The Local Paper

I got started blogging because I figured it was an easier and far less intrusive way of spreading the Gospel of Mark (me, not him) than my old method–filling the inboxes of my friends with my missives.  I’ve been doing it for a couple years.  It’s not what I originally envisioned; I don’t post as regularly as I’d like to and I’ve pulled many punches on topics because I know that my readership consists largely of my friends, Facebook and otherwise.  Not wanting to overtly offending them and their sensibilities is a great editor of my writing.  Perhaps one day I’ll start throwing caution to the wind.  I’ve also got less time than I want, so doing it the way I think it ought to be done is quite difficult.  It takes more time than you’d think to fact check yourself on some of these things. (Imagine that!  Fact checking on the internet!  What a novel idea!) I have great respect for those able to churn out 500-800 thoughtful words on a meaningful topic every day.  It’s harder than you might think.

I’ve taken to telling people that my (much more frequent) Facebook status updates are really the thesis statements of blog posts than I’ve been meaning to write but don’t have time.

So I have  this handful of regular readers and a bunch of occasional visitors.  I’m fine with that. I wish it were different, but until I put the time into being more diligent about it, it will have to do.

Then last week, I wrote a little piece about how dumb it is that baseball managers wear baseball uniforms, how silly they look and how I’m happy that NBA coaches don’t wear basketball uniforms when they’re on the sidelines.  In it, I made an incidental reference to Yankee Manager, Joe Girardi.  Following the generally accepted rules of blogging, I dutifully tagged “New York Yankees” in the post.

It was the biggest day the site has ever seen by a factor of ten.   The second biggest day I’ve had was when I posted my “Alternative ____ Like a Champion Today” signs.  That has continued to draw in a steady diet of Notre Dame fans.

All this provides more proof of an old Irish adage:  There are no unmixed blessings.

The good news is that my site has a bunch of new readers.  The bad news?  They’re all Yankee fans.

So look for more cheap stunts to generate readership like gratuitous mentions of buying gold, naked pictures of celebrities, mentions of Ron Paul, Bill Clinton, conspiracy theories, Civil War re-enactment updates, LGBT marches, Nate Berkus, and Arcade Fire.  Just until I can get my act together.