Exciting Eighteen

At some point each day, I wonder what I will post on the blog. I'm not consciously evaluating all happenings for blog-worthiness, but around dinner time I start to worry. Mostly, because I don't really cook dinner. It's more "diner" in my house, due to individual eccentricities, and extracurricular schedules. If you are a good eater with varied tastes, you suffer here. If you like your food previously prepared and heated in some fashion, then you are in the  right place. Anywho, when I am done feeding the pack, I begin reviewing ideas.

Tonight I was going to talk about how my brain is misinterpreting the motivational weight-loss messages I have posted in my kitchen. Then I considered transcribing the inane conversation between Two and Three. But when I signed in to the "Diaries," I saw that I had acquired a new follower! In that joyful moment, all other ideas flew out the window.

I have had an unbalanced number of squares at the bottom of the blog for weeks. Seventeen squares to be exact. I don't dislike odd numbers, but I was beginning to loathe seventeen. I implored family members to recruit someone just to fill in the blank. So, to see the little silhouettes and icons perfectly balanced in their rows stirred my soul.

It may seem a tad overreactive to celebrate eighteen followers, but the moment was about more than adding a box. I remember how excited I was to read Julie's first comment, because it was from someone I didn't know personally. And as each of you have joined in, or read from afar, you've bolstered my dream of writing. It isn't logical that the opinion of strangers would matter more than that of my loved ones, but with each new reader I feel  a deep sense of validation, and obligation. I want to get better, for you.

Today, I joined Twitter. I don't even know how it works, but I signed up because I'm ordering business cards. I think of them more as "calling cards," because I'm not actually in business.  But I am pursuing a career as a writer, in some fashion, so I thought it smart to have a contact card to hand out at the conference. And I want the world to reach me however they can, including Twitter. I told my husband, and he bit his tongue. He supports me wholeheartedly, but the social media thing freaks him out a bit. He's more private than I am, so he worries. He paused after hearing the news, and said, "Now, go finish the book."

I might be putting the horse before the cart, or simply driving the horse insane by taking it down a slew of paths instead of that nice, straight road toward the novel. But I like the exploration, the discovery of all the writing trails. Plus, I have great guides.

Welcome, Number Eighteen, the Great Equalizer: Lydia K.