Readership Drive
There is a noticeable decline in comments lately. I don't follow stats closely but it would suggest a commensurate lull in readership. So I will use a photo that Norma took a few hours ago in hopes it will attract followers:
I didn't know she was photoing me or I would have tried to look less like I was peeing on the walkway --I was not. But it gives me opportunity to quote a favorite Latvian stage comedian, Gatis Kandis: "To those of you who would like to follow me, this is how I look from behind."
Yes, I know, I am a 68 year-old man you probably shouldn't walk in front of, but under that frosty hair a poem composes:
Each day comes, goes
As days do, and those
I spend with you
Contain a sum of me.
Those rare days gained
Here and there in
Existence sustained
Me since, and trained
Me to be kind -- now,
What was it? Oh,
What was on my mind?
You're a poet, I just know it.
ReplyDeleteHope I don't blow it (Dylan?). Thanks Bruce.
DeleteI may not walk in front of you, but I would feel privileged to walk beside you.
ReplyDeleteI would be honored, EC.
DeleteGeo - you're one of the few people whom I follow with complete confidence. I, too, have noticed a marked decline in my blog readership lately. It happened very abruptly - for no apparent reason - which makes me suspect that the Google statistics aren't quite accurate.
ReplyDeleteOr it could be that I simply have an uninteresting blog (naw, it's not possible....).
As for comments - - sometimes I read blogs without leaving a comment, simply because I have nothing interesting to say.
An unrelated observation:
I've noticed that several people who follow your blog are the ones who fled from my blog in a flurry of anger and disgust.
Never,ever,mention politics, Geo.
Poetry is a safe and very appealing alternative to politics.
The world needs more poetic souls.
Dear Jon, Thanks. I too try to abstain from politics except where it adversely affects peace or the integrity of a working system. Norma just told me last night there's a referendum on our next ballot to divide California into 3 separate states --so I may address the absurd as well. As for your blog, it is NEVER uninteresting.
Delete"A lull in comments.....would suggest a commensurate lull in readership" That suggestion might be correct, but not necessarily. There were occasions on my blog GWYNT when I had a big rise in apparent readership but only few comments. Stats are weird, and I never understood them.
ReplyDeleteThere may be all sorts of reasons for a decline in comments. I know, for example, that there are times when I cannot think of a suitable comment to make. What is important is that you seem to have a group of followers/commenters who are loyal and admiring of what you write. Elephant's Child is a perfect example.
Chin up, old son! It's springtime again!
Thanks, Tom. Life is definitely a learning experience and we have all been taking notes. It's the sharing of results and observations that fascinate --happily we have the technology to do that.
DeleteHey, you look from behind. ..quite manly. I think it's the time of year tht is slowing down comments...people are spending their time looking out the window wondering where Spring got to.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Delores, for thinking me "...quite manly"! I have always aspired toward the good example of our former Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. I don't work out or anything but we've had some of the same operations.
DeleteLOL, Geo. :)
DeleteThe latvian quote made me smile, which is good.
ReplyDeleteWelcome DUTA! I have been a fan of this gentle, young comedian (Gatis Kandis) for some time and encourage others to find him on the internet --where he's becoming increasingly ubiquitous. His jokes are simple and joyous.
DeleteIt does look like you are peeing. At our age we should still be happy about that.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Jono. It's the unpredictability that bothers me, but it's probably the main reason --rooted in optimism-- why guys our age take up jogging, even sprinting, in sight of a loo.
DeleteOne of you most restful posts. I like it.
ReplyDeleteDear Emma, What with one thing and another lately I have been trying for "restful". We need to regain our strength. All my best wishes to you.
DeleteYou are just now getting to the point where you wonder what it was you were about to say or do?? I can modestly state that I reached that point WAY before you!
ReplyDeleteIt seems that Blogger has been causing problems with leaving comments lately. I wonder if they've been tinkering with the platform and knocked something awry? I can see it happening. Guy on a scaffold. Turns too quickly. Paint can in the way. Grabs the railing. Paint can goes flying. Platform suffers. Yep.
Yes, Jenny, the metaphor works. Sometimes I think Blogger operates on a slapstick technological model. And yes, I'm at that point of absentmindedness you mention, but can't recall when I reached it.
DeleteDear Geo.,
ReplyDeleteI follow you since a long time, and with glee and admiration! I like Norma's photo - and your poem - especially the line "...and trained me to be kind". That is one of the good things in getting older - not being utterly involved into the "ego-thing", but being able (at least a bit :-) to see others too, and be kind.
