Random Connections (or Who Reads This Blog?)

In the spirit of David Crowder and A Collision, I thought I’d double title this post. I am always thrown when someone who I know from “real life” comments on one of my posts. It is even weirder when they don’t comment here, but bring it up in person as if I realized they had been reading the whole time. (this is not to discourage any one from doing that, just to say that it catches me off guard).

Today someone commented on my blog who I only know in “real life” and didn’t realize they read my blog. Again, not a big deal, just a bit of a change in perspective. When I started writing this thing a year ago, I knew that nobody read my blog. I was ok with that (maybe even a little relieved). Now, I see the traffic statistics of how many people are stopping by and get these little comments now and then from people I actually know and it is a little unnerving. Real people are reading and responding to my random thoughts. And better yet, it sounds like what I am writing is actually finding some common ground in peoples lives. It is not just “random” thoughts, but something more.

Another weird thing that happened (as I was thinking about all this) was with a software vendor whose product I recently picked up (more on that later in another post). Their company gives free licenses to non-profits and so I had told him a little about me and the various non-profits I am associated with (see Ministry) and he sent me a serial number.

That’s the normal, expected part of the story. The weird part, was he recently downloaded and installed Kinkless and was doing a search for how to export his data. He ended up on 43folders, like all Mac using GTD fans, and found a link to my site about a post a did on printing to 3×5 cards from Kinkless. The Ministry link up top intrigued him and he clicked over to see what was up. “Boy this looks familiar”. Through Google and 43folders and a common love of GTD, we had connected again, in less than a week, by completely different means.

Paul talked about being all things to all people, and while he didn’t have blogging and the Internet in mind, I have no doubt that God saw this technology off in the distant future and was speaking to us today, in this world, through him. We have an opportunity with the web to reach and influence in a way we never would in “real life”. There are no limits to where we can go.

I have avoided this last thought, for a long time. There is comfort in anonymnity. I didn’t know who was out there, so it was easy to say whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, with no worries as to who was hearing it (or not). The truth of Google archives and an eventual audience were irrelevant compared to the knowledge that everyone was just a number in my web stats log. But with that story, combined with knowing who too many of you are already, I think I want to know…

Who Reads This Blog?

Give me more than just your name, if you don’t mind. A suggested format would be:

• Name
• City/State (or country)
• How you found this blog
• What your favorite beverage at Starbucks is
• And the address of your own blog/site (if you have one).

I’ll start us off.

My name is Chris Marsden. I live in Ocoee, FL but spend most of my time in Winter Garden FL. Since you probably have never heard of either, the are on the North Western edge of Orlando, FL. To answer the questioned of how I found this blog is a little weird, but the short answer is Ben Boles got me interested in the idea of blogging, and Jason Powell’s blog got me hooked on actually doing it. At Starbucks, I would order a Venti Java Chip Frappaccinno, but I much prefer a Profundo black mild coffee from Volcanos (Guatamalean and Costa Rican are my favorites). You can find my blog at www.chrismarsden.com.

I really want some of the thoughts I share here to be more interactive, and knowing who each other are will encourage that, I think. Feel free to remain anonymous and I will continue to pretend I am talking to myself as I write. Andrew Peterson commented, after the release of his first album, that it was really hard to write the second album knowing there were real people out there actually listening to it. When it was just him, writing for himself, it was a lot easier to share what he was really feeling. I think that is a little of what I am struggling with, but I think mostly, I write for myself (and God) and am encouraged that read it. Let me know what you think (and who you are).

BTW…Even if I know you read this blog (or you think I know you read this blog), go ahead and comment anyways. Thanks.