Tammi's World

Once Upon A Time...

Harvey has a post up about his Fantasy Blogroll. This of course caused me to respond with a rather long comment (there's a surprise) which is leading to this post.

Have you ever wondered how I got started with this blog thing? No? Well, I'm gonna tell you anyway. Plus it's a chance to point out some of my favorites.

Back before the actual war in Iraq started I was looking for some information on what was going on. I've never been a big internet person. Honestly - I'm just now figuring Google out. But....I googled Iraq War and got a wonderful list. There was one that caught my attention, as it was different. It was personal. It was Lt. Smash.

I. Was. Hooked.

I'd never heard of such a thing. I asked some of my more "withit" friends and they told me about these weblogs and how they are trash. Just ignore them. No monitoring, nothing but gossip and crap. Thank GOODNESS I didn't listen. Even though he only posted once a day, I found myself clicking back every chance I got. Reading and re-reading everything he wrote, every comment left. After about a month, I got bold and left a comment of my own. Nothing happened. No one laughed at me, no one made fun of me. All of a sudden I had a "friend" in the war, and a direct line to what was going on.

I noticed this list of sites on the side of his page, but I never clicked it. I was content to read what he had to say. Then one day he linked this guy called Blackfive. So I followed the link. WOW. This guy could write. The site was fairly new, so I quickly read EVERYTHING I could. Having been a commentor on Smash's site, I wasn't afraid to leave a comment now and again on Blackfive. Soon, I felt like I had another friend that could help me know what was going on. He was in the states, but his knowledge blew me away.

He led me to Mudville. I'll never forget the first time he responded to one of my comments. You'da thought I had just gotten a promotion or something.

Meanwhile I'm trying to tell my friends about this great new thing I've discovered. It was called a blogsphere. It was made up (for me) of all these wonderful sites that talk about what was really going on with the war, helping to explain things that people were talking about, and giving me a chance to support the troops. For the most part they would smile and nod (the only thing missing was the pat on the head.) Most of them didn't get it.

One day I noticed a comment from someone called Laughing Wolf. WOW - This guy could write. I clicked right on over and discovered a place that expanded my mind in ways I didn't realize needed expanding. I learned about politics, space, wine, food, cooking, guns, you name it. I started leaving comments and would get email replies. That was the beginning of a friendship I'll always treasure.

Meanwhile Mudville posted a link to a new MilBlogs, Neptunus Lex. (he's currently at sea and having site problems) This guy cracked me up. Sea Stories, insight, politics. Yeah!! More to learn!! Again, not being shy, I left comments and discovered another friend.

Meanwhile I kept noticing this commentor everywhere I went. I began looking for her comments because they were so very good. Funny, Insightful, Thought provoking. Then WHAM - she got her own site - Technicalities, announced by Blackfive. I wasted no time going over there. I started commenting, and again, a friendship beyond description was born.

At both Blackfive and Technicalities I kept seeing this guy Harvey. Damn he cracked me up. I would visit his site but never leave comments. He was soooo funny I didn't have anything to add that was worth writing. But I read. Oh yeah, I read.

Then one Wednesday morning in March I clicked on one of the links I followed from Blackfive and found this thing called Blogspot. What? Free software to start a blog? How cool is that!!! So in a matter of 10 mins, I had a blog. I sat there and read my very first post and thought - oh shit. What the hell have I done? I'm not in the military. I don't know politics like most of the places I read. I'm NOT anywhere NEAR as funny as Harvey. What makes me think anyone will even bother reading this. Oh well, it's just for fun anyway.

So I shoot off an email to Laughing Wolf and Lex, letting them know I had taken the plunge. The rest, as they say, is history. Pretty soon I had regular readers and was having the time of my life. Then one day I was reading Blackfive and he mentioned ME! And linking ME. And blogrolling ME. Holy Shit. Then Mudville, then Hook. Oh My Goodness. These men that I admired so very much, who didn't know me from adam, actually linking to little ole me. Honored? YEAH! Touched? More than anyone will know.

Then I finally admit that I'd been stalking Harvey. He started popping by and offering advise. I was so thrilled that someone was actually willing to help me get better at this little hobby of mine. Then came the day I was invited to join the Bad Example Family. Harvey - you'll never know the impact that has had on my life. As a direct restult of that invitation, I've been blessed with some friendships that I will treasure always. Thank you.

So, that's the story of how I became a blogger. Kinda cool isn't it? And my world keeps expanding everyday. More and more people become friends. People I enjoy visiting, talking with, learning from. The best part???? It has no ending in sight!

Posted by Tammi at October 7, 2004 07:52 AM | TrackBack