hint: think red.
    Cop Car

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  7. I'm glad you've decided to create a blog! It is brave of you!

    I've enjoyed reading your introduction as well as the kind comments that you leave from time to time on mine.

    I always refer to people who visit as readers rather than lurkers.

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  8. I can vouch for Cop Car, Joared, but who will vouch for me? *G* I've had the pleasure of meeting Cop Car and her Hunky Husband. We are both wary people who understand the possible dangers in meeting those we've talked to on-line, but we did it anyway. We met for brunch, and Cop Car came to our home for the afternoon. It took a lot of e-mail to get to that point, but I'm so very glad we bridged that gap.

    I'm also glad that you've joined the world of bloggers. Now we don't have to search for you in comments, or at TGB. We can find you right here. Congratulations!

    BUffy

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