The Blog Age

When he puts down the laptop, Matt starts teasing Kathy about her suitcases of stamping supplies and goes to get some green-tea ice cream with his girlfriend. Sarah's been giggling and cutting up construction paper with her friend from high school who has streaked hair. With their funky appearance, both girls definitely look like HSPVA grads. Sarah soon will head off for her first year of college. When people start packing up supplies, she hugs the other bloggers, who she won't see again for a while.

Less than a week after Bad Art Night, Matt's blog shows that Sarah's left town. "Late last night I heard the screen door sway," it reads, "and a big yellow taxi took my girl away. Taking a break." If readers clicked on the entry, it pulled up a box that downloaded "Big Yellow Taxi" by Counting Crows. Then, three days later -- a rare lapse for Matt -- he posts again: "Just needed a few days off. Feeling a lot better now. :)" He gets several notes along the lines of "He's back! Hooray! It's good to have you back, man." But one, from blogger Randy Peterman, is particularly insightful. "Welcome back!" it says. "Hope you feel rested and take precautions to prevent any burnout that might have been caused by 1) Being a major WordPress pillar, 2) Being a very popular blog 3) Being a person involved with 'the rest of life.' "

Courtesy of Elaine Mesker-Garcia

The faces behind the blogs converge at Tiara Happy Hour.

Matt's blog gets 10,000 hits per day.

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