Lake Atitlan, Panajachel, Guatemala

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Was that FUN or WHAT?

Thanks to all who came to my big weekend BBQ bearing delicious food and drink! A special welcome to the new followers here. I tried to get around to visit everyone. If I somehow missed you, let me know, I'll pop over to say hi and follow.

It's all about the networking, finding new friends, those we can relate to and communicate with more than about the numbers. Still, the numbers validate what we're doing. No one wants to think they're speaking to emptiness.

On one of the blogs I visited, sorry I can't remember which one in my food-induced hopping haze, I saw this quote: "I would hurl words into this darkness and wait for an echo, and if an echo sounded, no matter how faintly, I would send other words to tell..." (Richard Wright)

The internet is like the darkness, the comments & followers like the echo. More and louder echoes encourage us to keep at it. I hope the BBQ helped you meet or exceed your follower goals. I'd love to hear reports.

Thank you for the support, the links, the comments and all your amazing and awesome attractiveness! And the food YUM!

61 comments:

  1. Loved the BBQ! What a great idea that was. Thank you!!!

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  2. Hey Karen - you're right, the blog hop BBQ was really fun!

    Don't know if you made it over to visit me - but I welcomed lots of new bloggers to my blog.

    Thanks again x

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  3. Karen, it was great! Thanks for putting it on. I met a lot of wonderful, new people.

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  4. It WAS incredible, Karen! Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into it.

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  5. Karen, I came late to the party but it was a blast. You throw a wonderful gig. Thanks for all your hard work and for providing a place for others to get to know each other. You're best!

    Mason
    Thoughts in Progress

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  6. So sorry I missed the party - been too busy to blog these last few days - but I'm glad it went well, and I hope the cleaning up isn't too arduous!

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  7. Thank you so much for hosting such a brilliant BBQ blogfest!!!!!!!! I had such fun, thank you!!!! You're a super duper star!!!

    Take care
    x

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  8. It was fantastic - many thanks for setting it up. I'm still reeling from all the new followers on my blog and all the new blogs I've discovered. I *think* I've visited them all now!

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  9. Dadgummit! I missed this. I hate it when I miss a good b-que. I hope everyone had fun. Sounded awesome.

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  10. Thank you so much for hosting the BBQ. It was great to find and meet so many new bloggers :)Fabulous!

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  11. Thanks for the blog hop, Karen. Your summer Lettuce Write series was a great opportunity, even if I didn't win anything. I hope your publisher found some new talent, and a couple of blogging friends get published.

    I saw that quote too, and also forget which blog had it. I'm saving the quote for a future post.

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  12. Totally fun! I had a hurricane, a haiku jam and a bbq all on one long weekend. Yay!
    Jan Morrison

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  13. Yeah it was fun thank you for setting it up

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  14. Wonderful! I met some great new people! Thank you!

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  15. It was AMAZING! I found so many new friends!

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  16. Thanks for throwing such a great holiday BBQ.

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  17. You're really rocking that follower count--SHEESH! Well done to you! I've been out of the loop and neglecting all, and here you are skyrocketing into the stratosphere!

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  18. Hi Karen!

    I missed the BBQ but still wanted to stop by and say hello!

    Love the blog and couldn't agree more about meeting fun new friends and sharing this experience of writing! Feel free to stop by and say hello!
    www.kristichestnutt.blogspot.com

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  19. Karen, thanks so much! I can't believe I gained so many great followers (21!), and now get to follow them, too! I'm still catching up after our camping trip!

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  20. It was a delight:) I loved finding so many new friends and fellow writers.

    Awesome idea Karen!

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  21. Sorry I missed the pow-wow.It would have been a fun thing for me too.

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  22. Thanks for throwing the BBQ party. It was my first!

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  23. Thank you Karen! It was great! It's nice not howling to the emptiness!

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  24. Karen, thank you so much for hosting the bbq. I met so many interesting and creative people.

    You hit the nail on the head. There were times I felt like I was writing into empty cyber space. Now that I've gained a few more followers I'm hoping this will change. Thanks again.

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  25. It was fun and I loved the buzz of it all and the visitors who popped by mine like going on a pub crawl.Faboolos!

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  26. Karen, You were such a wonderful host!

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  27. I have gained many friends from the BBQ, thank you.

    CD

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  28. Thank you for hosting a successful event! Being a new blogger, I started with 3 followers but now have almost 50! WowowoW!!! I am big on quality over quantity, but hey... it does feel good to have some anyway! :) That is a beautiful quote, thanks for passing it on. Enjoy the journey, Janelle

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  29. This whole thing was so awesome. Great to meet new people. Thanks Karen!

