Do you ever feel you are being bitten in the butt by your own advice? Well, that’s how I’m feeling right now. And it is, well, it’s a bit odd. Because as I’m sure you’ve noticed, my advice is usually something you can depend on. Live by. Hang your hat on.
You see, a while back, my blogging buddy TwinDaddy of StuphBlog wrote a post about how uncomfortable he is getting compliments.
Naturally, being the good friend/know-it-all that I am, I gave him a piece of advice:
“[G]et used to it, TwinDaddy,” I said in the comments. “We folks who hang out here think you’re swell. Now say thanks and smile.”
And isn’t that the proper way to respond to a compliment? No hemming and hawing, no self-deprecating remarks, no false modesty. Just a simple thank you and a smile.
But tonight I find myself in a bit of a dilemma. A quandary. A pickle. And well, I’m not sure if my own advice isn’t coming back to bite me. Because I’ve gotten a compliment and I don’t really know how to respond.
I feel like hemming and hawing.
I feel like making a self-depreciating remark.
I feel like being unusually/unnaturally modest.
You see, the last week was a fantastic one here at FiftyFourAndAHalf. Out of the STAT-is-sphere, if you know what I mean. And it follows closely on my tour of the ‘sphere, with Peg and Darla and Michelle. March has been a blast.
And it is ending just as well as it began! But it is a bit confusing. Because this past week, I’ve gotten more followers than I got in the entire rest of my nearly two years of blogging.
Cool, you say. Congratulations! I want to puncture her ego (oh, wait, you wouldn’t say that to me, would you — you’re my friend!) But the thing is, I don’t know how to accept this ummm, compliment. Why not? Why not just smile and say thank you?
Because in the last week, I haven’t written a word. Nope. Not one.
So I’m trying to figure out if the secret to getting more followers is to, ummm, not write anything.
To my new bloggin’ buddies – welcome. I’m in the process of checking out your blogs. Thanks for stopping by here and letting me razz you a bit. Thank you for following me. I’m smiling.
Google Image
FiftyFourandAHalf 
I was going to say Congratulations and tell you it is well deserved.
But then Linda Ronstadt appeared on my screen.
Congrats, Elyse, and well deserved!
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Et tu, Guap? Et tu?
😉
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How about just, “Thank you”?
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You mean I don’t have to smile???
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not unless you want to….
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🙂
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I’m so glad you weren’t writing while I wasn’t reading because I like to read what you write!
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Thanks Sandy. I like to read what you write, too. So please stop digging and start writing more!
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Congratulations, Elyse. You have a wonderful blog, and I’m glad there are that many more bloggers to enjoy it.
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You’re sweet. But I think folks want me to shut up!
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It is not so much the blogging gods as it is your content……smile and say thank you 🙂
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Thank you Bella. 🙂
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Ah, I’ve found that to happen before when I had not so secretly skipped out on a few occasions and arrived back to a ego-stroking surprise. I just tell myself people need time to realize a genius. Yes.. smile and nod indeed. You deserve it (:
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As do you, Duck. As do you. But I thought it meant that folks want me to shut up.
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The words of a poet needs time to settle.
Sorry to break the moment but that was some intense on the spot bs-ing (; haha
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Don’t you have to do it at “Blog-spot” then, instead of Word Press.
Sometimes I want to slap myself silly. Like now.
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Yep, frequently!
I also just tried your I wirte like widget and discovered I write like
H. P. Lovecraft
who writes weired stuff LOL 🙂
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Oh I’m so glad you told me you tried it. I nearly deleted it — it’s been on there for a while. But it’s great fun. If you don’t want to write like HP Lovecraft, just put other things into the analyzer. That’s what I did. I also did a post about it a long, long time ago. And I was HP Lovecraft too! This has the list of my “multiple author disorder” — https://fiftyfourandahalf.com/2012/03/31/who-am-i/
Let me know of your other personalities!
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Could have been EL James…then I would have been worried!
Perhaps our dry humour in our blog posts has oemthing in common. THink I’ll Try my condoms post in France and see what that trows up!
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Bet you get David Sedaris for that one.
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Didn’t you hear? The moon and the stars were is perfect alignment with your sun sign. Or something like that. Hey, Elyse, enjoy the mystery! 🙂
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Thanks for the explanation, Lorna. I was never very good at Astronomy 😉
BTW, I finished your memoir — I’ll do a review for Amazon in the next week or so (lots of company around). Good stuff!
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Thanks Elyse! Looking forward to hearing what you have to say…
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Congrats on getting so many new readers. Surely, they won’t be disappointed.
I’ve also had weeks when I didn’t publish anything and I’ve continued to get subscribers and weeks when I do publish and get hardly any. I’ve given up trying to figure out how it works. I just smile and say thank you 🙂
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Thanks, Paprika. And you’re right — it’s one of those inexplicable things in life and blogging. It did, however, provide me with something to write about when I was dry!
