A Weblog Comes of Age

Edith Hope was born into the Blogosphere on a wintry January afternoon. Template tweaked, dashboard dusted and a suitably snowy scene scanned, her first posting was polished then pinged.

As an infant of the new technologies, EH had little grasp of Netiquette and struggled to acquire the necessary Blargon to join the Commentariat. Alone in her Blogspot, she had no Google friends, no Favourites and no Fans. Then Jodi came to the rescue and urged Blotanical A-Listers to support baby bloggers in taking their first steps.

RO became her first Follower. Helen, ever patient, was on hand with advice whilst Anna taught the alphabet on Wednesdays and Deborah tirelessly nurtured the fledgling EH through the Blogssary of on-line acronyms and emoticons. Even at this early stage, that shady, and ever more so, character, Teza, introduced EH to the delights of the Sidebar where she was launched into the Society of Bloggers in a scene reminiscent of the erstwhile debutantes at Queen Charlotte's Ball.

Carol was to be a role model for the young EH's weblog education, schooling her in the art of weaving elegant text with stunning photography and stressing the importance of showing a lively interest in the weblogs of others as well as paying attention to one's own. Isobel and Eileen provided horticultural training, Diana of EE taught fine linking, analysis of sitemeter readings and traffic surveys, Domestic Science was in the very capable hands of Leslie, Drama with MsS, Rural Studies with Clare and Randy, Creative Writing with Jeanne and Current Affairs with Paul. And, after a busy day at the keyboard, EH was soothed to sleep with bedtime stories from Pamela, Sarah and Charlotte.                 

But, for the adolescent EH, weblogging was not to be all work and no play. Fun was always to be had with Katy Noelle and Amy, Gary could be relied upon for tea break company at any hour of the night or day and the hot, loud and proud crowd of Noel, Florida Girl and Kimberly was always game for a Blogger Bash, hosted by the expert Vlogger, Kyna. 

Salad days were spent strolling down the Lade with Rosie, up the garden path with Catherine, and into the woods with Deb to read Catmint's diary. Once the age of majority had been reached, EH took wine trips with Alice, shared plant collecting adventures with Barry and sampled the nightlife of Manhattan with Elizabeth.              

Approaching maturity, EH needed to put her house in order. And who better to call upon than the Blognoscenti of interior decoration Jacqueline, Madelief and Kerry? Paint colours, vintage chic and crocheted pebble covers - these three Muses of design covered it all. And for that extra style, then no-one better than Mette from Helsinki and Janet from California.  Dinner parties for the Blogerati became the order of the day. Prepared and beautifully presented by Joey, using only the freshest of ingredients grown with tender care by Diana, these Blogorific virtual feasts drew an international Blaudience. The witty and pretty Britta, the New York socialite and Blogebrity, Reginald Darling, the highly amusing Gary aka G, the mysterious and well travelled Russian, Tatyana and, of course, the Blogostar of Blogostars, Willow, were all regular diners.

But all was not well. A Blogostorm was raging in EH's Google Reader. Her Blogroll was lengthening at an alarming rate. Hitnosis and Blogorrhoea were setting in. Was the aging EH in danger of becoming a Blogoholic? And other perils were emerging on the dark side of the Blogosphere. IG, posing as an English vegetable virgin, was really an Irish Cordon Bleu cook, Doppelbloggers had plagiarised Tiggerlot and Autumn Belle, Blurkers were silently stalking and tan hummocks had infilitrated the otherwise peerless designs of Robert and Lesley. And who was the enigmatic Hungarian Eszter with her fluent English?                

And yet the dowager EH has survived to celebrate her 50th. posting. Cassandra's gift was the honour of a Charm Award, but just how was it to be fixed to the Sidebar?

P.S. Today's picture, in celebration of a 50th. posting, is of some of the debutantes of 1950 in Presentation gowns.

P.P.S. Edith Hope extends her best wishes to all of her many Followers and Friends on this auspicious occasion. Normal postings will be resumed in due course.