The year (almost completely) gone by — 2021

From my first blog post of 2021:

“But as I think about the year to come, I realize that even though changing the calendar won’t make the problems of the previous 366 days — don’t forget, on top of everything else, 2020 was a leap year — go away, my hope is that by the time we gather again at the start of 2022, things will have improved enough that we all will have done something we can brag about.

Even me.”

I still suck at bragging, so the first thing that came to mind is less braggy and more happiness and relief, but I finally did get a job this year.

How about you? What do you have to brag about?

And while you’re trying to figure it out, enjoy the picture of Sasha in her new igloo.

A look at the numbers

This was a good year on the old blog.

Views were a little slow through October, but I had big number that month after posting every day, and will end this year with more views then ever, surpassing a pretty big round number.

Yet as I look at this year’s statistics, I noticed something.

People seem to enjoy my group stuff a lot more than my solo work. It has always been the case, but even more this year.

Based on stats from WordPress, the top 40 posts this year were either Sunday recaps, collaborations of some kind or, in two cases, posts I didn’t even write in 2021 — one about seeing “Moulin Rouge” in Boston (maybe it being at the Tonys this year caused people to pull it up) and one about Whamageddon (because a game where you’re eliminated when “Last Christmas” by Wham! comes on is universal and timeless).

I do enjoy tagging and playing with others — which is why I’m sure the Sunday posts and collabs are so popular — but I hope to do better next year when I’m playing by myself.

Top five posts of the year*

*Among non-Sunday, non-collaboration posts I wrote in 2021.

I responded to some silliness coming out of Seattle to wonder what would happen if the internet really ended.

I reminisced about good times at my previous employer.

A sign on a walking trail got me thinking about how we always promise to remember people, but don’t always keep that promise.

Before I started my new job, I had to finish the one I had been doing part time for a couple months.

Once the holidays are over, the new year begins and the decorations are put away, it’s time to move on.

Top five Sunday recaps

1. Sept. 5
2. Sept. 19
3. Aug. 8
4. May 2
5. May 9

Top 5 collaborations/challenges

1. Where do we hope to be this time next year?
2. I asked my blogging buddies what we believe in.
3. If we only knew what was coming …
4. Depending on how you look at the world, this is either the quiz I won or the only one where I didn’t finish last.
5. Hopefully people know me a little better after I answered these Christmas-themed questions.

Where the readers came from

My top five countries for views:

1. United States
2. Canada
3. United Kingdom
4. Italy
5. Australia

Interestingly enough, in addition to Australia coming in fifth, South Africa was seventh. I wonder if that’s because of Michelle, who moved her clutter box from South Africa to Australia this year.

The one-and-done club

Countries that registered one view all year.

• Egypt
• Oman
• Poland
• Argentina
• Morocco
• Albania
• Chile
• Bulgaria

Interestingly enough, none of those countries are repeats from last year, so either business picked up in Serbia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Armenia, Turkey, Cote d’Ivioire, Jersey, Austria, Peru, Sri Lanka, Norway, Barbados, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Mongolia, Hungary, Ghana and Saudi Arabia, or the people of those countries just decided not to come back.

The blog in 2022

I feel like everything is up for grabs.

Now that I have a full-time job (and a brain that takes forever to relax even when the day is done), I don’t know how often I’ll use the time I have to write blog posts.

Should I try to figure out a regular-ish schedule? Keep doing it as it comes?

Should I keep doing the Sunday posts, or should I include links to stuff I like at the end of my regular posts? I enjoy the Sunday recaps, and people clearly like reading them, but they’re a bear to put together.

Do I want to change the look of the blog? I start to think that every now and then, and never actually do it.

Whatever I do, I won’t abandon writing here completely. I like it too much, and I appreciate the folks who read, write, comment, collaborate and share way too much to ever quit.

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