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Congratulations on your new, world dominion. Couldn’t happen to a nicer blogger!
The same thing happened to me and I couldn’t figure it out. I even wrote to Support about it. Turned out WordPress had added me to their roster of Recommended Bloggers in the humor category. They didn’t send any kind of announcement – somebody else noticed and told me. Maybe that’s what has happened? Hope so!
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Thanks Peg. And I will remember you when I am Supreme Ruler of the World.
But Peg, I’m shocked. I didn’t know that WP had a Recommended category on “Blogs About Something that Pisses Me Off”
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Yup. The category is “life”.
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Touche!
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I think you’re starting a new trend called the mime blog. Congrats on the new following and on being such a trend setter 😉
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There is probably a huge market for mime blogs. For those days when we want folks to remember us but realize that they probably won’t remember what we said!
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You are building an empire … kind of like a Le Clown South. Thanks for the great pic of Linda Ronstadt.
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Le Clown has nothing to fear from me! He remains Magnificent.
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That was a song, Frank. One that I naturally didn’t play before posting it because, well, Mr. AndAHalf was in the room …
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Oh … another song Mr. and a Half doesn’t like.
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It is a very long list. Sigh. I usually go with the shorter version of songs he likes.
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So what is his taste in music?
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Celtic with a little folk and a little rock. He likes classical too. There is usually something we can listen to — and I love Celtic so I usually just lay that.
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If lack of writing brought me followers I should have millions by now. This is not the case. If you figure it out … share.
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Michelle, I will absolutely tell you the secret if and when I figure it out. That said, the number of followers I have is really not that impressive. I’m pretty sure I have that many outstanding library books!
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All I can say is ….. “Work It”
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Whenever I hear that phrase, “work it” I think of Pretty Woman, with Kit deLuca telling Julia Roberts to “work it.”
I don’t plan to “work it” that way! But thanks for the smile, Val!
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Yep, that is exactly what I was thinking of!
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I love that movie. It’s so damn realistic.
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If you say so. But really, on the other hand…….”Work It”
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hmmm…maybe you weren’t posting, but I bet you were following and commenting. Comments, especially good ones like the conversations you leave, count as writing too, doesn’t it?
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Do they count as writing? Much of it is blather … come to think of it, much of my blog writing is blather, toooooo.
Thanks for stopping by — you are one of my very first bloggin’ buddies!
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I agree with Georgette – a clever comment is like the Pied Piper’s haunting tune, leading all the reader rats to your blog! Er, or something.
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Rats? I think you mean “Nuts” Peg. Cause some of them came from your house!
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Whatever it is .. work it! 😉 MJ
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Thanks, MJ. Now I have to figure out something else to write about. (Life is sooooooooo difficult)
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I think you’re onto something here. I’ve noticed when I was posting three times a week, not only was I exhausted mentally, but my stats dropped. Now that it’s only once a week, my stats have soared and I get more new followers.
Maybe it’s just everyone’s subtle way of telling me to shut the F up?
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Nobody would be so rude as to tell you to shut the F up Darla. Me, yeah. But not you. You are waaaayyyyy to nice.
Posting a lot is hard, and tiring. I don’t know how some people manage to do it several times a day. I end up, for lack of time, picking only some of their posts (based on title). But then not everybody is in it for the stats. Some people think they have something to say! Not me, of course!
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Not in it for stats?! who ARE these people???
I follow someone who actually does post three times a day. I can barely find the time to read the titles of a post. Now that I’m down to one post a week, it really frees me up to do more productive things like obsess over my stats even more.
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And that’s a good thing.
I’m actually starting a writing course in 2 weeks — so I may be here a little bit less for a while too.
I’m trying to collect my alcoholic german shepherd stories.
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Ooh, sounds promising! Will there be any of your classic ‘poop’ stories as well….? A writing course sounds so exciting. I’ve never taken one. Tell us how it goes, please.
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I’m always about the poop, Darla. So few people ask for it by name, though.
This will be my 3rd writing course. I got a lot out of the other two. This one I’m looking to for structuring a longer version of poop/psychotic dog story.
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These new followers got you to hit the keyboard, so I say “thanks newbies.”
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I wasn’t not writing for any real reason. I just post when I have the urge and I’d been really busy at work, so didn’t have time/energy/inspiration to post. Until I kept getting notifications of new followers. Perhaps they are looking for a monk-like blog where silence is the rule. (They will be disappointed!)
Thanks Tops 😉 .
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Hahahaha! Very disappointed indeed.
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Ah, the wee mysteries of search engines and blog connections. Maybe that’s a hint to us all, say less and listen more. Good on you Elyse. And it’s a treat for us all. New readers and commenters will add some different spice to the soup!
