Fancy Meeting You Here

A couple of days ago, I got a really nice comment on my entry "It's a Dog Meet Dog World" from a guy named Charlie Callahan.

Speaking as a newbie blogger, I'm sure all you veterans know that every single scrap or drop of positive attention via comments is a Godsend when you're just starting out. Or even negative comments. At least it means someone is reading and paying attention.

I love the way Blogger has everything set up with profile links. That way I can try to analyze and figure out what brought someone to my blog.

Was it a similar taste in music? Books? Movies? Advocacy issues?

Sometimes I recognize a contributer from the comments section of a blog I left a message on. Sometimes the person I commented to comes back and responds to something. Sometimes someone is really nice and has posted a link to my blog in their sidebar.

What's great is when I go to comment on a blog I regularly read, and see a comment from someone who I had left a comment for in a totally different venue. That usually means that they came to my blog, clicked on one of my favorite authors and agreed with my good taste.

It's neat. Kind of wildly incestuous, if you think about it, but neat.

That said, sometimes you get a comment from someone and you have no idea where it came from, or how they found you.

And that brings me back to my new friend Charlie.

He wrote something complimentary about my entry. I clicked on his profile, and read it. Didn't find anything close to my own profile, or anything I've written about.

So I wondered. He says he found me on a "blog ring", but as far as I know, I don't belong to any blog rings. Unless someone added me to the "Posting in My Granny Underpants" ring behind my back.

Did he do a blog search on "Charlie" (the name of my dog) or "poop"? Since his profile says he's interested in Philately, and all.

Whoops! I mixed up philatelist with crapophile. Hate when that happens. My bad.

Almost immediately I was hooked on his blog. He's a hoot in a John-Irving-on-ritalin-meets-George-Carlin kind of way. Literally gifted. Absolutely hysterical for the rude well-read reader. And very gracious to other writers, which is something you don't find too often.

So to continue the good example that Charlie Callahan sets, I want to thank everybody who visits my blog and encourage you to check out the links in my sidebar. Whether you're looking for something funny or sarcastic or deep or delightful, the blogs posted there are ones I enjoy and visit often.

Hope everybody has a great day!