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| How many stitches? |
One recent
example: Tim innocently asked about how many stitches it takes to make a
sweater-vest—such as the new one I’m knitting for him these days. I said I didn’t know, and
immediately started counting. After an intense half-hour with the instructions,
pencil and paper, I had an answer: 34,158. Specifically, that’s 17,079 knits
and 17,079 purls.
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| 4 November 2010-30 January 2012 |
- Total number of posts, including this one: 100
- Average number of days between posts: 4.56
- Shortest time between posts: 1 day
- Longest time between posts: 16 days
- Total page views since debut (at time of publication): 13,124
- Average length of visit: one minute and 15 seconds
- Average number of views per post: 131.24
That last is a mathematical average, the result of dividing 13,124 by 100. The actual number of views per post varies widely, from two (one of whom was always Tim) to almost 400. Here’s a more refined breakdown:
- Posts with 0 to 25 hits: 38
- Posts with 25 to 50 hits: 18
- Posts with 50 to 100 hits: 22
- Posts with 100 to 200 hits: 15
- Posts with 200 or more hits: 6
The 12 most popular posts:
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| Ipheion uniflorum 'Jessie' from Am I Blue Bonus |
1. Am I Blue Bonus (April 17, 2011)—392 hits. This
is the one that is mostly pictures of plants with blue flowers. I’m very
gratified it is such a favorite, because it took the longest amount of time to get
in shape for publication of all posts so far. Pictures can be a bear to
work with, especially when one is not entirely sure what one is doing.
2. Winter Weeds (January 4, 2011)—298 hits. Y’all
really responded to posts about weeds, because # 3 is…
3. Summer Weeds, Part 1 (July 11, 2011)—271 hits.
Horticultural literature has let us all down in the weed identification
department, as well as insects, because # 4 is…
4. Bugs: The Good… (May 5, 2011)—245 hits. This
brief profile of eight common beneficial insects also lists four ways to get
help figuring out who’s who in the insect kingdom.
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| Clematis jackmanii x superba from The Heartbreak of Clematis |
6. Food for Thought, Part 2 (February 24, 2011)—209
hits. In this post, we learn exactly the mechanism by which plants “eat,” and
the paramount importance of improving your soil so that supplemental chemicals
become unnecessary.
7. Enter Field Notes (June 12, 2011)—174 hits. This
was the first single plant profile, and it featured Lespedeza thunbergii.
8. Stuffing Stockings (December 10, 2010)—171 hits.
The most looked-at post of 2010, it offers suggestions for gardening-related
gifts small enough for Santa to slip in a stocking.
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| Grey garden slug from Bugs: The Bad... |
10. Regarding
Rain and Rain Barrels (June 24, 2011)—160 hits. From saving rain to permeable
paving to building bioretention areas for purifying runoff, thinking about how
we use and abuse water comes under consideration.
11. Masters
of Verticality (June 4, 2011)—160 hits. We look up at the idea of using
vertical space in this post that tied with rain barrels.
12. Bugs:
the Boths and Neithers (May 19, 2011)—158 hits. The last of the bugs series
ekes into the top 12.
And, in the
interest of full disclosure, here are the 12 biggest bombs, in reverse order:
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| Boring pH table from The Dirt on Dirt |
1. November Wrap-Up (November 30, 2010)—10 hits. This
one tied with…
2. Plants I’ve Loved and Lost (October 2, 2011)—also
10 hits. Nobody cared. The next three under-loved entries share identical amounts of
lack of reader interest…
3. The Dirt on Dirt (September 14, 2011)—9 hits. A
surprise. I thought gardeners loved dirt.
4. Staying Thankful (November 2, 2011)—9 hits. Must
be a lot of ingrates out there.
5. What’s in a Name? Part 2 (December 11, 2011)—9 hits.
This I understand. Most folks, I’ve learned, fear botanical names. Huh. If they’d
just read this, they wouldn’t.
6. Curmudgeon’s Corner (October 6, 2011)—8 hits.
Oh, come on. I’m kinda cute when I’m ranting. Ask Tim. Whining tied with...
7. Bringing in the Plants 2 (October 31, 2011)—8 hits.
…in driving away readers.
8. Expectations (May 23, 2011)—7 hits. I expected
better.
9. What’s in a Name? Part 1 (December 6, 2011)—7 hits.
This was expected.
10. Fresh
Starts (January 14, 2012)—6 hits. I’d like to blame holiday burnout.
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| Kosteletzkya virginica |
12. Field
Notes for the Weary (September 28, 2011)—2 hits. I must say, this one surprised
me. What’s not to like about seashore mallow, Kosteletzkya virginica?
And what
patterns have emerged from the wreckage? Three things. First, y’all seem to
prefer hard facts above philosophy, as long as they're not too technical. I suppose
that’s to be expected in our information-overloaded-but-science-and-math-skills-deficient
society. (Ah, but "where is the wisdom in information?” T.S. Eliot famously
queried in one of his “Four Quartets.”) Second, you like lots of pictures,
another consequence, I imagine, of a world dominated by images—big-screen TVs,
movies, YouTube, video games, advertising everywhere—to the detriment of the printed
word. Third, I am not going to be drafted by popular acclaim into the Blog Hall
of Fame any time soon.
But that’s
okay. Although from a very young age I’ve rather fancied the idea of becoming a
famous writer—you know, like Louisa May Alcott—the downsides of public adulation
more and more outweigh any imagined benefit as I grow older and wiser (if not more informed). Harper Lee and J.D. Salinger, I
salute you.
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| Harper Lee tells The Guardian to go to hell |
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| The price of fame |
Thanks for dropping by. That is, if you did. And if you managed to get this far in that average one minute and 15 seconds.
Kathy
