What Caught My Eye Today - The 500th Edition
Fred's Note: Dear God, I'm still at this? Almost 2 years ago to the day, I posted my first blog entry (click here) thinking that this would just be a fleeting diversion and that soon I would find much more productive uses for my time. All evidence to the contrary. The blog has expanded over time to include a photo gallery of the kids--Chloe and Teddy; a running tally on my futile attempt to run virtually around the country (at the rate I'm going I might hit my 100th birthday before I finish); a weekly trivia question (as if you weren't wasting enough time by coming to my blog in the first place), a sampling of the new vernacular that has sprouted from the 'Net (here I was thinking ebonics was out there), and my latest addition, "Let Me Count the Days" counting down (or up) the number of days to some rather amusing milestones.
I've had one or two folks ask me what my motivation is for some of the content that has appeared on the blog. The short answer is curiosity.
Of course, that curiosity has manifested itself in many ways--hence the longer winded version of the answer. In terms of the news items that I've mentioned, curiosity about the world we in which we live was and continues to be my muse. One would think that at some point you would tire of all the happenings in the world. You have to admit there's a lot to keep track of, and most of it tends to be rather gloomy new. Why is that, anyway? Is it that watching a train wreck is more interesting that just watching it pass harmlessly by? But I digress. Much to my surprise, I found myself captivated by not just local events or national events, but news taking place all over the world? As riveting as the exploits of the U.S. government can be, glimpses into the issues facing the rest of the world can put the challenges we face into proper perspective. Sure I was pissed about $4 a gallon gas, but then again I didn't have to go to the local ATM machine to withdraw a couple of $10 billion bank notes to pay for a loaf of bread either.
Aside from the news, I drew most of my fluff content from a variety of sources. Here are a few examples. "Question of the Week" was inspired from the Public Radio International's "The World" broadcast. At the end of every program, there is a segment called geo-quiz. I decided to create my own take on that in the blog. "Run Fred Run", besides being a blatant rip off of the classic "Forrest Gump" catchphrase, is more of a self help tool than anything else. I need something to keep getting me back onto the elliptical trainer. Apparently, good health just isn't enough. "Meet the Kids"? Seriously, who doesn't like to see pictures of cute puppies. As for "Let Me Count the Days", well I wish I could tell you that I had a better motivation, but the sad truth is that I was trying to learn a bit about JavaScript and I found this snippet of code on the Internet...and the rest is history.
As readers of this blog may have noticed, I have an inexplicable fascination with statistics (along with trivia and countless other bits of useless knowledge), so with the help of Google Analytics I give you some trivia about my blog. Obviously, you can tell that it took me two years and a day to get to 500 postings. In that time:
As for what brought the majority of visitors to the blog, it would appear that word of mouth is the primary reason, along with some shameless plugging by yours truly to friends, family and coworkers.
Though that wasn't always the case for the longest time, the most used keyword that landed people on my blog was "inez sainz". Let me try to explain. When I first kicked off my blog, Super Bowl XLI was just around the corner. I was watching coverage of media day and several news outlets reported that a rather attractive female reporter from a Spanish language television station was making quite the impression on players. To make a long story short, a bunch of pervs thought I might have some nude photos of Ms. Sainz on my blog. Nice huh?
Anyway, we're 500 entries into this little venture and I hope you have gotten some measure of entertainment--and dare one hope a bit of knowledge--out of my blog. If not, that's okay too. I didn't really expect to be doing this for as long as I have, so it's all gravy at this point. Next stop--1,000.
Back with more headlines tomorrow.
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