About FmH

“You can only tell the shapes of things by looking at their edges…”

What’s a weblog? Unlike a list of “cool links”, the links in a blog are “hot”, more timely and dated and, as one commentator put it, of “finer granularity”. Another maven describes a weblog as “kind of a continual tour, with a human guide whom you get to know”.

Some weblogs are about weblogs and weblogging; others about the web and computing; my kind is still about the world, its sharp edges. Follow me, here you’ll find edgy social commentary, criticism, cynicism, conjunctions and conundrums, outrage. Recent scientific, technical and healthcare developments. Occasional rants. Common sense and crazy wisdom. Exciting artistic and cultural news. Human pathos, whimsy, folly, darkness and depravity.

“Who put these fingerprints on my imagination??”

A word about blinks, which are one of the things you’ll find Follow Me Here is full of — just as a blog is a weblog, a blink is a weblink. And, as a verb, just as we blog, we blink. Few have adopted this terminology, but it was suggested to me by a friend as I started FmH in 1999, and I’m stubbornly sticking with it.

Please let me know (at ‘fmh at gelwan dot com‘) what you get out of this; a weblog can be a conversation, a community. As Steve Baum said at Ethel, “If anyone’s offended by anything on this site then please do notify me immediately. I like to keep track of those times when I get something right.”

What the critics are saying:

“A humane, sometimes lyrical blend of culture and psychology from the Oliver Sacks of weblogging.”
—Jim Higgins, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

“It’s mentalicious!”
—Matt Rossi

“Hot damn, this is a consistently excellent weblog.”
— Lynnette Millett, Medley

“Get your daily news right here. Seriously, just forget about CNN, or your other favorite news site for a bit and jump right on in to “Follow Me Here…” for the news, and a realistic viewpoint on Eliot’s opinion of what’s gracing the headlines. “
—Weblog Review

A sampling of readers’ comments:

 

“You highlight such worthy and interesting articles and issues… Thanks for the time
your blog takes, and thanks for broadening my brain and my learning… “

“The first blog I read consistently, and which definitely opened for me the possibility that I might someday do some blogging myself, is (yours). I still read it regularly, and still recommend it highly.”

“It is obvious that your readers and commentors have a lot of respect for you, doc. Including me.

You allow to be posted ideas and opinions which are diametrically opposed to your own beliefs. A sure sign of intellectual growth.

I just wanted to say ‘thanks’. To me, your blog is the best. Your casual style and wide tolerance of differences of opinions is a rarity in this world today.”

“I have a special fondness for your blog. It was the first one I ever found completely by accident through an unreplicable series of links, and the first post I saw was on a topic of great interest to me. Brought back that sense of online wonderment from a decade ago.”

“As always, you have my highest regard and gratitude for the excellent work you do on FmH.”

“I have read until my eyes blurred over. I like the way you put things. To the point.
Some of us have to protect people like you from others who would shut you up permanently…”

“…Dude, I love your blog. It hits a good balance between politics and everything else. Thanks for all the work you do to keep it going. It is appreciated.”

“It has been and often is the most interesting and enlightened place I visit every day.”

“I would like to thank you for the time and effort that you put into your blog. It is often informative, but always thought provoking. No higher praise is possible.”

“I consider your blog among the best to be found on the web… I notice that although we travel different paths to the same information, my already-visited links are rife in your daily postings, yet you never fail to offer a new perspective on issues that I have glossed. Just a note of appreciation regarding your acumen and concept in a medium often repetitive and more often abandoned after their “originators” find out that it’s more work than it seems to be worth.”

“First read every morning.”

“Erudite and eclectic. A must-read!”

“You… seem like a progressive, a thoughtful and compassionate one who plays life by the heart instead of by a gospel.”

“I have other blogs I visit now and again, or ones that I grow tired of after awhile, but I am a consistent fan of FMH. I like the diversity and mix of items you blog.”

“Excellent insights, thoughtful commentary..”

“How does he have the time to do it all? Obviously a busy doctor and family man as well. (a longtime reader)”

“Opinionated and intelligent with a healthy admixture of cynicism. Stir briskly. Yummy!”

“I think it’s just terrific. You can quote me.”

“Your smart, well-written, heartfelt, wide-ranging blog has been a daily necessity for me now since shortly after you started.”

“I have little interest in poetry but I find scrolling downward restful…”

“I read your weblog regularly. It is the best weblog I have seen in terms of consistency of quality and importance or interest of subject. I have agreed with almost everything you have said. In particular your defense of sanity in the face of the madness we are facing is a boon.”

“…just drifting through your site soaking up the feelings that I hear yet cannot express with same eloquence of some of your sources and quotes… Thank you for your insights.”

“…checked out your site today, which is head and shoulders above anything else out there at the moment, for the range of ideas and issues you refer to and which all seem to hit some button for me. Well done, and keep up the good bloggin’…”

“I can’t recall how i began visiting, but can’t thank you enough. i visit your site regularly and am never disappointed.”

“I check fmh every day, usually once but sometimes twice. it’s been onsistently instructive; your level-headedness on many issues that matter to me (especially mental health issues) has prompted me to actually name you as a model of sensibility in debates with my friends (as in, ‘well, eliot gelwan says…’).”

“I have been meaning for some time to thank you for your weblog. And for your sanity, which we sorely need, now.”

“I have to tell you: fmh is consistently the best blog I read. just great stuff, all the time. excellent commentary.”

“Your insight on a variety of matters is what continues to draw me back on a nearly daily basis.”

“I hope that you never tire of FmH. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your insights and efforts.”

“I have been linked to so many amazing places through your website.”

“I read your blog daily. It has an awesome breadth and quality. Highest regards…”

“I have read your blog ever since I saw a reference to it in the Miami Herald,.. I read you daily, and appreciate your uniqueness. It’s very ungrateful of me not to have thanked you many times for the effort you put into it. Your medical slant is a delight. What you send is to be found nowhere else that I know of. THANK YOU THANK YOU!”

“You know, I don’t know when I became an FmHer, but once I backed up my favorites and I had over 1200 of them. On my my work computer I have 12 favorites. FmH is one of them. So I’ll be back because I find the most interesting things here.”

Googlism (“Follow Me Here”):

follow me here is changing
follow me here is consistently worth my reading time
follow me here is extra good
follow me here is a really good news blog
follow me here is how i do it after learning it from miha holc from slovenia
follow me here is a system of being addicted to something
follow me here is a psychiatrist
follow me here is absolutely fantastic
follow me here is starting a weblog like declaring yourself a pundit? when we went live
follow me here is picking up on a lot of important stories
follow me here is the dump of my registration
follow me here is back
follow me here is a tip