THAT'S Interesting!

This blog, like any blogpost blog, has "followers."  For quite some time, I've had 38 followers.

I don't actually know what it means to follow this blog.  One "follower" asked me many months ago to remove her from the new post circulation.  She must have disagreed with me or been mad at me about something.  But she's still one of the followers.  Maybe she forgot that she chose to follow this blog, and she also forgot to remove herself  when she got mad at me.  Since she asked me to remove her from the new post announcement circulation, and I did, and she hasn't written to me to complain about continuing to get announcements, I guess "followers" don't automatically get these announcements.  I had an old friend with whom I don't speak any more, and in happier days, she listed herself as a "follower."  I used to inform her of new posts, too.  But I haven't spoken to her for a year, she knows I'm furious with her and want nothing further to do with her, but she's still listed as a "follower," too.  Presumably as a gesture of support, my daughter is a follower.  She never reads this blog.  I have one "follower" who moved away from the Village several years ago.  He probably didn't remember he's a "follower," and he's still there.  I don't even know who some of the "followers," like "BA," are.  I'd be surprised if it was Bob Anderson.  Maybe I was just padding the followership, but I'm a "follower" of this blog.

But I just noticed today that I now have 39 "followers."  I was curious who's the new "follower."  It turns out it's Veronica Olivera.

I don't know Veronica Olivera.  I've never met nor spoken to her.  (I've now been home for about 20 days, and still, not one candidate has knocked on my door, nor left a flyer.)  I have no idea how Veronica Olivera even knew this blog exists.

I have nothing bad to say about Veronica Olivera, although I gave my reasons why given a choice, and a limit, I wouldn't vote for her to be a Commissioner at this point.  If she's truly interested in the Village, I'd love to see her get herself on a board.  She's sort of like Rafael Ciordia that way, except that when he ran, he'd been a Village resident considerably longer than Veronica has.

When candidates were more mainstream in the Village, or even, frankly, accessible, I used to ask them to accept guest authorship, so they could use this blog to tell us whatever they thought we should know about them.  I even did that when I was running, and they were my competition.  It was rare any of them accepted my offer, but I made it.  I'd make that offer to the current crew, but I don't know how to reach half of them.  Veronica Olivera is one of the candidates I don't know how to reach.

So, it's an interesting curiosity that she somehow found this blog, in which I suggested we elect candidates other than her, and she still chose to follow it.  But she hasn't chosen to campaign, even as limitedly as introducing herself to me.

People not infrequently get a little freaked out when I tell them I'm a psychiatrist.  They think I'm analyzing them, or can read their minds.  I'm not, and I can't.  As I always say, I don't know what people think or feel.  I only know what they say and do.  Or, in a case like this, what they don't say and don't do.

So, Veronica's out there somewhere, presumably being someone's spouse, taking care of her children, being a "community friend," and running for Commission.  And now, she's following this blog.  What that's all about beats me.  She ought to come by and meet me.  Maybe I can tell her things she doesn't know.  For all I know, she might wind up with a seat on the BP Commission.  What's she going to do then, unless she just follows whatever is Mac Kennedy's lead?  And if that's all she's going to do, then we don't need her on the Commission.  We have incumbents who won't do any more than that.