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I don’t think I get much through the search engines. The only search terms frequently mentioned in that column are “Spanish Inquisition” and “rectal exams.” I’d prefer that neither of those terms ended up on my tombstone!
I’m looking forward to visits from the new folks, too. And you’re right, it’s always nice to have a few new faces at the party!
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Bigsheep is right! Love your always present sense of humor 🙂 Enjoy!
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Thanks Janni. Where would we be without laughing?
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However these new readers found you, they’re in for treat 😀
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Awww, shucks, Lisa. Thanks. 😉
See, I can do it — the thanks and smile bit. I just squirm a wee bit.
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It’s okay to squirm.
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I think I am one of those last week’s followers. After seeing you featured on Peg-o-leg and She’s a Maniac, starting to pay attention to your likes on Last of The Millenniums (one of my favorites), and your likes and comments on pretty much every blog I follow, it felt as though you are single-handedly taking over the blogoshpere. That’s when I realize that my resistance is futile and clicked “follow”.
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You ARE one of the newbies, X! And I’m delighted to have you along for whatever comes out of my keyboard.
And I just returned the favor by following yours. I loved this post: http://listofx.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/obamas-limo/
Now we can both get fired from our jobs and spend each and every hungry day in the ‘sphere.
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Now look what you’ve done, you pointed me in X’s direction, I wandered over, read for a bit & now I’m a follower too!
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That unemployment line is gonna be a blast!
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Thank you, and I’ve followed you, too. I think everyone should just stop writing and start following each other. After all, if no one writes anything, we could follow as many people as we want and not fear missing their posts.
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I think there’s some logic there. But I’ll need a moment of silence to figure out if I’m right.
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But then what would we read when we got to each other’s sites? The stats?
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Oooh. That wouldn’t be pretty. Pitting blogger against blogger. Nasty things might happen.
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We could take turns writing, depending on the number of us in the circle. Like all blogs with names between A – K blog on Monday, Wed & Fri; bloggers with blog names between L – Z on Tues., Thurs & Sat. It would make it easier to keep up with the reading!
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I’d have to hire a manager. I’m not a very scheduled sort of person … I think I’m going to have to stick with random!
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We could always do comments. But that makes me rethink my suggestion: if we only write comments, that would be way too much like Facebook…
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I suggested to Elyse maybe if we got enough people in the circle then everyone with blog names from A – K could blog Mon., Wed. & Fri & bloggers with names from L – Z could blog Tue., Thu. & Sat. Then we would have enough to read so we could read all of them & comment on all of them every day!
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Thank you for following me! Though I would very much like to keep my job, because even though it seriously interferes with my blog-writing and reading, it still pays for my Internet.
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Piracy. It’s all the rage.
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Maybe if you ask nicely, some of your new followers will come out and say hi.
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I hope they will because that’s half the fun of it. IN fact, the next comment down below is from a new follower.
But see what a loyal person I am? I responded to you, an old bloggin’ buddy, before sucking up to them … Damn, I’m good.
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If I pay too much attention to my stats I go crazy. There are people who stop by when I don’t post anything. Why? I can understand people might have seen my comment somewhere else & it engaged them enough to want to see a bit more of my work so they wandered over to my blog & read some past posts. This is the only thing I can think of because my writing has been down quite a bit over the last month due to a cold & pneumonia.
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It sounds like you’re feeling better, though Benze. I hope so.
It is odd when folks just wander in — but I’m always curious as to how they got there.
One thing I hate is not knowing what posts are sent to others when I hit the “Like” button on someone else’s blog. I found myself getting “likes” on a particularly crappy post from folks who never came back. Sniff sniff.
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I would just like to take this moment to say….bwahahahahahahahaha! Not as easy as it sounds, is it? *gives Elyse the raspberry*
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Hahahahahaha!
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You will pay for taking TwinDaddy’s side, Tops. Pay dearly.
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But this was a “back-handed” compliment. They followed me when I wasn’t saying anything!
Still, I smiled and said thank you. And then of course I made fun of them. Those are not mutually exclusive items.
Thanks for providing my theme for the night!
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Haha! Taking your own advice is never easy. It’s much easier to give than take.
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You’re telling me that I can dish it but can’t take it.
To which I feel compelled to reply: “I know you are but what am I?”
I win again,TwinDaddy. As usual.
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Ah, the classic Pee Wee Herman comeback. You lose just for busting that out.
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I was saying that before Pee Wee Herman became a perfert. I’m old, TwinDaddy.
And no. I never lose. Or I never lose to you.
Hang your head and cry. No smile or thank you necessary.
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I’ll let you keep your delusion. Again. Because I respect my elders. Even when they’re wrong. I’m so nice.
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I won’t disagree with the last comment. And I’m glad there is at least one whippersnapper that will pay me all due respect.
