Why is all self-congratulations egotistical? In this age of You-Tube and Web 2.0, we’re all (well, bloggers anyway) being typecast as self-centered thumb-sucking babies. But is it just vanity? (All is vanity!) I don’t think. Sometimes you just feel good, celebrating your gifts, enjoying seeing your imagination come to life, hoping others benefit somehow. It’s not a superiority thing. It’s not “pride.” It’s just a kind of peaceful satisfaction. So need a simple word. Self-joy sounds naughty. How about: Me-hoo! It’s a like yoo-hoo only with me instead of you.  Plus if you were writing a poem about this, it would rhyme perfectly with “me, too.”

Happy with your life?
Me, too!
Me-hoo!
Woo-woo!

(Uh-oh, I’m degenerating to the level of my “Baby Talk Brand Name Generator.”)

Anyway, what inspired me to write this was the big kick I got out of finding out a story  about my blogging was published in China! Lou Yi, a writer visiting from China, has been doing an interesting blog called “Tale of Two Cultures” for the Philadelphia Inquirer. I find her insights fascinating and refreshing. And it’s in English. So unless you know Chinese, you’ll understand her blog a lot more than I understand her article about me. (Which is not at all.) She’s quite a bundle of friendly energy from half a world away.