Six months later

From one of my favorite movies, "An Affair to Remember":

Nicki: They'll say, "There he goes, the mad painter. There's something the matter with him, he doesn't like women."

Terry: And why would they say that?

Nickie: Because he sails the seven seas, and to every woman he meets, he says, "Where will you be in six months?"

(I think I got the lines correct. My VHS copy was eaten several years ago, and I've never gotten around to getting the DVD.)

One could ask of every new blogger, "Where will your blog be in six months?"

The Eidelblog debuted six months ago at this time. I want to thank you all for the last six months, and for the future months yet to be. At times it's been considerably more work than I expected, writing quite a few entries that turned out much longer than originally envisioned. I can only hope that you all find them interesting and thought-provoking.

I share the same sentiments that Jon Henke at QandO recently expressed:

Frankly, I think we do some damned good work at QandO and deserve to be ranked higher. I think we're a Top 50 blog. I think some of our writing should be given wider media distribution. I think QandO explores serious issues in a unique way, and I think that, given time, some of our work (neolibertarianism) has the potential to have an effect on the political scene.

I wouldn't say the Eidelblog deserves to be in the top 50, but I think it should be higher -- certainly higher than a lot of blogs out there that I consider "fluff." But as Jon added,

Hell, I think some of our stuff could be syndicated in papers...but then, I am a bit, ah, biased. Every serious blogger thinks they deserve more. Every blogger has delusions of grandeur. If you're going to blog, get used to the frustrations expressed above, as Simon observes with Observation #4: "Prepare for the reality that the rest of the world may not share your high opinion of yourself and your site."

With an undergraduate degree in economics, I should know that a seller can charge no higher than what a buyer is willing to pay. The Eidelblog may be free, but any "buyers" do incur search costs, even though it's just information. So it's comforting when any of you link to me and increase my exposure.

Striking up relationships with other bloggers is a part of the real joy of blogging.

The extent of this never occurred to me. In discovering how many people you interact with, I've become far more delighted -- and lucky -- than any Kirznerian entrepreneur who happened upon a discovery by pure happenstance.

I appreciate everyone's advice, comments and e-mails, and I particularly cherish the new friendships. Thanks, everyone.