Once upon a time a family emigrated from Sweden and settled in the heart of Seattle's Scandinavian community. The children grew up and moved out of the neighborhood to raise their own children. The second generation would visit the first, bringing third generation daughters to Ballard to visit Grandma. One of those daughters grew up and married a Swede (on one side) and they began to search for the perfect (affordable) house in which to start a family. The woman found a local obstetrician so their baby could be born in Ballard and they prepared to live happily ever after. But in the meantime they birthed a weblog called MyBallard.com and set out to become the daily news blog for greater Ballard.

Their "dirty little secret" as the male member admits is they've lived in Ballard for less than six months. On their Web site their screen name is Geeky Swedes. For now the couple prefers to remain anonymous; in part to keep their Ballard blog separate from their professional lives, and because it is such a tight community. After trading e-mails for two months we met in person, on condition that I won't reveal their identities. As my mother would say, they are a very attractive young couple. She has that pregnant radiance and he looks proud, as though already able to see a baby as beautiful as its mother. Relative newcomers (but frequent visitors) they are nonetheless positioning themselves to become the Internet equivalent of Ballard's town crier.

I was curious about the couple behind one of Ballard's newest blogs, and it seemed wrong not to acknowledge their growing presence. My blog is two years old, which makes me ancient in Internet years. Some aspects of life change more rapidly than others, postage and insurance premiums, the ubiquity of Global Positioning Systems. Other facets don't move as quickly, such as the long wait at Greenwood's Department of Licensing and traffic after the bridge has been up. We are partly caught between worlds, you can go on-line to check the wait time at the Department of Licensing, but you are still going to have to wait.

The Internet gives us the tools for real time information that we have come to expect, election returns, school closures...as well as the ability to comment instantaneously and anonymously. Until a few years ago no one in Seattle was attempting to provide round the clock information on any one community. Then a couple in West Seattle began a blog that was a combination of community bulletin board and real time updates (house fire, detour, new land use proposal sign). Partly inspired by the West Seattle Blog, and after a year of house-hunting the Ballard "wannabes" purchased domain names in their first week. They bought a few Google ad words and began chronicling the quirks of their new neighborhood. Their first reader response came after they wrote about a nearby house fire. By morning someone with more information had commented. The Manning's/Denny's landmark controversy was a windfall in terms of attention; readership has been increasing since that time. What they didn't expect was the interactivity provided by so many comments.

As an early Ballard blogger I've naturally jealous of upstarts, especially as they draw content from blogs like mine and local media. It doesn't always seem fair that print media have the staffing, printing and overhead costs of putting together a paper but on-line sites can use that content for free. Will readers go to the source? But even as a truly community-based site like MyBallard.com is posting its own material and drawing from other sites in the interest of creating a community blog, outsiders are repackaging everyone's content in hopes of advertising profit. True community blogs are increasingly providing the real-time updates we've come to expect - why all those sirens last night? We are curious in the moment; unless it ends very badly we probably won't learn from a traditional source what transpired and we've lost many of the traditional meeting places to exchange information.

The Geeky Swedes realized Ballard didn't have a daily news blog and decided to take it on (for reasons that are still not clear to me). So they carry digital cameras, read police and fire dispatches and call KOMO to ask why their news helicopter is hovering by the Ballard Bridge. They spend what she calls another full-time job checking on "tips," posting photos, blurbs, and providing a digest of other local writers on Ballard doings. She says 20-30 hours per week; he doesn't think it's that much. (I'm sure she's right). They've just added an events section and are about to add restaurants, because that's what readers ask about most; what's new, what's closed?

Other than their screen name, the Geeky Swedes are utterly likable. Perhaps it took new residents to spot the gap, but then again who would want to be the eyes and ears of Ballard seven days and nights a week? Only someone doing it in their spare time can afford to do it. Ballard News-Tribune reporters work dual duty on the West Seattle Herald and try to juggle simultaneous evening meetings on in-depth topics. I asked the Swedes if they plan to compete with local print newspapers for ads or readership. They assured me they didn't, remarking that for businesses advertising in a print publication is more effective, like direct mail. We all agree that community newspapers will become even more important as people turn to other sources for national and international news.

I ask them about future goals for the site. They have that sweet way of still looking at one another before answering a question. The site isn't making money but they love doing it. It is geared to their demographic - the 30 to 40-something. They monitor their page views (site visitors), know what posts are more popular (anything with the word growth). They want the site to evolve into one with more tangible impact, possibly providing advocacy.

MyBallard.com is the focus of their current energy but that may shift with time, and new baby. They are tech-savvy and have built an on-line community, the blog will keep on delivering, but it will no longer be their only child. He still gets up in the night with his camera to chase the fire engines, willing to forego sleep for a possible quick news item for the site. I've stopped listening for those sirens, comforted that someone else is out in the night, someone younger, more energetic, more foolhardy.

Peggy can be reached atlargeinballard@yahoo.com. She writes additional pieces at http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/ballard.