This has been a stressful week for reasons I can't get into here, but the stress is mostly gone for now and I'm happy about that.
I've been reading a book called Blogging Heroes which provides interviews with 30 of the most successful bloggers in the world and it's a fascinating read. It confirms much of what I've believed about blogging for a long time. I'm about halfway through the book and nearly every blogger interviewed so far says they started their blogs because they were passionate about their subject (read: they didn't start blogging for money). And they say that the number one thing a blogger can do to gain and hold traffic is to continually write posts that matter to their target audience. I especially love reading the interviews in the book with bloggers who have niche blogs. Their passion for their topic jumps off the page.
I received a nice email from a friend this morning offering to send a package to one of my buddies who has been serving in Iraq. The woman who emailed me doesn't know my friend, but volunteers for an organization called Blue Star Moms that supports the troops by sending care packages and so much more--things like raising funds for the needs of wounded soldiers. I told my friend that my buddy just came home from Iraq, but I thanked her anyway, and I thought I'd give the organization a plug because I really think they are doing God's work.
So, last night, I was at the grocery store and I walked by a group of people who were presumably a grandmother, a daughter, and a grandchild. The presumed mother was attempting to convince the child (who was maybe five years old) that water was good for him and that manufacturers were even making water in bottles that were kid-sized. The mom pointed desperately at the packaging that said: "For Kidz!" As I turned the corner to head to the next aisle, I heard the child say, "Yeah, but water sucks." I laughed to myself because that's what I would have been thinking if I were the kid, but I also thought back to when I was a kid, and how I would have never said something like that to my mother, because I knew better.
