Thursday, March 13, 2008

Thank you, Jim: Slightdetour Post No. 2000





Who'd a thunk this blog would have had 2,000 items to show and tell! Well, folks, today marks a milestone I never dreamed would happen. I have my brother, Jim, the cartoonist who long ago abandoned me, to thank for this blog's inspiration. Well, don't get any ideas. Jim and I still talk to each other---occasionally.

The idea behind the blog was to create a forum for him to get some exposure for his cartoons. Since then, he's been illustrating hang gliding calendars and articles in the hang gliding magazine. He's also been submitting his PUNishingly funny "Slight Detour" cartoons to The River Journal, the same paper where "Love Notes" runs monthly.

As mentioned in earlier postings, I figured I'd hang in with Jim for a few weeks, doing some writing, and then veer off my own direction while he continued to gain an audience. Frankly, I didn't think I had the self discipline to stick with it for very long. That's my nature. I'm one of those who enjoys the smorgasboard of life, always meeting new people, always looking for----well, slight detours from the mundane.

Now 2,000 posts later, I can't fathom life without the morning postings. Slight Detour has turned into a discipline and a passion. In fact, it seems like something very vital would be missing each day if I didn't sit down at my computer, wherever I am, and share something in my life or in my thoughts with an audience. I guess that's a journalism-addiction symptom: ya learn something, ya see something and ya've gotta pass it on.

So, thanks Jim, and thanks to Blogfather Dave. I've expressed similar appreciation to these folks before, but I want them to know that even at 2,000 postings, the excitement of this daily blog exercise has hardly diminished with time. If anything, it's gradually intensified since that first posting in early December, 2004.

I'm also thrilled with others who, after reading this daily journal, have jumped on the road way with their own personal blogs. I've got 'em bookmarked and check on what they're doing from time to time. Be sure to check their links, which appear to your right. In fact, one of them, Jenny of (www.mangymooseacres.blogspot.com) introduced me to "sitemeter."

Before sitemeter, I knew there were a lot of people peeking in on Slight Detour, simply because I'd start to tell them a story, only to have them finish it for me because they'd already read about it on the blog. Had that happen a couple of times yesterday, in fact.


Sitemeter, which is free and clickable on the right, lets me know generally who's checking in every day. Now, I don't take roll, but I am happy to see the regulars by their location. I know who some are; don't know others----or, at least, I think I don't know.

Someone from Louth, Ireland, is a frequent reader, and I'd love to know who you are. I see that folks from New Zealand, France, Poland, the Netherlands, England, Canada, Brazil, etc. have veered off the cyber highways and taken a Slight Detour. Thanks for stopping in.


Hard to believe what can come of a Thanksgiving holiday conversation and a book of cartoons. I appreciate all who inspire me to continue to do this every day, through your readership. It means a lot to know that you keep checking in. And, to those whose influence got the whole thing started in the first place, a special thanks.

Onward and upward: 3,000 slight detours, here I come!

1 comment:

FrazzMom said...

I love sitemeter, but beware of it's addictive-ness! I've had to consciously reign myself in from checking it compulsively multiple times each day!