Well, it’s good to wax lyrical now and then—especially when you’ve got a talent for writing.

The theologian was Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988). Unfortunately, I don’t remember where he said that—it may have been in his book of aphorisms “The Grain of Wheat” (Ignatius Press).

All the best,

A.

As one twentieth-century Catholic theologian once put it “success is not a name of God.”
Who said that?

thanks.

- amba

Adrian

Maybe the key to a succssful blog is writing as well as you do.

Adrian

He is spot on on part of his observations: a combination of commercialism and popularity is a danger to any predominately hobbyist community. And it’s a danger to be watched for viligantly – I’ve seen it corrupt and destroy other community mediums that I’ve been involved in.

I disagree with him that “it’s already happened here”, as he intimates. It hasn’t yet – but between Wonkette, co-opting of some popular blogers by media/partisan concerns, increase in advertising interests and revenues, and commercial blogs… the seeds and potential is there.

Blogdom as it exists now is relatively new, even in Internet Time. Ask me again what I think about Billmon’s analysis 5 years from now – if we’re all still here. ;]

You are sooo right on the power, too. I call it “Girl Powah”! Ain’t nothin’ else like it … oh the pen (or in this case – they keyboard) can be so much mightier than the manly sword!*

*Disclaimer: not meant as male bashing

When I started blogging, I was fortunate enough to not know anything about it. I’d heard of Instapundit, but I still didn’t get it. I didn’t know what “hits” were, and I certaintly didn’t foresee building an audience.

My expectations were pretty low, but I’m afraid the Rathergate newbies and those blogging for only a few months are setting themselves up for disappointment if they hit the ground running, only to find out they’re running in place. I was trying to emphasize the pure joy of writing over wondering how many readers or hits you have.

Don’t get me wrong: I’d love to be a female version of Instapundit. What would I do with that kind of power…

I think back recently to the hits Powerline recieved over Rathergate — a lot of people visited Powerline that normally would not have in order to see what the major media was refusing to cover. That’s what I love about the blogosphere. The spread of info to as many as possible. Of course, I’m a small timer myself, really just getting my feet wet in the whole thing, and I will freely admit that would love to get hits galore but not because I want to be bigger than anyone else, but because of a desire to ‘get the word’ out and to attempt to help influence as many as possible. It’s also been cool to meet other bloggers in cyberspace

I do love to write and blogs are great for that (obviously LOL). Flexing those writing muscles is a wonderful thing. If I enjoyed writing but didn’t care whether or not other people saw it, I’d hand write a diary, or make my blog private. Magazine writers don’t write just to be writing, and political bloggers don’t just blog to be blogging. If I don’t get many hits, so be it, but it’s nice to know others out there are assessing your work, thinking about what you said, and maybe want to add a comment or two. It’s also cool to garner respect from other bloggers – especially those whom you respect a great deal – who link back to your blog. I guess I’m just looking at the ‘hit’ thing from a slightly different perspective, even though I can appreciate the many points brought out on this topic here.

BTW, I agree with your assessment of “Billmon” – he sounds like a bitter soul. Life is too short for that.

I’m just happy to be here.