Comment Phobia?

O.K. folks, what is it about leaving comments? I find this very interesting. I mean, people are incredibly entertaining. We all know I could sit and study humans 24 hours a day. I know everyone is different...but I'm beginning to notice vast differences in behavior when it comes to those who blog versus those who are not familiar with the concept yet. Here's what I find most fascinating...I can't quite grasp the fact that I'm putting myself out there with some of my inner-most thoughts for the world to see and some of the people who read them are still too shy to post a comment. I know that the people in my inner circle of friends and family are not the most up-to-date thinkers on this whole blog concept. But, I guess my expectations were higher about the fact that more people would be willing to put themselves out there a bit by adding something to the conversation. It would be one thing if nobody was reading the damn blog. My initial intention was for it to be an online journal with a hidden audience. I needed to put my thoughts out there, but I didn't necessarily want to know who was reading them. Now, it has become a means of communication. If I'm having a bad day, people check the blog to see if they can figure out what's wrong with me. If I haven't spoken to my friends in a while, they will check in to see what has been going on. Now that I have a niece, some people check to see how much she has grown since I last posted pictures of her. All this to say that the blog is being read, and quite regularly it seems. How do I know if people aren't posting comments? Well, that's simple...they are responding in other ways. That's what is so funny to me. I get emails all the time in response to something in the blog. I get phone calls. People send me stuff. But I don't get any damn comments! (No offense to the people who have left comments in the past!) You all know how much I value your feedback. I even tried to be subtle and throw a paragraph at the top of the blog about how much your opinions mean to me. I'm not looking for anything profound or extraordinary...just let me know you are out there, send some encouragement from time to time, and, by all means, let me know if it's time to add a new entry or an update. Now, here's a picture of my niece, you jerks...this is the face she made when I discussed this topic with her.