The Most Wonderful Company in the World
and making the acquaintance of a man I liked,
admired and found
the most wonderful company in the world.
Never mind the novels, read the man himself,
who speaks plainly yet whose powers of description
are mighty, whose great spirit, courage,
uprightness, generosity and warm humour
leap out of these pages."
Author, Susan Hill comments
on The Journal of Sir Walter Scott
I read this passage in Susan Hill's book Howards End is on the Landing and thought of my fellow bloggers who like Sir Walter Scott writings provide some of the most wonderful company in the world. On that note, I must say that I am flabbergasted and delighted. Thank you one and all for your comments to my questions on blogging. I enjoyed reading along on my iphone as we weaved in, out and over the *fells in the Lake District. Many thanks for your well wishes. We had a lovely time and while it is always wonderful to get away it is equally enjoyable to return home.
Now...how do I summarise the comments?? We can all draw our own conclusions after reading them ...but this is what it means to me...
Posting: I think it is unanimous that you just have to go with what you feel is right for you. For some it is daily and for others it is less. The spirit has to move us and we need the time to write. We take inspiration from each other and that in itself makes it all worthwhile. Restrictions need not apply here. You just have to go with the flow.
Comments: We just like them! Everyone seems to have their own approach as to when and how but we agree that it is nice to be recognised and to know that someone is listening.
Follow Me:) : I often think of the student sitting in a classroom waving his or her hand ferociously in attempt to seek the teachers attention. "Pick me, Pick me" he or she exclaims and that is how this whole notion of 'Following' feels to me at times. I gave up recently and decided to let the number just disappear. It felt good when I did that. I now manage blogs that I read regularly via my Blog Roll. I just find it easier to manage that way. Call it age...but unless it is right in front of me, that old 'out of sight, out of mind' kicks in. Occasionally, I find that I have forgotten someone...again the age thing. I try and correct it as soon as I can. It is all getting a bit beyond me at the moment with three blogs and am due for a 're-think'. This may take a while.
Ping, Twitter, Facebook and Blog Rankings: I think we all agree we have enough on our plate as it is. If you are interested in pinging, go to www.pingomatic.com. It sends a message to search engines to let them know that your blog has been updated. I have tried it and have no idea if it works. Like others I signed up for Twitter and I think Meredith's comment @ Count it all Joy says it all: I don't twitter, mainly because most of my inner dialogue is drivel and needs to stay right where it is - inner. It would run along the lines of "changed a nappy. mopped the floor. counted my stretch marks." and who needs that in their life? All that twitters is not gold.
I use Facebook to stay connected with family and friends. As for blog rankings, I would get myself in a twist if I followed all of that to closely. I use Sitemeter but even then I try not to get to involved with it. The school child starts to visit again and it can just be exhausting!
Can I say once again, that you all have been delightful company. We stretch across the globe and it is a wonderful thing...this little thing called blogging. Sometimes I wish it had another name. We essentially write and in a sense it is a form of a journal or diary. When we look back on what we have written for however many weeks, months or years that we have been at this, we see a synopsis of our interests, thoughts and views on life around us. Whatever form it takes, we are expressing ourselves. Whatever name we give ourselves; blogger, journalist, writer, diarist...we are lucky to be amongst such great company!
*fell: mountains and hills in the English Lake District
Image 2- me
It is a remarkable thing that so many of us, from so many different locales, all seem to feel like friends! A wonderful thing, don't you think?!
ReplyDeleteI do hope you took lots of photographs in the glorious Lake District!! Cannot wait to see them!
I'm glad you made us all take time to think about what we do. Denise at Chez Danisse had a similar topic lately (the etiquette of commenting) and it's good to see what we take vaguely for granted being expressed and discussed. Anita at Brismod came up with the wonderful word 'Blogtopia' for our corner of the blogging world - we get by mostly on courtesy, but an explicitly shared understanding and a view of the diversity of our aspirations never goes amiss.
ReplyDeleteJeanne, that was beautifully done...you are indeed a writer and it's a joy to read what you present to us. And you've just come back from one of the most beautiful places...lucky, that's what you are! And as P,T and E said...one of the best things about blogging is the community it creates...for better or worse, but mostly better. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
ReplyDeleteEver so lovely to see you're back Jeanne. I must go back and read the rest of the comments. Meredy's one had me in stitches but it's so true. I've even thought the same about Facebook sometimes, 'WHO CARES if I just did up my shoelace or ate tomato sandwhiches for lunch!!' It's primarily why I don't twitter - but I do use FB to catch up with my far away family and friends, plus a few extra special others ;-)
ReplyDeleteLove the quote too!
A
xx
Jeanne, thanks for your email and for following my blog - appreciated and I will try to visit regularly to keep up with your posts. I love this post with the comments on the feedback on blogging you got, I hadn't heard of pinging but I use sitemeter alright. I just get weekly updates, could check it regularly but don't bother. Clustermaps. shows me how many hits I get daily which is nice, and Feedjit tells me who's visited from where, so that's nice. Puts me somewhere between apathy and stalking! I just hope that people who comment on my posts have their comment follow-up box ticked to get notifications of further comments and replies to their comment. I always tick that box and it means I get a notice of reply. Otherwise the longish replies I leave on my post are lost in space and the recipient doesn't get the pearls of wisdom I've written! Thanks for your kind comments. I have just updated my blog with a new post.
ReplyDeleteAll the best, Catherine
I'm very envious of your trip to the Lakes District - I would love to go back again but there are just so many other wonderful places to see that sadly I think many of the places I have loved will be one visit only destinations. Love your blogging analysis! Leigh
ReplyDeleteGlad to have you back! And anything you do here is fine by me - I love seeing what you've come up with!
ReplyDeleteBest,
Stephanie
However do you manage with three blogs, Jeanne? I have a second that I use mostly for my work stuff, but I rarely post more than once a month.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you had a marvelous time in the Lake District. Cannot wait to see the photos!
Nice to have you back Jeanne, hope your little trip was fun. Well you certainly got us all chatting, it must have been such fun receiving messages as you travelled. You made it happen!
ReplyDeleteSharon
Thats so nice of you to summarize for us from "Blog Talk". And it is ao tru that this whole blog thingy is such a blessing for all of us. Connects us all beyond our view points, our opinions, our tastes, our believes, our cultures, our lifestyles. I am thoroughly enjoying this journey in this blogland!!! :)
ReplyDeleteDear Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteWith so very many social venues we really need to look at what is important to us.
I use Twitter to distribute news information about art and publishing, but I have cut back, focusing in stead more on my own life.
Regarding FaceBook, I just look in for a few minutes but make no effort to communicate.
So then there are the blogs and here to I have cut back but then I am shifting directions and how I wish things to be displayed.
Content has greatly mattered to me and if it means only posting once a month, that is fine by me. Besides I wish to have time to also comment and reply to those who have commented.
We just need to place everything into proper perspective.
Warmest regards,
Egmont
Dear Jeanne,
ReplyDeleteWith so very many social venues we really need to look at what is important to us.
I use Twitter to distribute news information about art and publishing, but I have cut back, focusing in stead more on my own life.
Regarding FaceBook, I just look in for a few minutes but make no effort to communicate.
So then there are the blogs and here to I have cut back but then I am shifting directions and how I wish things to be displayed.
Content has greatly mattered to me and if it means only posting once a month, that is fine by me. Besides I wish to have time to also comment and reply to those who have commented.
We just need to place everything into proper perspective.
Warmest regards,
Egmont