I’m ready to join the Bloggers Club… oh dagnabbit, now the bug’s bitten me too

A couple weeks ago, I was on Google’s Blogger forum looking for a solution to why the ‘Contact Me’ gadget in my sidebar had stopped working.  I was reading other blogger’s issues, and one asked “What happened to the ‘Next’ button in the toolbar, that took you to a blog similar to the one you were on?  I really miss finding new blogs to read.”

Good question, I’d been wondering the same thing for a couple months now—I used to click on that ‘Next blog’ button a lot.

Blogger’s response was they had removed that feature, as it wasn’t popular.  What a shame, I used to come across some real zingers in the blogosphere.

Plus it’s removal reduced the odds of your own blog being randomly ‘discovered’ as well.  Forget my gadget issue, I suddenly had the urge to find some new blogs to read.  I discovered it’s easier said than done. 

It’s simple enough to google ‘food blog’ or ‘tv blog’ or ‘travel blog’, there’s dozens—no hundreds of homegrown themed sites out there.  I wanted to find PERSONAL blogs, like mine.  People just sharing their own life stories.  How do you google that? 

On a whim, I googled “baby boomer blogs”  (people born between 1944 & 1964) and got a link to “The Top 100 Baby Boomer Blogs of 2019”.   I believe every blog listed had a variation of the word “Boomer” in the title, each with similar topics on how to be one.  (Not exactly what I was looking for.) 

But one stood out, “Time Goes By – What it’s really like to get old”.  I clicked on it.

I must’ve spent 3-4 hours reading (that first day, I’ve been back several times since).  It’s basically the life story of a 78 year old woman named Ronni, diagnosed in 2017 with pancreatic cancer.  It’s her own life’s journey, her mother’s battle with cancer, book recommendations, thoughts on everything from ageism to politics to pop culture.  She’s a remarkable writer and it was just a joy to read. 

Recently, one of her pieces was on Old Age & Loneliness.   Unsure if I was regarded as an old man (I’m sure my 15 year old niece would think so) but still relating to this piece in a big way, I posted this response:

Ronni, this topic is precisely how I found your wonderful blog just a week or so ago. I don’t know if 58 is considered old age, but this is a problem I wrestle with. If it wasn’t for a couple of my sisters (who live far from me but we connect thru email) I’d be in real trouble. I never married or had kids, so they’re the only family I’ve got.

I was able to save & invest thru the years, managed an early retirement a few years ago. I guess I didn’t realize all of my physical relationships were work-related ones. I was naïve at the time to think I’d maintain friendships I had there. Anyway, was just coming to my senses that I needed to be more proactive about this a year or so ago, when I developed chronic TMD after a kidney operation (a jaw disorder which limits my speaking & diet).  So… reading others blogs (and writing my own) has been a real help.

I didn’t expect or receive a respone (no one does, or she’d be spending most of her waking hours just doing that—her site’s very popular) but a couple hours later I received a personal message from someone who’d seen my comment—and then another, and another.  

Hmm… there’s some pretty nice people out there.   I later go on my own blog, click on the Visitors Map to see if anyone’s been there since morning and—what the—I’d gotten 29 visits in the space of a couple hours??

(What I soon discovered is that Ronni isn’t your typical blogger; she’s a professional writer, a world traveler & was Barbara Walters’ long-time producer.  My comment on her site had included a link to my own blog as well.)

I also received a few very nice comments on some of my own recent posts, from like-minded blggers.  When I visited their sites, I was surprised to find just what I’d been looking for—some warm, personal (and often funny) blogs.  The New Sixty, Cranky Old Man, Musings, Rants & Scribbles… written by older folks, and blogging the type of stuff I enjoy and appreciate most.

I was also surprised to discover a couple of them had chosen to ‘follow’ me.  For real?  They weren’t just one-time visitors?  I pulled my “Followers” gadget out of mothballs and plunked it in the upper mid-right of my blog’s sidebar.   Sigh, only 15 followers… a fraction of what these other bloggers have.   I wish I had more followers… why?  Why is that suddenly so important to me?   I emailed my sister:  “Do you have a gmail account?”  She said yes.  I said “Would you please click the Follow button on my teepee?  If you’re not a blogger it’s not going to send you alerts or anything, but it will allow you to leave comments on my posts without jumping thru any security hoops… and will help me feel a little less embarrassed about having only 15 followers.”

Hooray, 16 followers!   After 13 years, I’m starting to feel like a real blogger.