I am feeling slightly thwarted having all my writing up for whomever to read -- my blog gets between 50 and 100 hits a day -- to me, that's a lot of action. I don't know who those people are, but that sort of anonymous volume has an impact on how I work, what I post and how I react to comments made.

This group is a less accessible place to post writing and interact with people whose writing and comments I want to read, without them feeling like they are a component of my blog world, which, from time to time, I want to a closed studio until I'm ready to fling open the doors to all random visitors.

I'm grappling with how to use internet spaces to work in as stimulating environments, without them feeling spooky and overly accessible.

The G-Man found my blog, and read the story about going to the hospital. The camping story was farther back and was not found, but I took it down. The G-Man knows I'm writing fiction about the camping trip, but still, I don't actually want to hurt anyone's feelings with the distortions and extremes I may choose to bring into the story. I intend to feel more inspired to write those stories knowing I have a place to post them.

Believe it or not, it doesn't have to be all about me. If you want to post writing for comments -- maybe say what sort of comments you want back -- typos, grammar, style. I don't know.

I am always happy to hear about typos. I like to hear about how a story struck a person more than flippant one-liners which make me feel like I didn't actually reach the reader or that I wasn't taken seriously.

By way of introducing people I have invited --
Joel is a Montreal filmmaker and writer.
Laurie is an excellent human being, a writer and a painter in DC. Not to say that Joel isn't an excellent human being.
Dan is a singer-songwriter, painter, comedian and writer in Racine, Wisconsin. He's probably a genius.
CDSF is Christopher in San Francisco -- a guy involved in culture and language. I like him.
David is my best friend. Good Guy 101.
Lily works in sound and earthly interpretation. An ethereal poet.
Myoclonic Jerks is Dan's band -- so his songs are smart, literary and funny.
Colouring Outside the Lines is Melanie's UK-based culture magazine. Gives good interview.
Alt is a writer somewhere west of the middle of Canada.

Jean Smith -- I write and I like people.