MacZine's back in town!

Hooray! I am home and so is MacZine, picked up today from the Mac store, all fixed, the little darlin'. Only $56 to do whatever it is they did and clean her up too. Both of us now ensconced in the kitchen once more, beside the crabby cat, who isn't glad to see either of us.

But I am very, very glad to see her, and my house, and my own bed. I adore my mother, but her apartment is small and very hot; I am instantly claustrophobic and sweaty, desperate to clear out some clutter, open the windows, get out for some fresh air. We did a lot, as I wrote, and it was a great visit, but here I am in the midst of my OWN clutter, at peace.

Now that I'm back on the net, I can't imagine living without it. It's not just the vital connections of email and on-line banking and the editing work I do on-line and send back. It's the reading - the newspapers and newsletters, the on-line mags I subscribe to that lead me to other sites - in fact, I'm feeling swamped once more. How to fit in my own life and work with the actual books, papers and magazines piled up everywhere, and on top of all that, what comes at me through this little white machine? Overwhelming.

An article in the "New York Times" tells me that young people are no longer "long form blogging," like this - they're using Twitter. I'm a long form dinosaur. Another article in the "Times" is about a "mommyblogger," the queen of them all apparently, Heather Armstrong and her blog dooce.com. She has millions of followers and makes millions of dollars from her blog, which chronicles her marriage, her children, her daily life. As I read, I could not help but ask: WHAT AM I DOING WRONG? I too, write about my daily life, and I have the same 331 faithful monthly followers I've had for 4 years. Or, as they are described by Google Analytics, 331 Absolute Unique Visitors. As you all are.

Thank you, my approximately 331 dear friends, who make about 1091 visits a month. I'd make my posts racier if I could to spice up your day, but here's the excitement of the moment: I'm cooking a pot of steel-cut oatmeal to eat for breakfast for the rest of the week and looking forward to watching Donald Rumsfeld on Jon Stewart tonight, hoping that Jon's cold is better. That's your thrilling update. I guess I shouldn't wonder why millions aren't reading, but instead, why 331 kind, brave souls continue to check in.

Today I got a fat cheque in the mail from the Public Library Lending Commission, which rewards authors who have books in the library system. It was for $145.62. Most welcome.

I'm avoiding the news - can't bear to hear about the earthquake in New Zealand, even though I'm anxious to know what's going on in Libya and the other Arab states. Think I'll just watch my porridge cook and think about how much reading I have to do.