Stats

So as part of having a blog through blogger (possibly all websites?)  I get a breakdown of all the traffic on my page.  The main thing I look at is simply how much traffic I'm getting:

As you can see, this was a pretty slow week.  In addition to that overview I can also break it down into posts, traffic sources, and audience:

Just like that.  So I can tell what my readers are reading, where they're linking from, and where they are in the world.  Each category breaks it down just a little more.  The one that I really enjoy looking at is the Traffic Sources category.  I like knowing how people found my blog.  Was it through a link I posted or an e-mail or something they searched for?  So this right here is also a little warning to all of you out there.  The Internet tracks everything.  And it probably gives away more information than you realize.  You might be saying, 'Yeah, yeah we know that already, what does it have to do with this post?'  Well I'll show you.  Because  looking at the search keywords is my favorite part of the stats bar.  Check it out:

Kreativ Blogger?

Recently I received a comment telling me I was "awarded the Kreativ Blogger award."  I'm not exactly sure what that is to be honest, so out of pure curiosity I duly followed the link of said comment to SheilaScribbles blog.  Apparently this is an honor in the blogging world, so thank you Sheila for discovering my blog and finding me good enough to receive this award!

As a part of this award I actually have to do something (*sigh* so demanding!).  And as a part of this award I wanted to find the originating page, which was actually more difficult than I was expecting.  After simply tying Kreativ Blogger into Google all the pages I got were receiving pages, but nothing about the origination.  So I had to get a little more 'kreativ' about my search words.  Anyways, as it turns out, the 'award' originated in 2008, but it really wasn't an award.  More of an acknowledgement.  And now it has turned into somewhat of a chain letter.  From what I got from Sheila, accepting the award comes with the following:  

"1. Thanking the blogger who nominated me to receive the award and providing a link back to their blog

2. Sharing 10 things about yourself that bloggers might find interesting!

3. Nominate 6 other bloggers to receive the award and inform them."

Good Times with Carol Burnett

Every now and then I go on a bender where I will sit or whatever for maybe 3-4 hours and just watch or listen to whatever I want.  I often do this with Whose Line is it Anyway? videos on YouTube.  This time, however, it was The Carol Burnett Show.

Some of you out there may not realize this as of yet, but I love the classics.  Love 'em.  I have a pretty extensive collection (I think) of 50s and 60s music that I absolutely love, the movies are great, and really who can't love the old sketch comedy shows?  And yes, I realize this show was on into the late 70s and really isn't that old, but I don't care.

My most recent bender started because I was cleaning out my inbox in my e-mail.  My oldest saved e-mail is a link to a Burnett Show video.  It was all downhill from there. 'Which video?' you may be asking.  It was (drum roll please) The Dentist.

A hilarious sketch with Harvey Korman and Tim Conway.  And there is plenty more where that came from!  YouTube is a fine source of these videos, and it's also where I spent a good three hours watching sketches, including the bloopers.  My neighbors were probably wondering what I was watching because the laughter didn't stop.

If you've never watched The Carol Burnett Show, then I highly recommend it.  And really the only way you'll get to do it is to spend about $160 and buy some DVDs or you can go on YouTube and watch individual sketches.  Some of my favorites are below, in no particular order.  I also recommend you follow the link and watch the three 'Bust Ups, Bloopers and Blunders' videos.  I did a link because I just couldn't get the videos to show up on here.  These aren't full skits, but they are extremely funny and I don't think you need much experience with the show to get a kick out of them.

Mission Completion!

Well it's been a week since the end of the April A to Z Blogging Challenge.  It's probably a good thing that it ended when it did because it's now the end of the semester and time for finals!  As part of the challenge, however, it is... suggested that everyone do a review of the experience today, so here's mine!

I originally signed up for the challenge as a way to get me blogging on a regular basis, and yes it certainly worked for the month of April.  Unlike a lot of the suggestions on the main page for the challenge, I neither wrote a full list of my chosen topics, chose a theme to write around, nor wrote any posts ahead of time.  That probably made my life a little more hectic than it necessarily had to be, but it worked out so I guess I'm okay with it.

I did have some topics before hand, but as the challenge progressed I actually became quite picky with them and most of the pre-picked topics were thrown out in favor of ones that I thought of on the day.  I really liked doing this because it made the blogs a little more spontaneous, I think, and more enjoyable for me to write.  Take my D post, I thought up that one in the shower and typed it up in about 20 minutes!  The hardest thing about that post was tracking down all the pictures.  And everybody LOVED that post, myself included.  So yes, some of my best work is definitely spur of the moment.

The thing I probably enjoyed the most was the response from my new reader base (and my old one).  Yay!  It's always reassuring to know that people actually enjoy what I'm writing, especially when I don't personally know most of them.

I started the posts with a very tenuous theme, that being things that related me to other people.  Avatar: The Last Airbender = roommate, Binturong = colorguard instructor, Chickadee = Grandma Kenney, MCKD = Dad and friends, etc.  But right around 'I' was when I started to deviate.  'I', 'J', and 'K' can be tricky letters if you ask me, and my inspiration only went so far.  I did try quite hard to stick to my 'theme' but some posts just got away.

All in all I enjoyed the Challenge, as it certainly was challenging in the way I went about it.  At this point in time I have every intention to participate again next year, and maybe then I'll have a bit more structure to my posting.  And then again, maybe not.