Strange Fascination turns 2

The ezine is now in the terrible twos ... -- © 2006 blogSpotter

by blogSpotter
Strange Fascination celebrates its 2nd birthday on 1/5/2007; doesn't seem that long ago that it started. SF began as my semi-therapeutic blog session. At the outset, I thought it would be more flexible and interactive -- like an internet chat room. Unfortunately, there hasn't been that much interactivity and much more of my own selfish pontificating.

Overall, the basic format and subject matter has stayed the same but a few things have changed.

New since January 2005:
o Advertising Associates such as Google, Apple and Toshiba. In theory, I get paid by the click but my volume (@ 10 hits/day) is way too low to garner any significant income.
o Syndicated material -- Bobstake artwork, Amazine articles, Bravenet news, Cinemablend and TVNow have been added to round out the offerings.
o Once in a blue moon, I'll get a guest author's point of view.
o One navigation aid, "Select by topic" has been added so that people can sort through the many topics (none of which do I qualify as expert :-)).

Readership:
I've had readers from all time zones, all throughout the world. Don't have my sitemeter stats on hand, but it seems like I've had a number of hits from United Kingdom. I've also had hits from the Netherlands, Australia, Bahrain, Denmark and virtually anyplace the internet can reach. Unfortunately, my hit count is a pretty humble 10 hits/day. Am thinking that if I offered late-breaking celebrity news (eg, PerezHilton), a unique service (eg, sitemeter.com) or provocative material with my own copyright (eg, any number of porn sites), my count would be higher. If more sites linked to me, it would raise the priority ranking in Google, but then there's that lack of provocative material.

I myself am a committed liberal, but some of my most frequent readers are of a conservative bent. I actually try to be objective, and have been known to take fellow liberals to task (see Bill's Meltdown or Kerry Don't Run).

Topics that get Response:
They say all politics is local and it must be true. The articles that get response are: politics (local in particular), war in Iraq, sex topics and humor. I should play to my 'strengths' but my mind wanders too many other places. What could I use more of? Original material, including photographs that don't violate a copyright law. Also, articles that are more than just regurgitation of facts or numbers -- articles that have wit, humor, irony, insight or bite. Authors, don't shrink from giving opinions, however contoversial -- it makes you a more interesting person. Almanac articles and term papers don't belong here, although in retropsect I've done a few pieces that come across that way. I discuss religion in an arm's length, agnostic way but don't adovcate any particular religion. I'm a theist who found God outside of the cathedral walls, and prefer to commune with my God in that natural setting.

I've tried fiction, poetry and creative writing -- these are met with a powerful snore, followed by a thud. Also garnering zero audience are my science articles. The philosophy articles get responses from a couple of people who share my weird curiosity about certain things, and nobody else. My TV/movie reviews likewise get good responses from a handful of movie buffs but they don't get posted comments or any big response.

And in conclusion...
I enjoy writing, but there's no telling how much longevity I have here. My voice could get hoarse, my fingers could get carpel tunnel and I might run out of topics. None of that has happened yet, and I still have those 10 hits a day. The moving finger writes, and having writ, continues to write.

© 2006 blogSpotter