2012 In The Rear View

   2012 is quickly drawing towards a close. It has been quite a year. Some very good things have happened, some very bad things have happened, and yet life continues on. The memories made, and lessons learned will continue with it.

   When I started this blog in February, I was really just hoping to write about some things going on in my life to give my friends and family a way to keep up with me. I had closed my facebook account, and there were very few people that I knew on Google+, so I created the blog. I sent emails to all my friends and family with the web address of my page... The results were underwhelming. But I kept writing anyway, just because I kind of liked doing it.
   Even though I didn't get very many visits or "page views", I got something out of the writing itself. I found writing about things was an easier way to express myself than verbally, for one thing... But in expressing my thoughts in a written form gave me a chance to analyze those thoughts from a different perspective. I could read over what I said, and think about it more objectively, and in the process I have learned a great deal about myself.
   As I mentioned, I didn't get a lot of traffic to my blog in the beginning... However, that all changed when I got the wise idea to blog about a federal trial I followed in interest of a wrongly accused friend. I attended the trial every day and wrote about it here. As it happens, for a high-profile case there seemed to be very little coverage from the media, and what coverage you could find was minimal and biased. Not to say that what I wrote wasn't biased, but I'm not a journalist either. So, I was really the only one with any first hand knowledge of the trial, writing about it on a regular basis. And I got a lot of attention, more than I cared for really. Overall, I made twenty-one posts titled Smoke And Mirrors and in a little over a month I had amassed almost seven-thousand page views. I had regular visits from Washington DC, and Detroit (Which is were the trial was held.). So, I know the FBI was reading along with me. I also know some of the defense attorneys kept up with what I was writing, a couple of them even left comments for me. I assume the prosecutors would have had some interest as well. Not to mention Militias from across the country, I received more email than I ever have in my life, from militia members wanting to know more about the trial. Sometimes I was getting eighty emails a day. And then, all the defendants families and friends were also reading my blog. It was more pressure than I really wanted to deal with... But I started it... So I finished it. The trial ended up working out as good as it could have, and when it was over, I didn't look at my blog for two months.
   When I came back around it was in the middle of a family crisis. There were a number of things going on at the time, but the biggest thing was my Grand Mothers health was on a rapid decline, and there was a lot of moving her from place to place, as she went from her home to my mothers, then to the hospital, then back and forth several times form the hospital to the nursing home, until she finally won her battle and found her peace. I wrote about that briefly, but there are still sensitive matters over the ordeal within the family, so out of respect for the family after the funeral I didn't write anymore about it.  But I still miss my Granny every day, so eventually I'm sure some of those feelings will come out.
   With everything going on it made it very difficult if not impossible to post regularly. After two months off and some sporadic posts, I was right back to square one with no audience. Which really was fine. It's not like I was going to make a habit out of following federal trials, and I don't think FBI agents, and militia men have a whole lot of interest my flower pictures, or stories of cruising the back roads with my Mom.  So I was  going to have to shift my reader base anyway. And to be really honest, it still really doesn't matter to me who or how many people read what I write. I've said it before and it still holds true, I do this for me... Nobody else. I have made a couple of really good friends through blogging, and I love to hear from them. I'm sure given time I'll make even more friends, but I think it's better to just do my own thing and not worry about page views and statistics. Don't get me wrong, part of the attraction to blogging is the interaction you create with people through comments on each others blogs. And with a recent commitment to regular posting, and a  bit of networking, I have as much interaction as I need to get out of it whatever I want.
   Most of what I post on my blog is of a personal nature. I've written about my opinions, my past, my present, my future, my family, my friends, my experiences, my likes, my dislikes... Whatever happens to be on my mind when I sit down at the keyboard is what I write about. Sometimes I really like the things I come up with, sometimes I reread what I wrote and wonder what the hell I was thinking... But I always learn something from everything I post here, and that is the most important part of this whole deal for me.

   Here is a list of my top five posts (Not including Smoke and Mirrors.) of 2012, by top five I mean MY top five, not necessarily by most page views:

           On The Wings Of An Eagle... (Sort Of), This is a more recent post. I think it is probably my favorite post so far. It has some of my best pictures in it, and I really felt like I relayed what that experience was like for me. This post is low on opinion and high on experience, I think it's a post everyone can enjoy.
           A Perfect Day???, A very simple day, with a very simple message. A perfect day is all in your point of view...
           My Life In A Snapshot 1, A true story... And my first attempt at humor. I think anyone (except my Mother) can get a chuckle out of this short story.
           My Life In A Snapshot 2, I like this post because it was my first attempt at delving into some very personal feelings. This was the first post that made me feel like blogging could be personally beneficial.
            The Sunshine Blogger Award, Another attempt at humor. This post makes the list for a couple of reasons, neither of which is recognition for any "award". One reason the post is here is because it has more page views than any other post I've done... Including the Smoke and Mirrors stuff. But more than that this post was inspired by a person that without her support and encouragement, I doubt I would still be blogging here. So, thanks Menopausal Mother for being a friend. And any of you with complaints about my blog... You can hold her responsible. Follow the links in this post to her page and tell her all about it... (Well... Visit her page, but don't really complain about my blog there, okay.)

   2013... That sounds so futuristic. When I was a kid in the seventies the year 2000 seemed as much like science fiction as Star Wars. Yet here we are about to enter 2013, and out live the end of the Mayan Calender. Who'da thunk it?
   I'm hoping the new year brings less problems, and more solutions. Less tragedy, and more peace, and happiness. Fewer enemies, and more friends. I hope that I will build many more great memories with friends and family. I hope that I will continue to learn about myself, and take steps forward in life instead of backward. Mostly I want to live life, be happy, and know that when I'm gone... I did more good than harm. Who knows what really will happen. Regardless of how life unfolds, I think I'll stick around for a while and write about it some more... Here's to Speaking My Mind in 2013.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IN 2013!!!  

   On a final note I will be breaking in the new year with my first guest post. I will be featuring my friend from London, Rum Punch Drunk. Rum Punch Drunk is awesome and I know if you come by for a read you'll be challenged to think about how you live in the years to come...

   And I hope to feature some of my other favorite bloggers as time goes by too... I hope you will keep reading along with me as it all unfolds...