I would like to say thank you, which is too
much already. There exists no need, really, to go through this whole “I would like to say” rigmarole. I
should just say it – “Thank you” – then
leave it at that. There. An economy of words, a certain conciseness, it is a wonderful
thing in writing, you can ask anyone.
Thank you, Allen Reinertsen, “GOODSTUFF” as all of us knew you, for everything
that you did for me. You were the ringmaster, sir, the happy stranger from Bangkok,
a shameless self-promoter, and, I suppose, a bit of a pervert, too. Over many
years, you did more for my blogs than anyone did. Even now, today, months after
the fact, you’ve been dead and gone since October and still you’re bringing
more traffic to my words than anyone else does.
I never thanked you, never during your life, for
believing in my writing and what’s more, for telling others about it. Me being
me, you know, I was always much too arrogant, too cool, too fixated on my next
little story to take the time – and it only takes a moment, after all – to say
thank you. To be human, to be kind, which is all that matters, in the end, as I
understand it.
Blogging is a community. I see that now. I shall
not forget it.
On to the unthinkable, the part where I, in
what must be a first, acknowledge a blogging award. Out of this community of
bloggers which I have found, there is Mydangblog who has seen fit to name me for a Liebster Award, for reasons which cannot be imagined. I will acknowledge
it and not be too arrogant, too cool, too fixated on my next little story to
say thank you. Not this time. No. Not like before. I am learning better.
Thank you, Mydangblog.
As for the rules, the conditions, the questions:
“6) What is one thing about your life you
would change?”
Isn’t it obvious? If I could go back, if that
were a possibility, somehow, this time I would acknowledge kindness, which is
so rare, really. I would show love. I would thank each of you who spends a
little time on my page each week.
Thank you.
Here are some criminally underappreciated
blogs from people in my blogging community:
Nicely done
ReplyDeleteThank you, John. It is a rare thing indeed for me to break and fourth wall and blog about blogging. But I gave it a go because I'll try anything once.
DeleteI just came here from posting a comment on Rubber Shoes in Hell, and if I remember correctly, I discovered you (as Nasreen) there.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations.
Thanks. She posts with a perfect frequency. It's just enough that every time I see her pop up in my feed, I think, "I'm ready to read this!" Knowing how frequently to post is half the battle.
DeleteBlogging is indeed a little community. I've met such great people in the blogosphere over the years.
ReplyDeleteYes! Years go by and suddenly, it's beginning to occur to me that these are important people in my life, somehow.
DeleteCongratulations on the award....well deserved. And before I forget or get too self involved....thank you for being one of us. I enjoy your blog immensely.
ReplyDeleteIt is a community, you know. That becomes more obvious to me each time some long-term blogger gives it up. We're at least 10 years past the peak of blogging but it's still one of the most important things in my life.
Delete10 years past the peak ??? Um, here's me with no "replacement parts" after surviving alive ; alive for 73 years on this planet ..... meh
DeleteThanks for the shout out! And I will definitely start visiting the others you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThere are some great writers around who deserve more for their work than they get. It's hard to get the balance right between intellect and entertainment, and you do it as well as anyone I've seen.
DeleteBlogging is definitely a community, so large and yet so small at the same time. There are bloggers I regularly call, text, or trade e-mails with, despite never having met them in person. Bloggers I would gladly call friends. Yourself included. I don't know what the opposite of social media toxicity is called, but it sure feels a lot like blogging.
ReplyDeleteGreat post (and I don't throw that generic term around lightly).
There used to be impediments to my interacting with blogging buddies off-blog... For starters, they would have been expecting someone very different. Now, it's mostly just the fact that I'm anti-social.
DeleteBut sometime last year, the thought occurred to me that all of you were important to me and it was silly to keep up the characters after so many years.
Goodstuff will be missed. The blogosphere challenges the laws of physics like no other realm and it is a comfortable place to be even (especially) when it challenges my notions of reality. There are so many great minds that can share things with a dipshit like me.
