Does anybody read these?

Honesty is the Best Policy

A little while ago (after I posted about Tom Cruise and his craziness, I think) I started getting comments left here from visitors from all over the world. That piqued my curiosity and I wondered exactly who was visiting, where they were from, what interested them while they stopped by and how they got here. Luckily there is a nifty tool on the Internet that can track all of that for you, and it's relatively easy to install on a web site. It's been neat to see who's visiting, how long they stay and what they're looking at. It's just interesting, and I haven't changed what I write here to cater to that audience. What you see here is just me reflecting on the daily challenges of being me.

I wanted to let folks know that there's a site meter here, because while it shouldn't be an issue for my friends and some of my regular visitors, I suspect that some folks would be less apt to come here if they realized that I knew they were here. You know how some people are about "Big Brother" watching you. And it's not a privacy thing, it's a curiosity thing that led me to even install this feature on the site.

I started this site for several reasons. Many of my friends know that I was inspired by a dear friend who passed away a few months ago who had kept us all informed of his life through his blog, even though we were separated by many miles. It was little things like hearing about his cat learning a new trick or his review of Coke Zero that kept us in the loop with him. And unfortuantely, when Greg was found dead in his apartment from heat exhaustion, his brother used his site to get in touch with all of us. I saw the power of this medium, and I thought it was a nice way to stay connected with friends I might not get to talk to everyday. And my friends all seem to appreciate it.

The second reason I started it was because I was looking for a way to keep my writing skills fresh. I am a writer by trade, and I don't get to write nearly as much as I'd like to these days. By having a fresh canvas everyday where I can vent, create, over-analyze, etc., it's really helped me to work on my craft again. The feedback that I've received from some of the folks that enjoy my blog has really inspired me and helped me to be even better at what I do.

I've met a lot of cool folks who've just stopped by to check this place out. I've also learned a lot of new things about my friends by the comments that have been left here. That's why I would hate to turn the comment feature off on my blog. As a writer, I believe very strongly in the First Amendment and the right to free speech. That's why I hate that I had to delete comments today. But when people abuse the comment feature, it doesn't leave me much choice. And if it were constructive criticism, it could've stayed. However, it was nothing more than a personal attack, and frankly it's my Web site, and I don't think I should have to come here and see people talk smack about me, especially when they don't have the guts to put their name behind it. Because I have the site meter, I was able to see who was on that page when the comments were left, so I knew it wasn't someone just being funny or looking for an ideological debate. They were purely being mean. It's bad enough that I hear from all kinds of folks that they are doing it on other sites, but I'm not going to tolerate it on my own.

I guess the point of this was that I wanted people to be honest and know that I can see who's here because anonymity seems important to some of my visitors. I guess the other point was to remind everyone of my standing policy to delete anonymous comments that are posted here. I had some nice ones recently, so I let them stay but I don't want to pick and choose because that's not fair. So, if you plan to comment here, leave your real name or your blogger identity so that I can make sure that you are legit. It really started because of spam, but I don't see why it can't apply to meanness, too.

posted by Laura at 5:00 PM