I have achieved my goal of averaging 16 blog posts per month during 2009. One can quibble that some of the posts were skimpy, but that is no matter: I did not specify a standard for length or quality.
I did a quick survey of the post titles during 2009 and found that the great majority of posts fell into the following categories.
Things that I observed on local walks, on vacations, and at concerts: 90 posts
Book extracts and news items that interested me: 50 posts
Posts relating to my own opinions, preferences, and quirks: 15 posts
My younger son's music career: 12 posts
Work-related topics: 11 posts
Religious subjects: 5 posts
Short fiction pieces: 4 posts
I had hoped for a great groundswell of attention and acclaim for my blog in 2009. This did not occur. However, I was pleased to garner one blog follower.
Two of my posts, both posted on July 19th, attracted minor notoriety. The first post (Domestic Engineering) showed a picture of a grocery sack taped to an air conditioning vent in my kitchen. The purpose of this jerryrig was to help cool off the old refrigerator's heat exchange coils during the hot summer days. A link to this post was given in an on-line engineering magazine.
The other post (Advice for General Motors) was my biggest hit of the year. The post compared Tom Swift's 1910 electric runabout to the new Chevrolet Volt. The post was first referenced in an automobile blog. From there the post was picked up in the daily topics column of an on-line automobile magazine called roadst3r.com. Then, for one day, the automobile section of Business Week's website carried a link to my post. It was the zenith of my blogging career.
I intentionally downplayed short fiction this year and only wrote 4 pieces:
The Man Who Spoke in Paragraphs 12/28
Tinker Bell takes a job 11/28
Dirty tricks in the health care biz 10/13
Fear Not 6/16/09
All in all, blogging during 2009 was pleasant and gave me a useful taste of writing discipline. I now have a heightened respect for columnists. If I myself had to meet unending weekly deadlines, I would soon be out of ideas and out of a job.
