Blog Fans

In the past few months on my blog, something very exciting has happened: I've gained new readers. This, I believe, is every blogger's dream. It's certainly my dream, anyway.

For those of you who didn't already know this, I have a site meter, which lets me see how many people are reading my blog and where they're reading it from (and other, not so helpful stuff like whether it was from a Mac or a PC and who their Internet Service Provider is).

I don't normally bother to check the site meter, but out of curiosity today, I looked. And there are all these new readers in fun locations! Some of the locations I recognize: The Netherlands, London, Boise, Austin--I know who you are. But other locations have me intrigued: who's reading me in Denver; McAllen, TX; Little Rock, AR; and Long Beach, Mississippi? (Actually, given that apparently Long Beach is just outside of New Orleans, maybe I do know who's reading. In which case, I'm sorry--I know I owe you a phone call!)

For a long time, I had "sneaky fans" in Raleigh-Durham and Laurel, NJ. I never had any idea who they were. And as fun as the speculation on their possible identities was, I always wished I'd just known.

So if you're reading my blog, and you're not sure that I already know that, you should tell me. It's always nice to be reminded that you're not writing into a big, black void of nothingness.