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When I first began The Blue Muse*, I was days away from moving to Cactus Land for PhD school, feeling homesick already and envisioning the blog as a way to keep my peoples posted on daily happenings in the desert. I didn't conceive of myself as a "blogger" so much as an online diarist writing open letters for the four people who might be interested. Today, if Blogger stats can be believed, more than a hundred people drop by daily to read the drivel or probably closer to the truth, snag photos and run. Now, instead of writing just for my moms, I have something of an audience. Pretty cool.
Of course, I have Southwest 812 to thank for the majority of people who've accidentally stumbled on this blog-o-miscellany lately. My 15 minutes of fame (see here) drove pages views up to 47,000 in April of this year. Wowza! I wish I could say my witty prose sustained that level of interest, but the life and times of The Blue Muse just aren't as compelling as planes almost falling from the sky. Admittedly, I think I prefer it that way.
In thinking back over the last two years of writing, I'm thankful for everyone who has taken the time to read posts, offer a comment or follow the blog. What started as a strange hobby to keep my sanity during grad school has evolved into an active part of my life. I'm grateful to all of you dear readers who stop by and share it with me.
So now I'm curious, reader people. What do you like? What type of posts do you find most interesting? Which ones piss you off? Anything super annoying? If you're around here much, you know my base** of topics revolves around nerd-ness, airplanes, travel, cooking, gardening and whining, with lots of randomness thrown in. What kind of posts are your favorites? What would you like to see more or less of? Do tell.
Feel free to leave a comment or message me at bluestmuse(at)gmail(dot)com.
xoxo,
shawna
* People occasionally ask where "The Blue Muse" came from. It originated while brainstorming the name for my small business that never was. When I left my first job to move to Sacramento and start my master's program, I planned to do marketing/communication consulting to pay bills. I wanted a business name that was memorable, not already claimed and didn't include my surname. I'm pretty sure divine inspiration brought about the title.
** I'm aware that to build a following, experts say blogs should focus on a single topic. Perhaps post-Phd I can split up the topics into different blog streams. Until then, can you please pretend my random approach to topic choices is charming?
Congrats on sticking with it for 2 years, and yes, your SW flight is what landed me here. (I had a similar 15 minutes of fame after blogging about bumping into the Texas governor at the doctors office a few months back, and that bump in page views inspired me to keep writing.) I usually see your stuff on my google reader feed and you, by far, have the best pictures with you and your hubby flying all over the place. I just say keep writing about what you are passionate about. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kevin! Glad you like the photos. I'll meander over to see what happened with the Texas governor. I'm intrigued. :)
ReplyDeleteI have to say, I always enjoy reading your blog. Don't take this the wrong way, it's not that your life is boring, by far the opposite with all your travels, but you have a way of making every day things interesting and readable. I wish I had that talent, my blog is quite boring and I'm not nearly as dedicated to it, but I claim new motherhood as my excuse.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the kind words Kate. I do believe that mamahood gets you a pass on blogging!
ReplyDeleteKeep it all -- the hodgepodge: food photos, gardening plans, PhD lamentations, musings on whatever and this and that. Your writing and your positive energy is the heart of your blog, and why people love it.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cranky!
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