Winning

Stumbled Upon Friday

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I was at my sister’s house for dinner Friday evening, keeping her company in the kitchen while she made chicken tacos. Great recipe, by the way. Anyhow, she was yammering on about something or other and I decided to see if I could surreptitiously check my blog stats for the day.

So, I pulled out my iPhone and, while it was tucked ever so slightly under the table, checked my blog.  Hmmm, 43 views. Well now!

My average day runs anywhere from 0 to about 15 views so 43 in one day is pretty spectacular. Now, before you start thinking I’d hit the Freshly Pressed jackpot, let me set the record straight. That did not happen. (Not that I haven’t had a wishful think about it from time to time.)

But something very odd did happen, and it took me the better part of the weekend to finally get a clue, but more about that in a sec. By the time I got home Friday evening, my total views for the day was pushing up-up-up. To cut to the chase, the total views for Friday was 133, Saturday was 166, and the total so far today is 269. (Is it after midnight? If it is, then I mean yesterday.)

Dashboard data

I finally got curious this evening about what was causing my views to soar and started poking around my dashboard. Turns out all those extra views were coming from one place. I clicked on that link in the list of referrers and it took me to a page that said, “A member of the StumbleUpon user community added your page to StumbleUpon’s index of high-quality, human-curated content.”  Say what!?!

The first thing that popped into my pea brain was (stealing from Sally Field here) they like me, they really like me! The second thing was that my sister is going to be s-o-o-o ticked about this.

You see, my sister has been blogging for a couple of years now and switched her blog to WordPress about six months ago. If you haven’t read her blog you should. You can find it here. She writes from the heart about things that are important like family and faith. I, on the other hand, write about silly things like light bulbs and my eyeballs.

She talked about blogging so much that I finally decided to try it and, well, I enjoy it. I didn’t expect to but I do. Anyway, we’ve had this unofficial contest going ever since I started blogging to see if my views could catch up with hers. When I started, she was ahead of me by about a thousand views.  Today, though, my views caught up — then skipped on ahead.

Back to topic

I have to say, though it’s nice and all, that I’m not too sure I’m thrilled about this sudden spike in views. You see, I looked at my dashboard under the top posts & pages  section and it revealed that practically all of the views are to just to one post. That means all those folks who stumbled upon my blog also stumbled right back off of it without looking at a single other page.

I don’t know about you, but I find that kind of disheartening. I mean, did they even stay on that post long enough to actually read it? Or, did they see it was just a recipe for Quiche and zip right outa there lickety split?

I’m a bit concerned that all those views may be hollow. No substance. No heart. Empty.

Real people blog

In the short time that I’ve been blogging, I’ve come across a lot of folks who, like my sister, write about things that are close to their hearts and, in doing so, they touch other hearts and bring helpful information to their readers. They encourage other writers and photographers and artists. They honor and support other bloggers with awards and recognition. And, sometimes they share parts of themselves that the rest of us really have no right to. Blogging is a community and I’m tickled to be a part of it.

I owe my sister a debt of gratitude for sharing with me her passion for blogging and for getting me off my duff and my fingers onto my keyboard. (Actually, since I sit when I type I guess I’m still on my duff. But, I’m doing something productive as well, so it’s all good.)

Thank you sweet Rosie, for being my inspiration.

And, thank you to all the other bloggers who have opened up their worlds to me and made me feel welcome in this community. Your “likes” and “comments” on my posts are more meaningful to me than all the views I’ve received the last three days times a gazillion.

Okay now, enough with the mushy stuff.

Let’s be real

Just because I value “actual” views way more than the “empty” views, it doesn’t mean I want the empty ones to stop. I am after all still in a contest with my sister for the most views — so keep ’em coming!

273 and counting — that puts me about 200 ahead of you sweetie!  🙂

A few of my favorite …

In case you’re interested, below are just a few of my favorite blogs. I encourage you to visit them often and read them well!

http://preacherswifeintheknow.wordpress.com/

http://broadsideblog.wordpress.com/

http://subtlekate.wordpress.com/

http://jensinewall.wordpress.com/

http://coffeekatblog.wordpress.com

http://aslongasimsinging.wordpress.com

http://notlostjustweird.com

http://notquiteold.wordpress.com/

http://ellepeterson.wordpress.com/

http://eclecticfaerie.wordpress.com/

http://year-struck.com/

The definition of goofy stuff!

