blogging

A couple of friends have complimented me on my writing.  Why don't I get published?  Why don't I write a book?  Sometime, I might. 

Once I taught a course that I liked very much.  It was a review of the books the students had read, from the first book they had read to them, to the one they are reading now.  We each tried to make a list of all the books we had read over our lifetime.  It is only a try, since we have no perfect way of knowing them all but it is fun.  Often, when the students looked at others' lists, they would recognize a title on someone else's list they had read themselves.

We simply tried to write out a list in the actual order we remembered the books.  Not a complete bibliography or correct footnote or reference form, just a list.  While working on such tasks, sales of books, especially used books, got my attention.  Used books may be sold for only 5 cents each or maybe even a lower price.  When I see a table overflowing with books at such a price, I think of the author, maybe 20 or 40 years ago, happily receiving a letter from a publisher saying his company would like to publish the book.  Maybe they would be another Shakespeare or William Faulkner or Tom Robbins.  Now, that book, that dream, is on sale for a very cheap price but might still be left behind, unpurchased at all by anybody.

When I write a blog entry, I have the fun of thinking up what might be interesting to write about.  It takes only a short time to type out 300 or so words.  While doing so, I think of things I might like to look up in Google or the Wikipedia.  I find out all sorts of things I wouldn't know otherwise.  I recall things I haven't thought about for decades.  Then, I get to publish my words on a Google web page, which can be seen all over the world.  Of course, 70 million or more other people are doing the same thing so it is quite likely that no one will see my words or pay any attention to them.  But on good days, 5 to 10 of my friends comment a little about my post.  And, now that Google furnishes statistics and information about blog pages, I find that people all over the world are viewing my blog.  Since the records have been available in May, people in the following countries have viewed my blog

US	281
Canada	11
Denmark	7
Netherlands	5
Russia	4
Australia	3
United Kingdom	3
Latvia	2
India	2
Ukraine	2