Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

Fifty followers. Fifty.

That may not sound like a lot to you, but it does to me. I’m not even 100 days into this experiment, and already there are 50 of you who found it interesting enough to click the “follow” button. Not bad, in my estimation, especially since most of you 50 (if not all of you) are new to (the thing that is) KRAG. That’s a pretty good reach, in my book.

Mostly, though, it proves a point: Blogging is powerful.

I’ve had a “writer” page on Facebook for over something like two years. I linked that page to Twitter about a year or so ago. In that time, the FB page has a Faithful Few (30 followers) and the Twitter feed has less (10).

But in less than three months, this blog has touched 50 of you strongly enough that you have decided to follow it. And it’s reached many more besides. Sure, some of the stats are ‘bot-based spam searchers, but not all. I’ve had regular hits from Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Spain, Australia, the Philippines, Finland (Finland?), and a dozen other places. I’ve had search hits specifically looking for “The Fallen Cloud” and “Kurt R A”. This is interesting stuff.

What fascinates me, though, is what it says about our culture. Not American culture, not Western culture. Worldwide, I mean. Our “collective” culture.

When I was young, the jet plane and long distance telephone calls made our world shrink. The price was high, but if we wanted it badly enough, we could visit or call anybody. Granted, in my house, a long-distance phone call was sort of like a telegram (i.e., it meant somebody had died), but it was a world-changer.

Last night, I was chatting online with an old friend. He lives in Israel. He was getting ready for work and I was getting ready for bed. He got up to get another cup of coffee; I poured myself a vodka. We were talking about Ruben Blades and Jerry Garcia. This is today’s normal. This is how our world works, now.

This is fascinating. I feel lucky just to sit on the sidelines, much less participate.

Thanks, y’all.

k