As the last post may have made clear, I'm in a retrospective and pre-nostalgic mood, undoubtedly because I'm gearing up (physically and mentally) to leave Korea for (what will most likely not be) the last time. More on that later.
For the last six months or more, I've been in a bit of blog despair. It was a vicious cycle: first, I wanted to spend more time and effort on the Daegu Green Living blog which, I though, might actually make a difference somehow. Two years and 80 or so posts later, it certainly did. But it came at the cost of me not having the time or energy or inclination to write about, or perhaps reflect on, my personal stuff. Then, I assume due to my lack of activity here, it seemed that most of my readership had died off. (PS Thanks to the die-hard fans who leave and comment on just about every post! It means a lot to me.) Then, with views and comments and such dying off, I felt like I was indeed right that this blog wasn't so important, and gave up on it even further. Add to that the stress of writing for the First Korean Tour for Foreign Foodies project, which essentially drained all joy from the act of blogging, and ripped my soul out by not even giving us first prize, and you'll understand why I had no steam at all.
But that last post about tying up loose ends got me going again. It led to me going through old posts, checking stats and hits and all that, and, eventually, to wondering what my top 10 most-read posts of all time are. The list is quite odd:
10) "I See Through You" A relatively recent post about spotting fake smiles. 300-some hits.
9) "Vipassana: Things I Didn't Say Before" Filling out the Vipassana story. Almost certainly owes its popularity to the photo of me and the two Pekema boys with our pants down (underpants up) at Yosemite. Was that really 3+ years ago? 417 hits.
8) "The Morning After (My Arrival)" I woke up and, hey, I was in India. Short and sweet, one of my favorite and most intense posts. Just thinking about that day nearly brings tears to my eyes. Over 500 views.
7) "The King of Fruits," a fairly Mike-esque random tribute to the Durian. This post definitely deserved all 669 of its hits, but I have no idea how it got them.
6) "Vipassana: The Experience" One of the rare posts lucky enough to have a title more than tangentially related to its contents. This one got picked up and shared on somebody else's blog, so the nearly 700 hits don't come as a huge surprise.
5) "As if I needed more proof that I'm not as smart as I like to think I am." About, of all things, my exploits trying to find a proper position for my shower curtain and the general life reflections the process brought to the fore. Apparently 800+ people enjoy crappy MSPaint diagrams.
4) "Where Am I Now? (As I Write, not as You Read)" A pretty plain description of where I was and what I was up to in Cambodia, unremarkable except for the pretentious list of the books I had been reading. Nearly 1300.
3) "Daegu Bike Rally," maybe the third or fourth Daegu Bike Festival event I attended, before I was even staff. Not sure how this one got so popular. Maybe a Korean found and shared it? Regardless, 1500+ hits.
2) "WJWD on New Year's Eve," a recounting of how my friends and I wound up welcoming 2011 by staying up all night chanting sanskrit sutras with a Korean Buddhist monk and her congregation at a hermitage on top of a mountain. I don't even recall what the title refers to, but I'm sure I thought it clever at the time. 3,128 views. What the heck?
1) "This post is turning out to be much longer than I intended and actually I'm making up the title about an hour into writing it just because I need a br," a total armchair rant about what I see as the fundamental problem with our civilization: its lack of attachment to or care for the specific place it settles in. No clue how, but this one got 3,241 views! The lesson: people like it when I gripe about the state of the world! Can do!
For the last six months or more, I've been in a bit of blog despair. It was a vicious cycle: first, I wanted to spend more time and effort on the Daegu Green Living blog which, I though, might actually make a difference somehow. Two years and 80 or so posts later, it certainly did. But it came at the cost of me not having the time or energy or inclination to write about, or perhaps reflect on, my personal stuff. Then, I assume due to my lack of activity here, it seemed that most of my readership had died off. (PS Thanks to the die-hard fans who leave and comment on just about every post! It means a lot to me.) Then, with views and comments and such dying off, I felt like I was indeed right that this blog wasn't so important, and gave up on it even further. Add to that the stress of writing for the First Korean Tour for Foreign Foodies project, which essentially drained all joy from the act of blogging, and ripped my soul out by not even giving us first prize, and you'll understand why I had no steam at all.
But that last post about tying up loose ends got me going again. It led to me going through old posts, checking stats and hits and all that, and, eventually, to wondering what my top 10 most-read posts of all time are. The list is quite odd:
10) "I See Through You" A relatively recent post about spotting fake smiles. 300-some hits.
9) "Vipassana: Things I Didn't Say Before" Filling out the Vipassana story. Almost certainly owes its popularity to the photo of me and the two Pekema boys with our pants down (underpants up) at Yosemite. Was that really 3+ years ago? 417 hits.
8) "The Morning After (My Arrival)" I woke up and, hey, I was in India. Short and sweet, one of my favorite and most intense posts. Just thinking about that day nearly brings tears to my eyes. Over 500 views.
7) "The King of Fruits," a fairly Mike-esque random tribute to the Durian. This post definitely deserved all 669 of its hits, but I have no idea how it got them.
6) "Vipassana: The Experience" One of the rare posts lucky enough to have a title more than tangentially related to its contents. This one got picked up and shared on somebody else's blog, so the nearly 700 hits don't come as a huge surprise.
5) "As if I needed more proof that I'm not as smart as I like to think I am." About, of all things, my exploits trying to find a proper position for my shower curtain and the general life reflections the process brought to the fore. Apparently 800+ people enjoy crappy MSPaint diagrams.
4) "Where Am I Now? (As I Write, not as You Read)" A pretty plain description of where I was and what I was up to in Cambodia, unremarkable except for the pretentious list of the books I had been reading. Nearly 1300.
3) "Daegu Bike Rally," maybe the third or fourth Daegu Bike Festival event I attended, before I was even staff. Not sure how this one got so popular. Maybe a Korean found and shared it? Regardless, 1500+ hits.
2) "WJWD on New Year's Eve," a recounting of how my friends and I wound up welcoming 2011 by staying up all night chanting sanskrit sutras with a Korean Buddhist monk and her congregation at a hermitage on top of a mountain. I don't even recall what the title refers to, but I'm sure I thought it clever at the time. 3,128 views. What the heck?
1) "This post is turning out to be much longer than I intended and actually I'm making up the title about an hour into writing it just because I need a br," a total armchair rant about what I see as the fundamental problem with our civilization: its lack of attachment to or care for the specific place it settles in. No clue how, but this one got 3,241 views! The lesson: people like it when I gripe about the state of the world! Can do!
4 comments:
Just posting a comment to show you that you're still an active part of my RSS feed! xoxo
Glad to have you back. The pants-less Pekemas are always a big draw.
Fun stuff!
I've got a fevuhh, and the only pascrption is mowa crappy MSPaint diagrams.
Also, there's no need to be ashamed about a little blogging burnout given how many other activities and writing outlets you were contributing to. I haven't kept up w/ the Green Living Blog, but wouldn't mind a post here linking to 4-5 posts that are worth the time of someone living nowhere near Korea. No pressure.
Kroy: You are still in my RSS feed as well. I look forward to the return of your posts!
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