Blogs are funny things – essentially a narcissistic pursuit (unless they have a worthy cause to share) and self indulgent – it’s a wonder that anyone ever reads them. Except of course, for the fact that humans are naturally inquisitive and love a bit of gossip and/or entertainment, which is generally what blogs consist of.

Thanks to following a variety of blogs found through a diverse range of random connections or stumblings-upon, I’ve built up quite a network. Amongst my little group of friends who also read blogs, we have a few shared favourites. Mrs WF and I love crafty ones as well as some of the more ‘Mommy blog’ American variety. In fact, we have been known to text each other in excitement when a Mommy’s given birth or (in my case) when one of our favourite bloggers left me a comment on here – honestly, I’d have squealed out loud had I not been in a large meeting and surreptitiously browsing. It’s a weird world.

Along the way I’ve made a few ‘blogging friends’ – people I’ve never met but whose blogs I’ve come across and commented on, or vice-versa. Is it odd that I’m rooting for a relationship to work out on behalf of a 40 year old woman I don’t know? Or, that I was super-excited to discover a girl my age on the other side of the world who loved Chalet School as much as me? My theory is that such friendships aren’t strange – they’re affirming and generally warm and fuzzy, which is always a good thing.

Sometimes I’m a little unsure about comment etiquette. Obviously, the original point of blogs was that you could comment and generate discussion, but I wonder if these days some bloggers forget their ramblings are visible to the entire world. Occasionally, I fear revealing my ‘lurker’ status, feeling a little stalkerish in my anonymous enjoyment of their writing and life – but surely they want people to read it, else they wouldn’t have created it?

I most definitely enjoy and appreciate random visitors. I love checking my stats and discovering how they found me. I generate wild and ridiculous fantasies about some of my more exotic regular visitors, and only very occasionally do I reject comments that I’m not keen on.

All this is a rather protracted preamble to my telling of a rather geeky moment that took place last week and is most definitely in my top 10 highlights of the holiday. One afternoon while enjoying a pleasant bbq I met the author of a blog I’ve been reading on and off for the last couple of years. Being fellow residents of the impossibly small Christian world, it was perhaps inevitable that this would happen – before you factor in my knowing her sister (something I didn’t fully realise for quite a while) and having a couple of mutual friends. It was all the more amusing/cringeworthy that this encounter took place in front of a select band of friends and acquaintances, at least one of whom has since mocked me for my geekiness.

It essentially consisted of me introducing myself with “Hi, we’ve never met and this sounds really geeky, but I read your blog…” – I felt like such a nerd! However, it was followed by their realisation that they’d also read mine sporadically (thank the Lord yet again for my highly unusual surname). Some mutual blogging love was shared in slightly high pitched, giggly voices and the world became a happier place. Honestly, on days when life is feeling a bit rubbish, the compliment I was paid will be remembered and I will smile…

Moments like this people, are why blogging’s most definitely a good thing.