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Oh, I will. If for no other reason than how supportive and awesome you’ve been towards me.
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You may not have been posting but I’ve seen you around 🙂 A gain in following like that is actually more work than posting in my limited experience. responding to comments and checking out new blogs – it’s rewarding, but it takes time. I’m glad to hear you’re booming. Your blog is a refreshing, straight shooting, fun ride.
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Thanks, Lorri 😉 . It is a lot of work checking everybody out, but fun work. Every once in a while I check out a new follower and think “why on earth would this person want to follow me?” But it’s always fun to see new stuff and make new friends.
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I totally agree – it’s fun to find new blogs!
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My biggest worry for new followers is that I already wrote all my good stuff – and they will be so disappointed with what comes next.
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I have the same fear!
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Darla, Darla — Darling of the ‘sphere. Have no fear. We live for your words. And your Vlogs.
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I might have to do vlogs from now on. I’ve got nuthin’ for posts lately. I am all tapped out.
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Try describing a day in the life of a full time student, mother, wife,daughter, blogger (what did I leave out?) Oh yeah, no doubt “chief cook and bottle washer” as my dad would have said.
Maybe we can just handle a morning!
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Nancy you’ve been consistently good for the whole time I’ve been following you (probably since Sept 2011 or so) — I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Not unless life suddenly stops being weird.
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But what if my husband stops doing dumb things? What will I write about? (Oh, wait… that will never happen….)
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You’re right. Some role were born to be blog fodder.
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I have a theory… not that you don’t have a fabulous blog that deserves lots of followers… but, I think there are a lot of aggregator blogs on here lately, weird non-blogs, that look like a real blog, but, with disjointed content, and they follow everything! There are a couple of them that I see their Avatar everywhere… on every blog I visit… it’s werid.
But, maybe I’m just seeing The Voices now, instead of just hearing them. 🙂
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Yeah, there are a few of those. But they add to the all important numbers, don’t you see, John???? What do you call them … “splogs” for Spam-Like-Blogs?
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I was so excited when I gained another 30 readers in the last couple of weeks, until I started looking at their websites. Damn Sploggers!
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Hey, not writing worked for Salinger! But no, seriously, keep writing
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Not writing did work for him, didn’t it. If he’d been a blogger he would have been one of the ones that visits but doesn’t let you know … mysterious ones …
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“So I’m trying to figure out if the secret to getting more followers is to, ummm, not write anything.”—-Ooh, maybe you’re on to something! That would be so much easier and less time-consuming, wouldn’t it? But then again, not as much fun… 😉
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Yeah, I’m thinking that I AM on to something. But it is way too much fun blogging to not write — plus my husband is a huge baseball fan and the season starts in a matter of days. Ho hum. I’ll need to blog!
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I stopped looking at my stats a long time ago. Mostly because WordPress constantly changes the menus and I can no longer find the stats.
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This one got stuck in with the spam. Perhaps it is your location in Asia that confused my spam filter into sticking it in with all the Chinese erectile dysfunction remedies that commented on my posts.
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I love the new non-writing you! You minimalist approach to typing is an artform all its own. The empty space that speeks so loudly that none can ignore it. You let us pick our own words, and like a mirror, you reflect the best of us back at us. More not doing anything, please.
Now smile and accept my praise!
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Ummmmmmm, thanks. I think ;).
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I thought you might. I was hoping you would.
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Cool.
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I’m going to send you an email about how to do it — I loved your tape! http://rossmurray1.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/email/
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How to do what? (And thank you. See? Easy!)
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How to shut up. You’d be surprised at how good I am at it. Especially when I’m asleep.
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The only thing that won’t shut up is my keyboard. And that sounds way deeper than it actually is.
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Perhaps you are due for a new computer?
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Maybe its because you are such a fabulous writer that when you disappeared for a while, hordes of people signed on to urge to start writing again???
I’m so going to try it myself.
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Lots of people seem to have disappeared. Exotic vacations that we will drool over. Me? Nah, I was really busy at work.
But let me know if you have any luck by not writing. I’m hoping I can become a best selling non-writer. I’m sure there’s big money in that, Moms.
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The psychology behind stats and comments is very interesting. I’ve wondered sometimes on days with lots of visitors but no writing, “what happened?”. I could congratulate you, and I will, but I don’t want to inspire more hemming and hawing! Keep writing.
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Thanks Amphomma. Stats simply make us crazy — including this one! But it did make me chuckle when I realized how much more popular I am when I shut up. Sigh.
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I agree, amphomma, re interesting.
When I began blogging, I clicked on the stats to see how the days changed, where the people were from. I now don’t trouble to – it will do its own thing regardless!
Great post, Elyse.
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Thanks, Word. I go back and forth with stats — I find that my favorites generate nothing, the junk gets tons!
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