In our continuing interview series, I discuss with infamous blogger Jordan Grumet the pitfalls of fame.
Me: Jordan, parking on your street was rough and I noticed a number of people milling about with cameras. What gives? Paparazzi?
JG: The girl next door is having her fourth birthday party. She's quite popular!
Me: all joking aside, you recently were interviewed for MDigitalLife and were mentioned in a Medpage article. How did you feel about that?
JG: I was honored to have my work noticed. Greg (Matthews) and Kristina (Fiore) did a wonderful job and helped get my message to a broader audience.
I sit down to write because I have a burning need to express myself, to get something off my chest. It is only later that I realize that others will read and digest what I have said. Each new comment on the blog surprises me.
Me: Speaking of comments, what affect has the reaction to your blog had on your writing process?
JG: I remember my first comment on IMHO (In My Humble Opinion). At first I was baffled by the text.
Get Viagra Cheap!
Yet post after post, Viagra has been one of my most consistant responders. I hope to meet him/her one day.
Me: I noticed that you have a stat counter. Do you check your numbers regularly?
JG:I used to get carried away and check every few minutes or so. Now I'm much better. I only look at that thing 10-20 times per day! I have to say that it's quite thrilling to see the numbers go up. In fact some guy named Googlebot checks my site at least 3-4 times per day. Where ever you are Googlebot-thanks for reading!
Me: Have you ever been recognized in public?
JG: No!
Me: Get asked for an autograph?
JG: No.
Me: What audiences do you think you need to reach out to?
JG: I have a fairly poor readership among non Internet users, and children to young to read.
Me: What was the last email you got about your blog.
JG: My mom wrote to tell me she liked my last post.
Me: What about the one before that.
JG: The same.
Me: Well, I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to us.
JG: Of course. Would you like a signed photograph.
Me: Um...er...I think I already have one.
You make me feel so much better!
ReplyDeleteI've recently wondered if I should make my livejournal blog 'publicly searchable' or not. The pro's I thought of were things like ... students I worked with years ago could find me; friends my age could stop worrying about remembering the name of the blog and just look for me by name; maybe I was just being too paranoid in this day of no privacy anywhere within the reach of google.
But I see I missed out on one of the con's ... nobody has yet posted a spam comment on my blog. If I'm only read by people who already know me, maybe nobody ever will.
I've recently noticed a couple of your articles over at kevinmd, where it was great to reread them -- and even neater (in my not-so-humble opinion) to discover that I could recognize your 'voice.'
You have a lot to say, and I'm enjoying reading you. Whether you're talking about difficult moments with patients, unfortunate situations in hospitals, or time with your kids, your eloquent voice is a delight to read.
Thanks for being here. Thanks for blogging so intimately. Even when I don't comment, I'm noticing.
I always dreamed that I would be a star-maker. Now you've proved that I have the near-magical ability to elevate a simple country doctor from total obscurity to ALMOST total obscurity. My work here is done.
ReplyDelete;-)
You made my day.
Tee-hee.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing your blog on my twitter feed. They are always worth reading.
Thanks for the smile today.