Running On Empty

I've had a horrible time coming up with blog posting ideas this week. So I am resorting to a second look at the stats my blog is generating.

Visits to the site have been really up and down for the last month. Keep in mind I remove my visits to the site from the data. So this is all traffic my other folks. I wouldn't want to purposely skew the data.

The post that received the most views this month was "Mine Mine Mine, It's Mine!". The post all bout my new car purchase. Strangely enough, it was the posting about my new favorite frozen dinner,  that came in second. After those 2, things leveled out. It lets me know that my viewership likes posts about cars and food.

Kim isn't going to be happy about this. Her blog is not my highest referrer this time around. In fact, she isn't even in the top 3 this time! I attribute this to the fact that she isn't posting very often anymore. This month's top referrer is (drum roll please) Weight Loss, Jabber & What Not (thunderous applause!). Thanks Laura, I appreciate the traffic and want all of my readers to click over to her blog…right now! Ok, wait till you're done reading my post first.

Aside from the US, my next top locations for viewing this time around are Germany and Canada. I also got a few views from Thailand and Singapore. Welcome to my friends from the Far East.

I am fast approaching the 3000 page views mark. How exciting! Thank you all for continuing to read and comment. But, as always, comment more!

The Stats

Hello everyone!

I've been checking out the stats page for my blog and surprisingly enough, they aren't all big fat zeros! I'm even getting some international traffic! People in Botswana and Moldova are reading Jim, not Mike.

I am also very happy to report that most of the folks viewing my blog are using a Macintosh computer. I greatly appreciate that…Go Mac!!! I know who those of you are who aren't and I'm wagging a finger at you right this very minute.

Just kidding, I don't care how you chose to view my blog and COMMENT (hint, hint), I just love that you do! That anyone does, for that matter.

A great big thank you to Kim and her blog Fitness, God and Musings. Her blog is solely responsible for the largest number of referrals to my blog. Bless her heart. I picture her just sitting there everyday, clicking away to my blog even tho I know that not to be true…I can picture it! But someone is, and that is all that matters. Also, a great big thanks to Laura over at Strat's Garden. She was second runner up in the most referred viewers listing. I really appreciate you both listing me on your blogs and sending readers my way.

I'm approaching the 2000 page views mark…I guess I need to click over more :-) My visits are down a bit since February. Perhaps I need to become a little more controversial? Perhaps I should post on some more general topics that would come up in Google searches more often. We'll see. I will let you know that I am planning a contest/award of some kind when I reach the 5000 views mark. I can't promise that it will a big money prize, but I do guarantee that it will be truly unique and something that only I could provide. So, think about that and ruminate on what it might be that I could be offering a prize for.

Also surprising is that my post asking if I should put ads on the site wins for "Most Page Views". Apparently, 20 people thought that was a hot topic! The Oscar Fashion post came in a close second at 19…but who doesn't love fashion?

What's really funny is that some found my blog by typing "of it was just the naughtiness" into the Google search engine. Seems like an odd combination of words to me, but if it works…I'm into it.

I'm no statistician, but it's fun to look at the graphs and pie charts.

Do As I Say...Not As You Think I Ought To

Ok, so I took some flack for my last post. Not through the comments unfortunately, but through email. The comments section is expressly for comments people! A few people wondered, "How could I point the finger at this poor misguided man when I myself am posting on the same site he found me on?"

Well gentle readers, there is one major difference in the 2 of us. I make no secret of what I do, when, where, and with whom I do it. I hide very little, much to the dismay of many people. My partner, my friends, even my coworkers are aware that my relationship is an open one. As I said to my dear hubby when we were first getting serious, "I am a slut. I was a slut before you met me, there is very little to suggest that this is going to change without a major act of Congress or a shift in the globes rotational axis."

Now people will scoff, "Well an open relationship is the same thing as cheating!" They would be mostly correct, but there is still one major difference. The lies. Cheating involves lying. In order to cheat effectively one must lie to their partner about. The deception is what makes it cheating. Now I know of many relationships that call themselves open and still lie, or simply don't mention the folks they are fooling around with on the side. For some open relationships that works. What it really comes down to is the initial agreement. I myself will not make an agreement to an open relationship that does not include full disclosure. But many consensual open relationships exist that thrive on one or both of partners not being fully cognitively aware of exactly what the other is up to, but yet are completely aware they are indeed up to it.

I will be more careful in the future when dealing with scandalous or sensitive topics to also include my motivations and prior viewpoints so as to avoid and backlash and judgmental finger-pointing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the feedback...I live for it! I just prefer it in the comments section :-)