ReplyDeletePeople post so much great stuff, and no one reads it after the first 3 days!
DeleteMaybe 200 years from now, some graduate student will dive into the Great Forgotten Literature that was the blogging era. We'll all be famous.
? ... only if you carve in stone .. even ancient papyrus has problems with comprehension .. meh.
DeleteImagine if we all got together in a bowling alley for an evening of duckpins and light beer!
ReplyDeleteSomeday, I'm going to end up meeting someone I know from this sphere of my life. I've been putting it off, but it's bound to happen.
DeleteThis past week, I realized that someone I know in my day-to-day life knew about my blog. It was a weird feeling. I hope it doesn't change my content!
Odd,really ... way back when AOL sort of controlled the 'internet' - we had Chat rooms.
DeleteHowever (when i was there a longish time ago) we did really organise "meet ups" at the the local pub.
That was a while before Gurcle, Apply, and Farcebook discovered your intimate, personal, Data ...wry meh.
Wow, thank you! I also really appreciate the sentiment of being more appreciative and less cynical. I will try to learn that lesson and pass this honor on.
ReplyDeleteYour posts are always funny and how a lot of thought. It's nice to know that other people spend too much time thinking about what they're going to say...
DeleteI'm going to have to get dark and obscure after this post, though. I wouldn't want people to start thinking I've completely lost my rough edges.
Spasibo bol'shoe! My internet has not been treating me with the kindness it should in recent days. There will, however, be stories posted.
ReplyDeleteHey, Bill! I am trying to set aside a few minutes to dive into your "Pluto" piece. Always happy to see a new one up.
DeleteI love our blogging community! I have met such great people over the years! It's so different from like "Facebook". I was on there for one year and said goodbye, never looked back!
ReplyDeleteHarry, you deserve this award! You are a sweetheart and your quirky too! I like that! It's been great getting to know you! Thank you for mentioning my blog and thank you for the last comment on my painting!
Thanks, Stacy. There's not much I can do to help great bloggers out there, but the little bit that I can do, I need to do.
DeleteI aways find it a little scary when I think about who reads my blog. When I found out that my older daughter was, it definitely changed the content! Shame really, as I was a little more open 6 years ago. Well done for the award, well deserved, and yes, I've made some great new friends thanks to blogging.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any kids to worry about stumbling upon this page, but I do have my mom, who spends considerable time online and knows how to do a google image search, as well as some co-workers I'd feel somewhat odd about reading this stuff.
DeleteSo far as my mom goes, I throw in enough weird fiction that i suspect she'd lose interest quickly - I picture her saying "I didn't get a lot of it" and then just coming back to see if there were family pics occasionally.
Sheesh, Harry - pushing the "I am on the verge of killing myself is sort of 'passe' ..
ReplyDeleteunless you mean it - which sort of fascinates me - how; without leaving a mess.
Some-one, somewhere, will have to 'pick up the pieces' - whether you like it or not.
I'm doing okay this month. Not going anywhere. I did not mean for my rare crack of sentimentality to sound final. Sentimentality does not come naturally to me at all.
DeleteI've thought about various ends more than I care to admit, but I suspect it would come WAY down the line, and probably for good reason. I assume there will be convenient and hygienic euthanasia machines by then.
Congrats on the worry, Harry. Well deserved for sure. My condolences about your friend, "GOODSTUFF." Take care.
DeleteI assume that now, when people refer to me, they should do so like they do Oscar Award winners and say, "Liebster Award (TM) winning blogger, Harry Hamid." I'm part of the establishment now.
DeleteHugs on the loss of a bloggie friends. It's always such a shock to me when I lose someone that way.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the award!
Ah, as a very shy child who discovered "live theatre" (aussie spelling)
ReplyDeleteAm very familiar with the concept of "masks" ... and (as distinct from CGI) ;"costumes"; was allowed to wear those - ranging from Roman armour to Renaissance 'finery' .... meh.