All the world's a stage, and bloggers merely players

This post is going to push an even figure, 1,800 posts, that I happened to notice this morning when I called up Blogger, over to the odd 1,801. Darn. Round numbers are wonderful things.

I go back sometimes and ax posts from years ago that seem irrelevant or silly and have combined others (Blogger was more primitive nine years ago; originally, it was necessary to post photos and text separately, for example). So the count isn't especially accurate.

But this has been going on since May of 2005, which in blogging years is a long time. When I started, posts were sporadic; for some time now, they've appeared daily.

Local history always has been the enduring thread, but that requires research and lots of time. A post like this doesn't take any time at all, part of reason why I'm writing it now. Juggling a lot of photographs also takes more time than many bloggers have some days. And creativity occasionally is elusive.

Despite all this jabbering, I'm a fairly private person. But dig deep enough and you'll find quite a bit about my family, even a couple of boyfriends, sadly long dead.

I get up before dawn most days and do this to amuse myself, now and then to sort stuff out in my head and occasionally because I'm aggravated. It's a useful discipline and I like to show off  sometimes, too. Don't we all? If others find something interesting, that's great. But folks who blog principally to dazzle generally don't last long. 

Advice to newer bloggers: Stop obsessing about your stats and just get on with it. It really is all about you and your interests, unless there's a specific mission involved. I read your blog because I'm interested in what you have to say --- most of the time --- or I wouldn't be reading at all.

To thine own self be true (thanks, Polonius).

The most rewarding aspect of cruising the Blog-o-sphere is discovering how many interesting people are out there, and how well most of them write. More people should blog.

There's no way to determine exactly who is reading your blog unless they tell you. And while it's useful to know who at least some of your readers are, that knowledge carries hazards, too.

If you start writing to please, or don't write something you think important because you're afraid of what someone will say, trouble's headed your way.

On the other hand, knowing your audience can improve the product. Now and then I'll write something, then think, "Heavens to Betsy, what's Dianne going to think if I write it like that?" So I back up and try again in more civilized terms.

So thanks to all who have read one or more of the 1,800 posts, notified me when spelling or grammatical errors have occurred, tried (gently) to set me straight when I've declared something gospel truth that may not be or expressed appreciation when I've done good.

All the world's a stage, after all, and all the bloggers merely players .... Shakespeare's generally right and isn't it funny that he knew so much about blogging way back then?