Bloggity-blog-blog-blog!

   Hello there, reader, where are you from?!

   One of the things that has made blogging so enjoyable for me over the last year or so has been the realization that people from all over the world have looked at my blog.
   Perhaps not read it, or liked it very much, or had any desire to follow it....but they have looked at it. And that's a start.
   From what I've been able to tell, they've gotten there a variety of ways.
   Most have done me the honour of clicking on a Facebook link I've occasionally posted. Some people have searched on Google Image, clicked on a picture they liked and presto, they're in to the blog! Some have typed phrases into a search engine and arrived there that way. Some "follow" the blog and receive e-mails whenever a new blog is posted and get there in this manner.

   I must admit that some people, I'm sure, arrive here by accident-- they saw a cool picture somewhere, clicked on it and it brought them to "Neanderings". Those people might not have stayed long, perhaps because they were eager to find what originally they were looking for. Hopefully, though, the "accidental" visitors found a little something interesting, even if by accident, and returned later.
   As I mentioned before, some readers have arrived here by typing phrases into search engines (generally Google) and then had "Neanderings" offered up to them, along with, I'm sure, many other websites. And some of these typed phrases have been very interesting! One person typed in "the sound of screeching". It took me a long time to figure out why the hell this might have taken anyone to "Neanderings" and then I finally figured it out--I'd written a blog months ago, entitled "Collisions", wherein I described the time I totalled my car and went on to talk about how the whole experience had gotten inside of me. And in it I mentioned the screeching of tires! Hence the connection.
   Quite a few viewers have typed in combinations of my name and "neanderings", in what seem like legit attempts to find my blog. I was quite surprised to find out that "neanderings" is an actual word--I was pretty sure I'd made it up and that it was totally original. Sadly, however, it is not. "Neanderings" is actually a woodworking term used to describe the use of hand tools, rather than power tools, for woodworking projects. It, as well, is derived from "neanderthal". Who knew?! I'm sure probably more than one carpenter type arrived at MY "Neanderings" thinking he'd found a like-minded woodworker friend out there, only to find he/she was dead wrong!
   But the most unusual phrase I've come across that brought someone to "Neanderings" was "all i care about is 2 things sex and rollercoasters". This seemed absurd and perfect at the same time! What the heck kind of a blog do I write, anyway?

   As I mentioned, the blog's been viewed all over the world--the last count was at 35 different countries. Now, you have to remember that I figure that a lot of people get there by accident and a lot of the countries have had one page view so it's not like I'm widely (or wildly) popular all over the world. The vast majority of the blog's audience are from Canada, naturally enough. Second and third place belong to the U.S and then Russia, of all places (still can't quite figure that one out...) and after that places like England and Germany, where I actually have some Facebook friends. It's still pretty cool, though, to check the stats and have places like Estonia, Saudi Arabia, China, Latvia and Luxembourg pop up!
   Post-wise, for the longest time blogs about my Dad's struggle with Alzheimer's and then his ensuing health issues and death were the most well-read blogs. I think that they became somewhat like a book or movie series, insofar as when you had read one you were somewhat compelled to read the next one and then the one after that. I also think that they were easy to identify with, many of us have had parents or other relatives go through much of the same stuff. Since my Dad's passing over two months ago, people are still reading those blogs, just about every day. The most popular blog of them all has been the one about Christopher Hitchens, entitled "Death of an Atheist". This blog gets 4 or 5 views a day, not sure why, and it might be one of those examples where people click on a picture of Hitchens and it automatically takes them to "Neanderings".

   If you title a blog "Sex" and post some provocative pics with it, you get a huge readership, right off the bat! Although I try not to use that trick too often...
   These days, I'm trying to figure out whether to start posting ads on my blog. My emotions are very mixed over this question. The last thing I really want is for people to come to my blog, see a lot of commercial stuff and then leave, never to return. On the other hand, I could use the money. And it's not so much the money but the fact that I spend so much time blogging that I almost feel responsible to try and generate some income out of it. I rarely ask for feedback on things I post but if you're any kind of a regular reader I wouldn't mind an opinion on this one, thanks!
   So that's about it for now. If you live anywhere in Africa, thanks so much for visiting, it helps the world map immensely! Anybody from Antarctica would be cool, too! Talk to you all again soon!