It is really hard to react to milestones like the number of hits. It
seems like 20,000 is a lot, at least to me, but then again I don’t spend a lot
of time in the blogosphere. Besides, all the times I visit my own blog are
counted.
If nothing else, it does offer another opportunity to reflect on
RobVogt80s in general.
As always there are lessons and observations
Not easy
This year I made a New Year’s resolution to try and blog regularly.
The previous goal I had from another list was 300 blog posts in a year. I found
that not only to be daunting, but completely unrealistic.
The ideal situation would be to blog every day, connecting something
from today with something from the 1980s. However, it is not easy to blog
regularly.
In fact, from the time I started this entry, I have posted four times in the year 2015. It really isn't easy.
Caught up in the research
It seems I have fallen into a trap, which doubles really as a form of
procrastination, albeit unintentional. I get caught up in the research. I want
to read up on a subject before I start blogging about it. Or, in the case of my most recent entry, I actually watched the 1982 Orange Bowl in its entirety, making notes all the while. That entry took 16 months from start to publication.
That runs contrary to the most productive period in the history of
this blog. That was in August and September of 2013. It was right after
National Novel Writing Month of 2012 that I wanted to keep up the momentum of
writing every day. There is no Internet hook up in my apartment, so I basically
just started writing. Every day, I crafted a new entry. When I finally had time
in the summer, it was time to post entries, so I copied the text from a
Microsoft Word document then did the research and filled in the blanks. I
likened it to having a lot of grist in the mill. Right now, I have no grist, but that is beginning to change.
In order to be most productive, I have to get back to that approach.
Otherwise, posting regularly is not easy, made harder by getting caught up in
the research.
Time to reflect
I have also discovered I need time to reflect before publishing. I
really want to make a point more than just recount memories – although
there is also value in that.
That is the other reason I do take time to research and read things
over. It loads the subconscious and allows me to reflect before writing
something that is worth posting.
These things take time to season and gestate.
In a bubble
There are times I really wish I had a lot more comments on the blog,
because it would indicate people are reading it. At other times, I am glad for
the anonymity. Most often I feel like I’m in a bubble, my own little world –
and I think I’m okay with that.
Too legit
The most recent thing I discovered is that one of my posts has ended up in the bibliography of a Wikipedia entry. It was the post on "Canada's greatest basketball moment", in particular what I wrote about guard Karl Tilleman from the University of Calgary. Does that make this whole venture more legit?
Parting thoughts
Too often in life most of us, me included, look at what we do not
have, when we really should look at what we do have. No, I do not post every
day, or even every second day. No, I am not even a regular poster.
But, and this is what I plan to focus on, is that I have actually set
out to start a blog and actually followed through. And, best of all, I have 181 posts, and 182 when this one goes live, out there in the big wide world, for anyone to read.
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