I found an article on Dr. Mercola’s website titled: 12 Surprising Signs You’ll Live To 100
One of the “surprising signs” is:
You embrace techie trends
Learn to Twitter, Facebook, or Skype to help keep brain cells young and healthy. Stay connected to friends, family, and current events, and you feel vital and relevant.
I like the part where he says, “you feel vital and relevant”. That’s important in everyone’s life.
Today’s Lesson
Speaking of using our brains, according to an article on the University of Connecticut Health Center site,
“The old adage of ‘use it or lose it’ is very important. For cognitive activity, which affects everything from memory to how we think, there is increasing evidence that the more we use our brain, the better we age….”
Some of you who are young may not take this into consideration, but for bloggers from the baby boomer generation and beyond, it’s important we think of how we’re using our brains. How we’re exercising them.
Fortunately blogging does that.
- It keeps us connected.
- It gives us something to look forward to
- We read more
- We write more
- We think more
- We learn more.
Another plus to blogging; age is not a factor.
Take for example, the following three women who held the title as “The World’s Oldest Blogger”; women who were in their 90′s and 100′s.
The one I remember best, because I had visited her blog, is Olive Riley (1899-2008). Although her blog is no longer online, you can see video clips of her on YouTube.
María Amelia López Soliño (1911-2009) was another blogger who held the title and was written about in this article; Spanish granny dubbed ‘world’s oldest blogger’ dies.
In one of her last postings in February [2009] she said: “When I’m on the Internet, I forget about my illness. The distraction is good for you — being able to communicate with people. It wakes up the brain, and gives you great strength.”
According to Wikipedia, Ruth Hamilton (1898-2008) was also named “the world’s oldest blogger”.
Unfortunately the above three bloggers have died, but others are following in their footsteps. We have,
- Life Begins At 80
- Bisher Unleashed
- Granny To The Rescue,
A blog written by a 91 year old retired journalist.
Written by Furman Bisher, a well-regarded sportswriter and editor who was born in 1918.
A blog written by Eleanor McCallum, a woman in her early eighties.
These elderly folks probably aren’t worried about being included with A-List bloggers, but their commitment to blogging shows us it’s never too late to go online, share our knowledge and in the process continue to use our brains.
Today’s Assignment:
How has blogging improved your mental processes?
Are you following the writings of any elderly bloggers?
Care to share?







Hi. I'm Barbara Swafford & I'd like to welcome you to Blogging Without A Blog. Grab a seat, share your thoughts and join in the conversation. 


I don’t know about you, but I love getting comments on my blog posts. Granted, they do take time to answer, but for me, there’s nothing better than the sense of community that forms in the comment section.
Recently I’ve noticed some blog authors have totally closed their comment sections and others close them for certain posts. A few blog authors never answer their comments, and some answer each and every one.
I was curious how Darren Rowse, author of Problogger and co-author of ProBlogger: Secrets Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income
deals with his comments, so in this installment of A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge) series,
I asked
Many blog authors stay active in their comment section. It appears you prefer to be more elusive. Was this a decision you made early on, or have other factors influenced you to not be a part of the discussions?
Darren answered
This is something I grapple with on a daily basis. Unfortunately as my blogs have grown and comment numbers [have increased] it gets harder to maintain being able to interact with comments as I once did.
The other factor is that I’ve found that over time my readers have stepped into the place I once occupied and have begun to answer one another’s questions etc. I guess it’s about building a culture of conversation on your blog.
Reflecting On The Answer
Thank you Darren for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your answer.
Darren points out a factor we don’t always consider when we begin to blog. Will we be able to continue to answer comments when our blog expands?
Recently I’ve been thinking about what I would do. I haven’t come up with the perfect answer.
What about you?
Todays Assignment
Do you think a blog author should respond to answer each and every comment?
What would/will you do when answering comments takes up so much of your time, you’re left with no time to publish posts and/or maintain your blogging activities?
I’m curious to hear what you think. Feel free to share your answer.
.
Read other answers in the A.S.K. (Answers Sharing Knowledge) series.
A.S.K. Darren Rowse of Problogger – How Do We Increase Our Readership
A.S.K. Andy Bailey – What Was The Inspiration Behind The CommentLuv Plugin
A.S.K. Liz Strauss – How Do You Inspire Readers To Join Your Community
A.S.K. Liz Strauss – How To Format Blog Comments To Maximize Comments
Photo Credit: Darren Rowse/Problogger