How are you today?

Today is a very special day in the spanking blogosphere. Love our Lurkers day is the brainchild of Bonnie, and this is the third year she's organised it - with a record number of bloggers. So you've probably already heard what this is about.

Just in case you haven't, Love Our Lurkers is the day when all the silent readers of spanking blogs are encouraged to say hello.

It's funny how commenting is as much a matter of habit as intention. There are some blogs I find it very easy to comment on, and some I rarely do. The difference has very little to do with how much I enjoy reading, and much more to do with how much I've already chatted to the blogger. The more you talk, the easier it is to talk. And I'll be using today to say hi to the bloggers I've been enjoying for the past few months, but haven't taken the first step to let them know I'm there.

Maybe you don't usually have time to comment, or don't feel you have anything to add. Maybe you're worried about staying anonymous. Maybe it's just that you've never commented before, and are shy of intruding on a clique where everyone else seems to know each other.

Well, let me tell you now: you ARE part of that clique, inasmuch as it exists at all. By reading, by your interest, you're already one of us. You can post anonymously if you like - make up a pseudonym, and you don't have to include a valid email address if you don't want to. I, for one, would love to know you're out there. And once you've made the first step, you may well find that joining into the conversation is a little easier the next time. For me, dialogue and engagement is the whole point of blogging - I'd have given up long ago if I thought I was shouting in an empty amphitheatre. And maybe it makes me shallow, but the more responses I get the more motivated I am to write. Which has to be a good thing, right? :)

Those of you who were at Night of the Cane on Saturday will have realised by now that I didn't make it after all. I've been flattened for the last few days with a stinking cold, and it was with great regret that I asked Tom to cancel our plans for the weekend. So I want to extend an extra special welcome to all of you who hoped to say hello to me on Saturday. I'm sorry I couldn't be there. But I'm here now, and since I'm still off work sick, for once I have time to stop and chat. Come and find me in the talkbox in the blog side bar, I'll be checking in on it all evening :)



As an extra incentive, if I get more responses this year than I did two years ago, I'll post the next photo from this series from Sound Punishment, and show you all what happens when I overcome my shyness and the white cotton panties come down ...