To Readers of My THOUGHTS Blog:

I started writing this column in 2002 and it became an online blog in 2008 (?), I guess. It is hard to believe that it has been almost 8 years. For many of those years, I wrote my column and emailed it out every Monday, but lately I have gotten lazy and I send it out whenever I have something to say. It has been a wonderful vehicle to express and share feelings, concerns and ideas...FOOD for THOUGHT, as my tag line states.

I have always welcomed your thoughtful comments and looked forward to your reaction to my blog, even when we did not always see eye to eye on things, especially then, because then I knew that you read it and it stirred something in you. It provided food for thought. But, I always learn something, too. I always get a different perspective, another view. By now, those of you who read my blog, know that I am certainly more left of center than many of my readers. I have been just as vitriolic and partisan as some of my more conservative friends on the right when it comes to politics. (I get that from my late mother, I suppose.) It has led to some interesting and at times...frustrating debates. But again, I always learn something from my readers. It has been most rewarding.

So after almost 8 years, I want to thank YOU, my readers. I want you to hang in there and please, please, please ...continue to COMMENT on my blog. You can either leave your comments on the blog or e-mail me at sortman808@aol.com. There is nothing worse for a writer than to receive no feedback from his readers. One of the nice things about Blogspot.com is that you can get reports on how many hits a column generates and from where. I am just amazed that my blog is read by people in Brazil, Russia, England, Australia, India and other places around the world. I also link my blog on my Facebook account for all my friends there as well. It's a big world out there. Let's hear from you!

Thank you, my friends! Keep reading and commenting!

Stephen Ortman
San Antonio, Texas