200

I don't celebrate anniversaries here, because the history of this blog makes them kind of meaningless. But I do recognize milestones, and we hit a big one today. This humble bit of scribbling you're reading right now is the 200th post to this site. It took five years to reach 100 posts, so I'm quite pleased that it only took 11 months to double that figure.

Looking over the past 100 posts, one certain event has dominated this space. When I posted my 100 update, I was most concerned with whether to create a separate blog to showcase baby pictures and keep this space more about humor writing and the like. Instead, this site has become an uneasy marriage between the two. The irony is that the baby pics probably drive more traffic to this site than anything else. Oh well. I still sometimes think about segregating the two into separate blogs. I'll let you know when I hit post #300.

I've been pouring over my Google Analytics stats with an intensity that would suggest I have a mental condition that could be controlled with some kind of medication. This is actually sort funny because there really aren't all that many numbers to crunch when you write a blog that attracts 50-150 hits per day.

Apparently, there still a lot of people who come to this site looking for pictures of Shahara Simmons, who was the girlfriend of LA Clippers star Elton Brand. She may actually be his wife now. Besides my first and last names, "Shahara Simmons" is the most popular search term that drives traffic here. That's a shame, because I know almost nothing about her and there's really only one mention of her in the comments section of an old post.

Several months ago, the following message was left in the comments section by a relative of Shahara's:

TO THE QUESTION OF WHO IS SHAHARA SIMMONS: SHE IS MY FIRST COUSIN,WHOSE REAL NAME IS SENACA SHAHARA SIMMONS. BORN AND RAISED IN NEWARK NEW JERSEY. STRAIGHT "A" STUDENT AND ALUM OF DUKE. SHE HAS A SISTER NAME ASHLEY. SHAHARA IS JUST A BEAUTIFUL DOWN TO EARTH YOUNG WOMAN WHO LOVES HER FAMILY. ELTON COULD NOT HAVE PICKED A BETTER CHOICE FOR A WIFE AND PARTNER. THOSE TWO WILL GO FAR AND PROSPER IN LIFE.

I LOVE YOU "SENNIE."

While I know little about either of them, I do hope Elton and Shahara do prosper in life. I'm assuming there are no photos of Ms. Simmons online, and that's why people keep coming here looking for one. If anyone has any photos of Shahara Simmons, please send one and I'll post it. I just hate for people to leave here disappointed.

Perhaps my favorite thing about maintaining a blog is seeing where hits come from. Google Analytics has a map function that lays this out in brilliant detail. Since last July, this blog has seen hits from 66 countries including Cambodia, Romania, South Africa, Uruguay, Zambia, and Hungary. While many of these hits can be chalked up to the vast and random nature of the Internet, there are some regular foreign readers out there, and I think that's pretty cool. Sort of like having a set of international pen pals.

Even when the random hits come, that's kind of fun, too. Two months ago, I was looking at my Google Analytics map and saw a tiny orange dot in the middle of the North Atlantic. I clicked on it and found that I had gotten a hit from the Faroe Islands. I was fascinated because, despite the fact that I'm a huge map geek, I had never heard of the Faroe Islands. A few hours of research later, I learned the Faroes are an semi-independent set of islands about halfway between Iceland and Norway. They have their own language, their own flag, and a stunning green windswept landscape. I actually signed up to get their tourist brochure. One week later, it arrived in the mail. I'd actually like to go there one day. They've got a summer music festival that looks quite cool. (Note to Faroe Islands Tourism Board: fly me out there and I'd be happy to write a lovely piece about the event.)

This post has gone on much too long, but all I really wanted to do here is thank you, the small little band of people scattered across the world who visit here from time to time.

I'll most more baby pictures soon, I promise.