What Now?

2007 is finally here! It feels as if it has taken forever for the year to arrive.

Now that it is here, what are we going to do with it? Are we going to change our lives? Are we going to change the world?

Are we going to continue in much the same patterns as we did in the previous year?

My last entry offered New Year wishes. This one is going to ask New Year questions.

PLEASE DON’T LEAVE!! It is not going to be as boring as it sounds. I will keep it short, but I hope you will help me by responding.

Last spring I started this blog and have commented on many things, from jazz music and television shows to derailments and nearly dead cats to politics and volunteerism.

Still, there have not been many people responding with comments. Maybe there are few comments because, by its nature, the blog does not require it.

This time, if you are reading this, I am asking you to respond. PLEASE DON’T LEAVE!! You will not be placed on a mailing list. I will not be returning an email. I do not need your social security number or your mother’s maiden name. I do not have a timeshare I want to sell.

I have four simple questions. If you would please respond, you can either post a comment here or send me an email at alexdimm@hotmail.com.

As I say, I will not respond directly. I plan to do a post where I will respond to your comments in this format.

Simple enough? Let’s get started.

People have visited this blog from thirty-four different countries across the globe. Of course, the majority of visits are from the United States, but I have had visits from each continent with the obvious exception of Antarctica.

Question #1: If you are from outside the United States, why did you visit this blog? I realize that you did not hop on a plane and fly here to read this. I have access to blogs and websites around the world as well.

Still, do you read U.S. blogs in general? Is there a specific topic you are studying? Let me know what brought you to this blog.

As I said earlier, I have written on many diverse topics. Of the topics, the one that has brought the most people to this blog is the article I wrote regarding a train derailment in Crescent City, Illinois.

Question #2: If you are reading this and the derailment, or derailments in general, are your topic of interest, what is it you want to know?

Another popular topic of interest appears to be jazz. It may be because I have written several times about the fantastic podcast “Detroit JazzStage” and other jazz topics.

Question #3: If you are looking for articles about jazz, what are your interests?

So far, there have been three questions asked. Maybe none of them apply to you and you have no comments to leave or emails to send. That’s okay. But please DON’T LEAVE! Consider the next question.

At that top, I asked in general what we would do to make 2007 different.

Question #4: On any level, are you planning to make your world different in 2007? If you are, what do you have in mind? I may have some thoughts of my own to share, but it would be nice to have an exchange of ideas.

If you read this far, THANK YOU!! I look forward to hearing from you. Have a great year!