Closet Blogger

This is for a certain group of people who will know who they are if they read this to the end. And knowing them in the particular way that I do, some only by this type of communication - this universally intelligent, thoughtful, and kind bunch of folks - I bet they will.

For some time - about five years, in fact - I've been a closet blogger.

I didn't have a blog. I didn't call what I did, "blogging." But now I see it for what it was.

There's this list of email correspondents in my computer. You know, friends, family, some exceptional others. For years I'd send them articles, so many I'm sure I've clogged their inboxes to their detriment at times.

Not one of the people on that long standing list ever asked me to stop sending them articles.

Or my emailed essays. Or notes on things happening in my life, or my family's or friends' lives. This, whether they actually knew each other or not. And despite the fact that we often disagreed, profoundly, on current events, on basic ideologies.

Sometimes I'd meet someone new I thought might also like to get this stuff. I'd try to remember to ask first before sending anything, then I'd send around some "samples." My standard disclaimer to new correspondents went something like this:

I like to email people articles, and I hope you'll find them entertaining, interesting, and worth reading. But I realize my principal purpose is my own cheap thrills in sending them. Once they're out, that purpose is fulfilled. So feel free to delete unread to your heart's content. And please don't ever feel you have to respond. I don't want to put obligations on anyone for me indulging in fun. That would take the fun out of it and make it "work," yuck. And if you'd rather not get them at all, just let me know, and I'll take you off the "articles" list. It won't hurt my feelings a bit. I well know that not everyone likes to get email in the first place, much less a bunch of news items to read.

The only requests for removal were from a couple brand-new recent additions that I forgot to check with before I started sending articles out - my fault, there; crossed a line I don't ever like to cross, and I didn't like that I did that, one bit. But that was me, not them, in my confusion while morphing from email list to blog. And they only said "hold the articles," not "hold the personal emails." Now, that was nice.

And talk about gratifying: I even had a couple requests from people to be added to the list. One said, I'm convinced Florida is just as weird as California, and I'd like to have some news items to prove this to some of my friends. I was lucky, there, since an interesting update to one of Florida's oddest stories had just been published, and that was in the first emailings I sent them. Oh, such fun.

I'd get infrequent but wonderful responses to the articles and emails; sweet and gentle concerned notes if I went silent for a while, saying My mailbox has been empty of articles, are you okay?; and recently, even a big "comments" type discussion, via email, over an editorial by Maureen Dowd. Felt like I stuck my finger in a hornet's nest. And once I got over the shock, I found out I liked it. I mean, liked it very much.

Now that's some serious closet blogging.

Even the hair-raising adventures of Poor Mr. Foot were more than tolerated. That's my left foot. He's been through a lot of injurious misadventures, narrow escapes, and heroic rescues. Despite my misgivings about inflicting him on people I care about, I needed the moral support. I needed it bad. So I wrote about him, too, when things were happening, trying to keep the gory parts to a dull roar.

My email correspondents were more than patient and supportive about him. Requests for status updates on Poor Mr. Foot were the #1 query I got over these years. He's still hanging on, folks.

I'm out of the blogger closet. I would not have gotten here without all of you on that email correspondents list. This is not an exaggeration.

You may be really glad not to be getting all those news items in your mailbox any more. Or you might miss them a bit. Or both. You'll also see me shamelessly cannibalize material I sent around to you before. I hope you'll forgive me. I'm just sharing it with more others.

It's time, that's all, time to come out. Now you can check in here on this blog, and find all the same stuff as before. Lots and lots of links to news articles - yeah, maybe too many, but that probably won't change, although I may separate them from the main blog - and stories I hope you'll find funny or outrageous or just plain interesting; and critter adventures and essays and such. Just where they really belong: open and honest in a real-for-real Blog.

Life can be tough on us all sometimes. You, with your listening ears, gave me more strength through the hard times than you'll ever know. I'll try to give back whatever and whenever I can to you. If there's anything you need, just ask, and I'll do my best to be there for you like you've been there for me.

I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

Much love,

k