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I really hate it when I can’t get my goofy brain to shut down long enough to get to sleep. Especially when it’s 2:00 a.m. and I’m “too pooped to pop.” Somebody used to say that when I was a kid. Can’t remember who. Pity. Maybe trying to remember who said it will make me sleepy.

Maybe not.

What is it that makes a brain think about goofy stuff when it should be winding down, shutting off, lights out, nobody home, go away, come back tomorrow? I don’t know but I learned a long time ago to just go with it and try to do something constructive til I get sleepy enough to actually, you know, sleep.

I usually read my book but I finished it this morning and I don’t really want to start another one because, if I do, I’ll get caught up in the story and stay awake even longer. And then I’ll be too pooped to get my patio cleaned up tomorrow. It’s a real mess and, well actually, it’s an embarrassing mess and I’m surprised one of the busybodies from the condo board hasn’t already sent me a letter telling me that I’m violating some sacrosanct rule from on high. Oh yeah, and that it’s also a disgrace to the community.

I put a bench on my carport a few years ago and got a letter because we’re not allowed to put anything on the carport except vehicles that are in operating condition. Also, I made a neat bird house plaque for my unit numbers once and got a letter telling me that it didn’t conform and that I had to take it down. Being the trouble-maker that I am, I walked around the complex and saw no less than 5 different kinds of unit numbers so I wrote back and let them know about that. They (the all-powerful condo board) sent a notice to all condo owners specifying the exact kind of numbers we were supposed to have. By the time they got around to doing that, though, I’d already taken my neat bird house numbers down and put the old numbers back up.  Funnily enough, my old numbers didn’t conform to the policy. What did I do? I let them puppies stay right where they were … and they are still there.

As a general rule, I’m okay with having rules. Rules are mostly good. They help stave off chaos. But, some rules are just made to be broken.

In fact, I think when I finish my patio clean-up tomorrow (or, I guess it’ll be today) I’ll put my bench on my carport — right up next to the fence that separates it from my patio. I might even put a plant on it and sit my rusted-tin cat sculpture right next to it!

Ya-a-a-wn …

I think I can go to sleep now.

Nite.

PS: Goofy stuff — going outside at 2:00 am in your pyjamas when it’s 40 degrees to take a pic of your house numbers … and the cat.

z-z-z-z-z …

A Versatile Blogger Award !?!

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I logged into my blog a day or so ago and discovered much to my surprise that another, obviously discerning, blogger had nominated me for a versatile blogger award.

Now, I didn’t have a clue what this is all about. Never heard of it. Not sure I want to be a recipient of any kind of award in the first place.

But … thought I should check it out — just in case it involves a trophy, or a plaque, or maybe even money.

No such luck. Here’s the deal:

Rules of accepting versatile blogger nomination:

  1. Thank the person who nominated me (Below)
  2. Include a link to his/her blog (Also below)
  3. Nominate fifteen blogs I enjoy and follow (Belower)
  4. Inform said bloggers about their nominations (That took awhile!)
  5. Share seven things about me (Belowest)

So, thank you Ellen Peterson, wherever you are. You’re a peach!
(http://ellepeterson.wordpress.com/)

The fifteen blogs I’ve nominated:

Preacherswifeintheknow

broadside

Running Naked with Scissors

Diary of a Mad College Girl

Naked Envelope

Air Cooled Underware

Golden Oldie Ads

I Am Not Defined

Humbled Pie

Second Lunch

Heather Christina Schmidt

From Nonsense to Momsense

Rob Slaven Photography

Katie is a Teacher

In My Opinion

Seven things (you never wanted to know) about me:

  1. I was a hippie. (Sort of.)
  2. My guilty pleasure is reading chick-lit, especially British chick-lit. (Do not tell anyone about this.)
  3. I’m claustrophobic and afraid of heights. (Yes, tall buildings are a problem.)
  4. I believe in angels.
  5.  I married a guy with the same last name as mine. Both start with a Mc and when I got divorced, I petitioned the court to let me take my name back. You see, I put two little lines under the “c” and he doesn’t. (Yes, that’s important.)
  6. I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until I was 16 years old. (Not my fault I wasn’t gifted with balance and coordination.)
  7. I like Star Trek Next Generation better than the original Star Trek. (Sorry, Capt. Kirk.)

Well now, all done.

So, should I be having visions of pyramids and somebody named Ponzi?

Hmmm.

To learn more about the Versatile Blogger Award, go to — http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/