Like anyone, I’m pleased when my blog gets many hits and mildly disappointed when I get few. I recognize the emotion for what it is; pride… or perhaps narcissism… not necessarily a good thing. Knowing I shouldn’t care doesn’t mean I don’t; but I try. It’s best to mentally keep hit counts on a short leash.
My hit counts have trended bit lower the last year or so anyway. I caused it. I’ve deliberately tried to steer around the low hanging fruit of politics which is the popularity generator du jour. (Being a guy that uses phrases like du jour probably cuts down on popularity too.) It was the right thing to do. It felt like the whole world lost it’s goddamn mind on November 8th, 2016 and I’ll be damned if I was going to contribute to it. I wonder if nobody thought votes really mattered and the fact that they do shocked both sides of the aisle. People allowed make their own choices may think differently than instructed and for some folks that’s a problem. They’ll need time to digest it. They can do it without me.
Forgoing politics (even if I occasionally fall off the wagon) isn’t an easy choice. I love satire and currently the whole universe is deliciously satirical. The time of Cheeto Jesus and freaks in the streets protesting for what made Venezuelans eat zoo animals is an enticing target. Bravely, I try to stick with squirrels. (When the bullshit of today is forgotten there will still be squirrels.) Satirical squirrels and antique saws isn’t going to land a million views and I know that.
Why am I mentioning this? I recently got more hits than average. Out of curiosity I noodled through WordPress’ metrics. Was it from one source or a diffuse thing? Then it struck me; this was the first time I’d investigated my blog metrics in months. I’ve been blogging for eight years. I slowly evolved from checking my stats every day to forgetting they’re recorded. Progress! How cool is that?
One more thing. My dog, who is still my editor, had grave reservations about my last set of posts. I concurred. Letting a personal thing like that into the world is risky. Is not the internet is awash in trolls who’ll hit you when you’re down? Wouldn’t people dogpile me (no pun intended) for fretting over my little issues when there are greater tragedies afoot? Apparently not. I’d like to thank everyone who commented (publicly and privately) for their supportive and caring response. It would be easy for someone to say “you and your dog got sick and it made you sad… suck it up buttercup I was hit by a bus” and tear me down. It didn’t happen. Folks are generally nice. What a great thing to find out!
There may be a bit of lag time in posts over the next several weeks. I’m sure y’all understand. Thanks.
A.C.
P.S. For the squirrels fans… I have not forgotten you. There is a plot. Currently it’s stashed in my pointy head and I think we all agree that’s not a good place to store it. But I’ve been stymied getting it to print. Eventually I’ll have time and peace and the words will flow. They must! I have phrases like “murder trout” that can’t be wasted. Also the Gatling gun with the laser sight needs to be fired at an Audi or I can’t die happy. Yes, it’s taking forever and I apologize. I tried writing in the midst of chaos and it just didn’t happen. I’m aware of and appreciate your patience. Thanks.
Being of a mostly libertarian bent with friends on both sides of the political spectrum, I have to say I am sick and tired of politics and tired of standing between two groups of people doing nothing but screaming at each other. I am sick and tired of wading through blogs that are more advertising than actual blogging. I am sick and tired of obviously fake #blessed Facebook posts. I am sick and tired of a lot of things, so it’s nice to get the occasional glimpse into the reality of other peoples’ lives and realize that they are struggling with the same things I am. It’s not so much that “misery loves company” as it is the joy of finding someone who is willing to confront reality head on and talk about it. That’s a rare commodity these days, so thank you for it (and thank your editor).
My editor and I are glad you like our blog.
It’s nice to hear from a fellow libertarian. You’re not the only one turned off by the groups yelling at each other. The more people go ape with politics (and the dial is turned to eleven right now) the more I withdraw.
Don’t despair about your friends though. Their madness is not your problem. At some level they’re just cheering for a team. They’ve gotten over agitated. The currently boiling pot may (hopefully) be turned back down to simmer some day. Or maybe it wont. Either way, enjoy your friends as much as you can but don’t let them drag you down. Talk about only innocuous things, smile often, and cultivate a private mind. For better or worse, periods of madness eventually pass. My editor wishes you good luck and so do I.
Sorta like EU football hooligans? (soccer)
Gatling guns? Lasers? Sacrifical Audi?!? If you stuff it with tannerite I would probably drive to location redacted to watch the send off and sing ‘It’s Audi Duty Time’.
I don’t like Audis.
Billy’s ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend needs his Audi to get shot up. It’s all about maintaining balance in the universe.
Eww. A plot tease! My mind has already spiraled a couple scenarios.
