This year is about to come to an end. Just a few hours left and it will gasp its final breath. We will count down the seconds, watch a glowing ball of light descend a few feet, we will kiss our loved ones, and that will be that.
Please click this image to visit her site and buy her art because she is awesome.
2014 will soon begin to exist only in our memories.
Lots of crazy things have happened this year so far as concerns a bunch of missing Malaysian airplanes, Russia wandering into other sovereign countries, ebola, ISIS, racial tension, and the rest. Plenty of good things have happened too. My daughter is two now, which is the funnest age she’s ever been. We are expecting another bundle of joy next February. Human beings landed a robot on a comet. I got to hang out with my brother in Europe for two weeks excavating Roman ruins and expanding my research for upcoming projects.
I’ve lost some friends to death. I’ve gained some friends by exploring shared interests.
All these are the important things in life. The rest of this post has nothing to do with those.
In the spirit of reflection and/or narcissism that crops up with bloggers this time of year, I will take this opportunity to talk a bit about what’s gone on here at joshuarigsby.com over the past 12 months.
It’s been a pretty decent year on the whole writing wise. I’ve had about a thousand more visitors this year than last year, which is comforting. People seem to be finding something useful here. Any growth is good growth, I suppose.
I’ve had a couple of spikes of interest on Reddit which was exciting to see, if also a little strange and unnerving.
Interestingly, the most popular post I wrote this year was a compilation of gifs about raising toddlers.
1. How Raising a Toddler is Not Unlike Living in Jurassic Park
Followed by a mini-rant about how the human race should not give up on space exploration.
2. America Did Not Win The Space Race
The bronze medal goes to the post I wrote about things I learned while researching the Berlin Wall.
3. 8 Things You Might Not Know About the Berlin Wall
The last two are also research-based, the first inspired by my trip this summer to London…
4. Visiting the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, England
…the last, a mini biography of an old and dead tall ship enthusiast.
5. Basil Lubbock | Historian, Author, Sailor, Soldier (1876-1944)
I’ll talk a bit more about what lessons I take from this list in a future post, but suffice it to say that people seem to like my compilations of funny gifs more than my treatises on politics and the human condition, so take from that what you will.
As yet unseated from its throne as the most popular blog post I have written to date is 5 Ways to Make Money As a Stay At Home Dad, which may mean that there are a lot of greedy male homemakers out there, or that I accidentally stumbled onto a fruitful SEO niche. Either way, thanks for visiting.
Top sources for clicks this year came from Facebook and Reddit, while the top five visiting countries were the USA, Brazil (?), United Kingdom, Canada, and Singapore respectively. Most people clicking away from the site either headed to my Homeless Blog or the Twitter account following the Cutty Sark’s Ship Log.
Like I said, it’s been a good year. I’ve got some fun and interesting ideas in store for 2015. Please, if you haven’t already do click the +FOLLOW button on the bottom right of your screen to subscribe. That way you’ll get a little notice every time I publish something new.
See you next year.
About Joshua Rigsby
Joshua Rigsby runs an independent bookstore in a small Georgia town. His writing has been featured on Thrillist, Atlas Obscura, Southern California Public Radio, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Atlantic.
