Is This Thing On?

Well, as it turns out, these words do get read by a number of people. Some of whom I have only recently encountered. A computer scientist, working on his Ph.D  came and found me because of his interest in people who write blogs that regularly contain personal stories. That would be me. Eight years of the stuff for which he happened to be looking. Not only that, he brought a film crew. Apparently his fascination with what I do set off another fascination in the documentary department and this little bit of research became a great big film.
Okay. Not a great big film, but one that required lights and sound and adjustments to both. I sat in a chair in my back yard and talked to a computer scientist about what makes me think that all my little anecdotes are so very interesting, and not only that, why do I keep doing this. Day after day. Year after year. I gave them the only answer that makes sense to me: "I tend to keep doing things until I'm told to stop." The other thing that made ironic sense to me was that simply by coming to visit, these strangers had helped me generate at least one more post. What hadn't occurred to me until very recently is that it doesn't take much to get me to write about something, and when a university research team lands in my back yard, suddenly I feel inspired.
"But how do you feel about knowing that strangers are reading your blog?" asked my inquiring visitor.
I told him that I thought Fred Rogers said it best when he said, "Strangers are just friends I haven't met yet." Of course, if I'd had a spotter, I would have said that it was Will Rogers that said that. Which makes sense. Fred Rogers probably wouldn't be suggesting to his audience that they should go out and start seeking out strangers. Will Rogers could probably afford to meet and greet a few shady characters. Or a computer scientist and his film crew.
Which still left me with the whole Heisenberg thing. Now that I know that I'm being watched, will I start writing any differently? Will I stop writing altogether? Did I mention these guys came from Southern California? Will I go Hollywood?
Probably not. As flattering as it was to be told that I was in the top one percent of bloggers who post on a regular basis and have been doing so for a long time, the research and documentary has moved on, leaving me with the obsessive compulsion to cut the grass in the back yard that I noticed had grown to ridiculous heights even as I sat, appearing thoughtful, during my interview. All that attention didn't get my chores done. Or this blog written.
Who knows? Someday I might be asked to fly out to Sundance to check out the premiere of this little production. Then I'll have another adventure to write about. For now, I'll just keep on keeping on, with only the slightest bit of curiosity about who's looking over my shoulder.