Feedback has been lovely with kind remarks abound. I love reading that I made someone giggle, chuckle, laugh out loud, or so hard that they snorted their coffee out their nose (sorry if it made a mess on the keyboard). I feel that the time I spend writing Twist of Liam is quickly justified when someone comments that they appreciate, or better yet will be using, or even BETTER yet HAVE used, an idea that I've shared. Yes, feedback is fabulous.
Sometimes you get feedback that isn't so fun to read.
An old post I wrote, called Punctuation Ninjas, recieved a recent visitor and, subsequently, a little comment.
Tony said
"I googled 'punctuation ninja' (as you do) and thought I would have quite liked to read this, until Firefox finished rendering and I saw the font. I can tell from the recent posts lists that there's a lot of content here, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that I'm not the only one who just bypasses it entirely because of the presentation. Just thought you might like to know."
When I first read it, I thought to myself, Wow...what a goof! He let a stupid little thing like the font prevent him from reading and possibly even gaining a new idea. What a dumb-dumb. I even started to type up a little reply that said basically that same thing. Time was limited so I left it to return to later.
Lucky Liam.
Leaving it for later meant I had time to stew over it, get angry, moan and mutter to myself, and then come back to it. And isn't it funny? When I clicked on repy the second time around, my attitude had completely changed! I wasn't angry and offended anymore, I was thankful that someone took the time to help me be better! He saw something that could be holding me back and offered his two cents worth.
And it's funny how things work out.
Not long later, I got a wonderful comment on a more current blog. I was beside myself in shock as I read that I was Jodi's next pick as Feature Teacher. I told Ms M, authour at Ms. M's Blog and A Teacher's Plan and one of the longest standing ToL readers (Yes, I've adopted my own acronym), "I guess this is how it must feel if you were to save a kitten from a burning tree in the middle of nowhere while sleepwalking only to wake up and not have a clue what you did that everyone is applauding you for!" I didn't think I was doing anything special. Jodi disagrees, apparently.
Expect company, she said.
Ya think?!? ToL is still only young so, yeah, I still check out my stats practically daily. And to be honest, I will probably continue to watch my stats well into it's awkward adolescence. But thanks to that Jodi's feature, that was the busiest traffic day I've had. Ever. Thanks to the traffic, My followers have doubled. DOUBLED.
And thanks to Tony, I had changed the font and my recent visitors have been able to enjoy the content easier. Put the two together and it's funny how things work out.
So, thank you Tony for the feedback. I hope you come back soon and see the changes.
Thank you Jodi for the wonderful praise and attention that your feature has afforded me. I hope I can live up to the expectations of your readers who have hopped aboard.
Thank you readers who have been around and helped Twist of Liam grow. There are too many to mention here but you know and I know who you are. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading my blog.
And thank you to the new readers that have joined in and given my blog a chance. I hope you find it worth following and, if you do, share the ideas you find here.
