I went to an investment dinner last night. Hey, I’m always up for a free dinner and a listen to the high and mighty.  Around the room there were maybe 100 to 150 people from the Denver area, all with the same thing on their minds–“what’s with the stock market?”  Needless to say, five minutes into the talk I was searching for toothpicks to prop open my eyelids.  Guiltily I looked around, only to see several table mates in the same state of catatonia.  But did I mention there was free food for this?

Do they have “Investing with Training Wheels” talks?

The speaker did have graphics–little squiggly red and blue lines that made trails across a screen that was measured in feet instead of inches.  There were numbers and years dotted up the side and across the bottom.  Graphics. Hmm. I think I understand the term “death by PowerPoint” more and more.  And the free dinner was cold.

Midway through the main speech, I realized that the guy in the front of the room was enjoying his own jokes a little too much, and his numbers way too much.  I realized I was sitting smack dab in the middle of a blog about data. There wasn’t a goal on the speaker’s part to inform, entertain, or persuade–at least not that I could tell.  And I began to wonder perhaps, in my own blog, am I’m doing the same?

Bloggers, speakers, “thought leaders” have an obligation to get out of their content now and again, and look around.  Writing about navel fluff, exciting as it is, gets old.  And then I began to wonder–“are there readers for all of the writers out there?”  Am I following enough to have something of value to add to the conversations about mystery, the writing life, and promoting one’s writing to the world?

Here are some of the blogs I follow, but I have to admit I don’t read every post. In fact, I only dip in when something “grabs my attention”–unless, of course, an author is a friend who I count on to have something to say that makes me think a little, gives me a laugh, or tugs at my heart.  So many words, so little time:

Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers – This blog is for writers, about writing, and helpful hints about keeping a good writing (and rejection) attitude.  They post daily, so I read maybe one or two posts a week.

Reading Interrupted – Letizia writes short, thoughtful pieces that fill my soul like a good cuddle under the blanket on a cold winter morning.  She makes reading very exciting and I wish every English teacher from high school up would make her blog required reading.

Hey Look a Writer Fellow — Mike is fun, funny, and just plain entertaining whenever I get a chance to dip into his work.

Writer Site — Luanne has changed up the look and feel of her site since I first started following her, but this poet/writer is someone I’d like to get to know better.  And her site has a “Freshly Pressed” sticker on it–wonder what that’s all about.

Seth Godin — Okay, I threw that one in to say I’m part of the marketing hoards who follow his every thought.  Nice guy, shiny head, but he has so many followers I’m not sure I could add to the conversation at all. Okay. I’m jealous.  What does it take to be that one famous marketer?

This just scratches the surface–I don’t dip into Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest half enough. And don’t get me started on Yahoo loops.  The reads are always fun, but there’s this other thing I do that takes time too–I write. And I volunteer. And I watch squiggly lines on charts that help me know when to start packing for the poor house.  Did I mention the free food?

Hoping your week is filled with some good reads–hey, that would make a great name for a site–Goodreads. Hmm.