"I MADE IT!!"

"Celebrate! Celebrate!! Dance To The Music!!" With apologies to the group Three Dog Night (Boy, am I dating myself!) , let me do a little self-congratulatory celebrating myself!

While checking in on one of my favorite blogs last evening to see if a new post had been added, I noticed - SURPRISE! SURPRISE! - the author of the blog had now added a link to my blog! Do you have any idea what this means...what a momentous occasion this is!?! It means that I have arrived...so to speak. I can only compare this event to a sport's analogy. It's like professional athletes being recognized by their fellow athletes as being worthy of special recognition...getting named to baseball's summer All Star Game or selected to play in the NFL's Pro Bowl!! The author apparently thinks highly enough of my writing skills and or style that she deems it worthy enough to recommend my blog to the readers of her personal blog. (Perhaps the monthly endorsement checks I have been sending her each month also played a small part in her selection decision. But I digress.) And let me assure you that her blog is no "Johnny Come Lately." At last count her blog has received over 100,000 "hits" by folks who have dropped by her prose place to check in on her latest musings. My blog, on the other hand, at last count had received 8 1/2 unique visitors. (The half was apparently a person who mistakenly stumbled upon my blog by accident and then instantly changed their mind.) But now with this endorsement, my numbers could soon possibly soar into double figures!!

How this lady manages to find the time to compose her own blog on a regular basis (she has three kids, a full-time husband, and a full-time job) and read the other 36 blogs she has linked as among her personal favorites, is beyond me. I have over a period of time visited most of the other blogs and found them to run the full gamete of human experiences. Hopefully, I can remain on her list and perhaps be picked up and recommended by other bloggers. Such is the composition of this loose-knit community, whose parameters are best defined as ordinary folks who dissect life in their own terms and report their observations to an audience as wide and as diverse as the Internet itself. Trails and tribulations are just as equally shared as are the joys and triumphs. Overall it is a fun experience and made even more so when those engaged in this non-profit enterprise receive the occasional comment of appreciation.

Now...if I could offer a suggestion. I think that being added to a fellow blogger's list of recognized blogs should be treated much like the AP and Coach's college team rankings. My hometown college football team, the University of south Florida "Bulls" (Tampa), has never heretofore been ranked nationally in any poll as being among the top 30 football teams in America. Last week they were initially recognized as being number 26. This week they have climbed in both polls to number 23. If thy keep winning, they then receive additional votes of recognition and are awarded a higher ranking. That's how blogs should be rated. If you keep turning out good stuff, you ought to move up on the list. I am proud to be number 37 on Norman's list of favorites, but I'd sure like to move up. Maybe an alphabetical listing would suffice. Just a thought.

Thanks Norman! I appreciate the recognition. http://www.iamnorman.blogspot.com/