Linkage

About a month and a half ago, I made a post on this blog with a certain gentleman in mind. Someone commented with a smiley, and when I asked aforementioned gent if it was him, he said not. In my naivete, I believed my only readers were the few friends I had given the link to (who else would be interested in my flickers and cucumbers?), and did not have a stats tracker on the blog. Since I was a little disappointed that the gent didn’t respond - and I don’t know who did - I installed a tracker for the New Year.

I got my Blogger account originally just so I could comment on a college friend’s blog. When I decided to start doing some writing (well, attempt to find time to do some writing), I put up a few posts. The blog allowed me to see my work outside of myself, so to speak, and to evaluate it a little more critically than I normally would have. Like I said, I gave out the link to a select few, and soon the blog became a way to entertain friends and keep them abreast of my various mundane activities and the weird and interesting things I come across on the ‘net.

The stats tracker has provided some surprises. In 18 days, I have had nearly 200 page views. Seems I have a few regular readers I don’t know. To those folks I say, “Welcome. And thanks for coming by.” Also, Chelsea city manager Mike Steklac has linked me on his blog The Chelsea Report. Thanks for the linkage!

The day before The Chelsea Report started showing up as a referrer to my blog, my friend A. asked if he could link me on his site. Interestingly enough, this new attention to Hawk in the Rain comes at a time when I am reassessing the blog: my reasons for having it, what goals (if any) I have for it, a possible redesign/reorganization, what kind of information I want to put out there in the ether.

I feel cautious about sharing myself and my opinions online. While I frequent many other blogs, I rarely comment. The blogosphere - with exceptions of relatively sane and thoughtful blogs, usually small personal blogs - always seems to be just a hair’s breadth away from a major flamewar. Trolls, comment moderation, accusations of fascism. But I guess that’s the side effect of becoming an A-lister, a Kos or an Atrios, and I hope I never get there. I’m content to remain an Insignificant Microbe in the Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem. After all, microbes really are quite significant in the real dirt and cytoplasm world.

So surfers, there might be some changes coming along. I’m not sure where this hawk is going - it’s up in the air.