Years Go By
Name someone who has written hundreds of thousands of words. Receives no compensation. No validation. No further thought into the civil service this person performs… AND STILL … takes criticism in a non petty, mature, respectful, way? You can’t.
Not Dave hilariously wrote on my last blog, after a technique I’ve never tried before, “Think, Think, What is a better blog I can read instead of this.” I’m going to throw some psychoanalysis into this one because I know it sells.
Splitting Tens
This blog has a core following of 7 people, maybe 8. Both Cohen’s and Bud are my friends. Not Dave and Rob Kelley are 2 more I’d put in there. Gourlay (who knows) and Alex Gwynne (guessed on this?) teeter. Laura & Jeff, I assume are also close readers. Everyone else is in the shadows. They check in, but everyday? I don’t think so.
The stats on a day when we release a post average about 50 people. A near high of 172 on January 7th, when I posted my DFS – Bachelorette post, generated 118 clicks from Twitter. So I have a general idea of traffic to this site.
“I Have People Skills!”
I know Not Dave. I know his career. I know general fragments about who he is as a person from his day’s with Sam and my marginal interaction. Which is why I know this guy is a loyal reader.
I won’t shame people publicly, outside of Sam, so understand that I’m writing this because I appreciate your dedication and because I know what good content is. Yet I have to question…no one knew my Mechanic reference yesterday? Which movie is this?
Our prior traffic high is 199, when I wrote this post on Sam’s inability to follow through, which makes sense because I was initializing a personal connection.
When Not Dave leaves his comment he’s pointing out that the post wasn’t cohesive and the draw (think think) didn’t make a lot of sense (and was stupid). My aim was grouping 4 independent, weakish, topics into 1 post. I’m not William Strunk here. So I take his comment as a joke more than hard opinion. Yet I’m going to dive into the backstory of why I find the comment amusing.
Not Dave is a 9-5 guy. He’s married and lives in the suburbs. Having a wild night out is having 3 beers at the Whole Foods. His job is looking at spreadsheets and regurgitating numbers that he thinks / hopes/ doesn’t seriously give a shit / make him look like he’s brilliant. He’s probably overqualified but the position is consistent so why stir the pot? Which puts him in this exciting position of reading and participating in this pathetic excuse for a blog.
This is great though because we need this interaction in order to build an audience. A community is stronger than the individual. What I’m pointing out though is that I never know if people ever read what gets written. Tell me when it sucks. Help me get better. I don’t see stopping this unless people stop reading completely…which I don’t think has happened yet.
“Advice? I don’t have advice. Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s no chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve got just one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves. Take a deep breath and tell us your deepest, darkest secret, so we can wipe our brow and know that we’re not alone. Write like you have a message from the king. Or don’t. Who knows, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to.”
[Alan Watts]
Write when you want to write and want to say something. Don’t worry about the 8-15 people. It’s not a brand. It’s catharsis. You don’t need to be entertaining or anything. Just write when it make you happy to do so. If you’re worried about losing 1 of your expressed 15 readers, screw them.
(Also, younger Cat Cora…)
A.) I knew the reference in the last post, but thought it was “Machinist” but knew that was wrong but didn’t want to Google to cheat.
B.) My wild nights (weekends since I don’t drink on work nights) involve me drinking plenty of beers while my wife sleeps on the couch and I proceed to gamble on anything that’s available. In this order: MMA, MLS, Horses, NCAAF, Golf, NFL, $1-$2 poker if I’m bored.
C.) Funny story about drinking: I went to my annual doctor visit and in the questionnaire it asked “How many alcoholic drinks do you have in a week” and I wrote “24” since I usually have at least a case maybe a 30 rack over the course of a Friday/Saturday. The doctor begins going through the form and she (confirmed a doctor, not a nurse, shocker) asks do you mean “2-4?” and I had to tell her no, 24 but I only drink 2 days a week. She looked at me with the most concerned look and proceeded to really work at my liver during the check up to find out it’s condition.
It is the Machinist, not the Mechanic.
O I know.