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  30. Brillant blog party Karen, thanks so much.

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  31. It was awesome, Karen. Thank you so much!

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  32. You certainly were the hostess with the mostess! Great fun, Karen, so lovely meeting new people and finding new wonderful blogs. :)

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  33. Bummer--I missed out! Great idea tho...maybe I can catch the next one. :)


    Angela @ The Bookshelf Muse

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  34. Ach, the time zone is not on my side for parties! Glad you had a good time.

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  35. No whats about it. It was fun. Thanks again for a great idea.

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  36. I met so many brilliant new writers this weekend, but I think it will be a while until I hold another party.

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  37. Thanks so much for organizing the amazing BBQ!!! What a success!!

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  38. Ah man, I missed the BBQ because I was eating cake! Dang it. But I don't regret the cake. I could never regret cake.

    Glad you all had fun!

    Jai

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  39. Karen, thanks for a great BBQ. Sorry I was a bit more than fashionably late (I blame Manhattan). But I'm definitely looking forward to going through all the comments and seeing several great new blogs!

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  40. Wow, you know how to throw a party! I liked it was over a long weekend so I had plenty of time to visit. Your BBQ pushed me over 200! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.

    Thanks for hosting!

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  41. It was great fun. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of people stopping by my blog from my comment on your BBQ post. Even before I had a chance to visit anyone else I already had new followers/commenters.

    I wish I would have been more focused, and spent more time checking out blogs. I made it to a few, but in trying to fit in other day off stuff I got a bit distracted. Though it was still a nice push to get back into blogging.

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  42. It was such a great bbq!!! Thanks Karen. <3

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  43. Glad you all enjoyed it. Tomorrow my blog will get back to its regularly scheduled programming. There's still a few more Lettuce events to think about, but I'll worry about them later. Like Lettuce Twitter? I have no clue what to do with that one!

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  44. Hon, I gained 12 pounds and a new bunion, but it was worth it to meet all these great new blogging folks!

    Thanks for hosting. (Sorry my dawg tinkled on your carpet.) hehe

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  45. Angie, you are a hoot! So glad I found your blog and your awesome sense of humor and your Cajun cooking.

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  46. I agree with everyone, Karen. Great job. I was reaching for 100 and you pushed me right into the 160's! I'm really pleased to be connected with so many writers. The more we connect with eachother, the more we learn. THANKS! :)

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  47. Thank YOU, Karen. It was so much fun and I got to visit some great new blogs (well, new to me) that I wouldn't have seen otherwise. Such an excellent idea!

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  48. How did I miss this BBQ? No one likes to barbie like an Aussie! Just discovered your awesome blog so I'll be on high alert for the next event..:)

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  49. Thanks again for a fabulous party, Karen! You're right up there with the Cajuns for a party hardy, cher! It was a blast and I really enjoyed meeting so many new bloggers and getting so many new followers! I've included a special thank-you on my current post, as well as an honor, if you get a chance to come by. Cheers!

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  50. Thanks for the party Karen! Its lovely to visit new blogs that have similar interests! Lots of fun too!

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  51. Hey Karen - I left something for you in my blog...http://christinefonseca.wordpress.com/

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  52. what a great idea! I've been living w/ my head in the clouds lately, or I would've come over.

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  53. Karen--I came to the BBQ...I mostly visited people I knew...sounds a bit silly, but I wanted to see what they were cooking. :)

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  54. Oh Karen, it was a blast.
    I met loads of new people, stuffed my face, mostly with desserts (nothing new there!), and the icing on the (virtual) cake? I entered a competition and won a prize. Well, it was actually a consolation prize but one that's as good as the real prize i.e. it was chocolate :)
    Happy days!
    Thanks for hosting it and hope you're not too exhausted.

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  55. you are a superstar. Did you see my blog post about how you're a superstar? I even included your picture... ;p

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  56. Hi Karen,

    I'm glad you liked the quote from my blog.... it keeps me blogging even when I feel like I'm sending my words out into the darkness. Richard Wright, of course, deserves all the credit. I believe he spoke those words about the civil rights movement...

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  57. Karen thanks so much for hosting such a great party!
    All the food was yummy and it was great to meet so many other authors from all over the world.
    Are you going to make it a yearly event?

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  58. Deniz, awesome idea! I'm up for it. Altho I'm such a flake half the time I might forget.

    demery, I visited your blog today and realized where I saw it. Sorry I didn't give your awesome blog the credit. I love that quote. It might have been about the civil rights movement but it sure fits the internet and all writing.

    LTM, just visited your blog and saw my picture LOL. You're a nut!

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  59. I'm sorry I missed the fun and food. Maybe next time. :)

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