-In a fit of rage Billy chases slick Audi boy off road into corn fields where the Quattro is no match for the clearly superior Subaru All Wheel drive. Audi boy bails and hides among the corn as his Teutonic fetish is blasted to pieces.
-Doogie, sensing Billy’s need for revenge, hacks into the Audi’s cellular connected entertainment center using only a Sanyo burner phone and his immense intellect to render the Audi dead on the side of the road where Billy conveniently finds and destroys it.
-Smoking man quietly contemplates how to bring Billy and Doogie over to the dark side, because they are such a damned effective duo.
couldn’t afford the sharks with laser attachments? (murder trout)
How about murder bass.
Just when you think you got a croppy….BAM
I have a great origin story for murder trout. I haven’t fit it in the rest of the story yet but I will.
I like fishing for northern pike in Canada. I can’t have a story with “murder pike” because pike are already murderous on their own. Nothing but teeth, slime, and mean. Land a 3′ pike in a 17′ canoe and you got yourself a fair fight. That’s probably why I like fishing for ’em.
If you fire the Gatling gun at an Audi please make it a 100LS. If there is one still on the road.
I have no knowledge of Audis. When the time comes I’ll google 100LS and if it fits I’ll oblige. Don’t let me forget.
Like JK, I’m mostly libertarian … and I love reading your blog because you mostly talk about things other than politics. Things that are *interesting*. (Or in some cases tug at soul strings. Especially for people who own two dogs who are both brothers and elderly.) I rarely compensate on my own blog by talking about bits of string, but … yeah. Nowhere near your eloquence.
Thank you both.
I had a lot of people tell my I was crazy to ditch politics (though sometimes I can’t help but post a rant or three) but I stuck to my guns. It’s good to hear I some of my readers appreciate it.
That’s the thing with blogs, the author only indirectly knows if people love it or hate it.
Apparently my last comment may have got et. Thunderstorms make for bad internetz.
But yes, I enjoy reading your blog because there is so very very little politics, and a lot of doing interesting things.
Much kudos to both you and your editor for making that possible. And as the owner of record for two elderly brother mutts, may your grace be with you while he can.
Meanwhile I’m going to play with strings some.
Glad you like my less-politics idea.
If you want a shout out to your blog, comment with the link / URL and folks will get pointed to your land of strings.
http://dixieweaver.com/ – but you can also reach it just by clickin’ on mah name. It’s not wildly exciting, but it’s all stringy. And updates are random.
I once had two cats whom I referred to as ‘stir fry’ and ‘pot sticker’ (believe it or not, their real names were Kitty and Cat – Frank Zappa would be disappointed). They were a couple of unique little critters; one was a hugger and the other a comedian. Come litter box duty day, or cleaning up a pile of puke on the carpet, I would grumble about how they were such pains in the ass, and how I looked forward to a day when I wouldn’t have to deal with their (litteraly) shit anymore. Five years ago Cat died of cancer and last year Kitty of old age. In both cases, though mostly expected, when ‘that day’ arrived it stung like hell. Who wouldda’ thunk? I had always assumed it’d be like shaking a case of the hiccups; the annoyance is gone but you kind of miss the expectation… couldn’t have been more wrong. Sometimes I sure miss those two little goofballs.
So no, I’ll never begrudge a guy for fretting over an old dog on his own blog. Christ, that reads like the opening lyrics to a Terry Jacks song. Pray I don’t finish it. Gads.
I once adopted a kitten off a street in Europe and brought it home to ‘Merica. (There was some paperwork but surprisingly it wasn’t too much of a hassle. This was before airlines wen’t full retard.) Some years later the cat (now quite old) was eaten coyotes in the American west. If there’s a cat afterlife this particular cat can tell epic stories as the Marco Polo explorer of the cat world.
Well of course there wasn’t much paperwork to import a cat. After all, the Deep State figured it was just gonna be another Democrat voter, and for them it’s no problem.
Dogs, on the other hand…
}:-]
Cats aren’t Democrat or Republican. They’re evil party. BTW: the cat had a cat passport which was pretty cool. I lost the passport (and the cat). It would be a neat keepsake to have the passport back.
Keep on as you are AC. A random politic post now and then, written from your perspective are great reads but the homestead and life stuff go better with my coffee. There are blogs aplenty that deal with the idiocy of DC.
And go fishing. It is important.
being a maladapted curmudgeon myself, I DO enjoy your rants (otherwise and political). But, what I really want to know (even though I like the candy bar in the title bar) whatever happened to the beautiful gray tractor?
The tractor ran for a few years but conked out again. It now needs new points a battery and some minor TLC. It’s on my “to do” list but is getting rather ignored lately. I keep looking for a snowplow (front facing!) attachment for it. If I ever find one I’ll be very motivated to restart it.