As to commenting: I often think that reading all the interesting blogs of one's "followers" - and then "commenting" takes up a lot of time (especially as some posts are very long (yours cannot be long enough!),
and commenting for me means not only thinking, but also translating, and looking over it again.
Of course I love, love comments - and am always astonished about the images I form about my followers (and two I have met in real life - not knowing them before!, Tom and his girlfriend in Bath, and Sue in America).
I love the very individual voices we hear from our followers.
And I love your comments especially oh so much!
Sometimes I just do not find the time - since last year I am so often "on the road", that my friends in Berlin and in other German cities get a bit impatient, asking for meetings or at least some letters --- and then there are also the university with a new language, and my work, and my hobbies.
I always enjoy your essays, I do try to comment as often as I can. I wish you and Norma a beautiful week,
yours Britta.
Dear Britta, You are indeed a wealth of encouragement, learning and beauty to me. You are a treasure. Norma and I have read many of your posts together, in various blogs over the years, and consider you a kindred soul. Likewise, I may not always leave a comment but I always visit each post. One of the attractions in blogging is the company of excellent minds, and I have been fortunate to find yours.
DeleteYou know, we are following you. And happily so.
ReplyDeleteQuoting Gatis Kandis and creating wonderful verse makes it easy and joy to be here, following you.
Being trained to be kind offers up cosmic ripples-that I suppose are part of the sum of you. Lovely and engaging Poem. Thanks
Tom, I found Gatis Kandis on Youtube --on Britain's Got Talent and on his own upload there about how to grow taller by dangling from a tree branch. Main thing is, he brings a gentle humanism to the comedic lexicon and is well worth the search for him. I am very glad you liked my poem!
DeleteIf I don’t comment on your blog, Geo, you will know that I am either tied up in the trunk of a car or am in Bora Bora drinking a few cocktails because there is no Internet connection. Like Tonto, I am your faithful blogger companion.
ReplyDeleteCar trunk? Bora Bora? These are some fascinating recreations and I am grateful for your company, Arleen. Thanks.
DeleteI wish there were a way to multiply a sum of you, Geo. The world would be a much nicer place for it.
ReplyDeleteYou are most kind, and I reciprocate your generous compliment.
DeleteSorry, I haven’t been a very good blogger or reading of blogs lately, but it does look like you could be leaking a bit in the photo
ReplyDeleteI have decided to consolidate my two blogs (one is more professional) as I can’t see any reason to keep working on them both. In a strange way this feels like I’m coming out of the closet as I haven’t written about my livelihood. Most of my posts from now on will be at www.thepulpitandthepen.com
You’re welcome to stop by.
Thanks Sage, I will definitely stop by and promise not to leak even a bit. Good to hear from you again!
DeleteSage, I couldn't find any way to post www.thepulpitandthepen.com on my blog sidebar. The gadget won't accept it on layout. So I subscribed to the Skidaway Island newsletter by email, but am not sure that's the whole deal. I'll wait and see --please keep me advised.
DeleteOf course you are not peeing on the walkway - that would be a terrible waste of nitrogen! The sun came out here, so we are outside, making our van adventure ready, and peeing in hedges. I should get a bucket so we can pour our nitrogen rich output into the compost - we are trained to be kind though, which is more important in the grand scheme of all xx
ReplyDeleteAgain you succeed in causing this old geezer a good cackle in the chimney corner. Lisa, I learned in my agricultural roots and 35 years as a gardener that ALL of this beautiful state of California is nitrogen-poor. So I used my bit of the State Budget to buy fertilizers rich in nitrogen. Then I read a study about how these nutrients were metered from a polymer of urea formaldehyde, which was found to cause nasal problems in rats. Not that I cared for rats very much, but worried about the bunnies and squirrels. I quit using the stuff. When we decided to buy a bit of property 38 years ago, we chose a place with a septic tank instead of connection to the city/county sewer system. Now we don't have to pee outdoors except for recreation. The garden thanks us.
DeleteHi Geo!
ReplyDeleteSo lovely to 'meet' you, here in blogland.
Firstly, thank you for visiting my blog, otherwise I wouldn't have found your very intriguing one, whose subject in this post is very similar to my current one, the one you chanced upon, namely, readership being down. I chalk it up to bloggers being taken with Instagram, as you read, (myself included!), but who knows?
Secondly, I have just spent some minutes popping by a few of your recent posts, so that between the lovely Norma's beautiful brick designs, her ingenious comparison of that busy bee to her hubby's hard-working ways, and a collection of philosophical questions expressed so eloquently, I am happy to follow you back!
Have an amazing week,
Poppy
Welcome, Poppy! And thanks.
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