39,000

Yes, its an odd number. I would usually wait till 40,000 but I fear it may take a while to get that last 1000 readers. My enthusiasm for promoting this site has just about run out.

I never expected to be "discovered". I only hoped more folks would enjoy and even possibly be helped by encouraging words. I wanted the readers to enjoy it enough to share. Some did and I appreciate it.

Since July of 2016, when somehow 30,000 visits was crossed, I've written about a variety of things. [Mom], of course, has been a common topic. [Relationship] crap ( yes, I'll say CRAP - at the moment.... subject to change I HOPE!). Choosing LAZY as a temporary goal was fun in [Lazy vs Working]. People, such as [Tom Petty] and [Glen Campbell], that have passed away were topics both sad and glad - a nice reminder of why I enjoyed their work. Not so famous was my step-Dad, that I mentioned in [this] post and a new friend [Beatrice]. I wrote about [Fatherhood], my wishing for fatherhood in [An Open Letter To My Unborn Child], and another open letter, this time to the [Girl of My Dreams].

I have a few new favorites. I know writers aren't supposed to favor one over another, like children, but [The Last Song] and [When The One You Want Don't Want You] speaks to my own heartbreak. It's a strong emotion and one not so easily recovered from. All the reason to write about it, right? Hoping to help others and trying to pour out the pain to the screen..... in hopes healing would hurry up and heal!

I wrote about [luck] and my solitude in [THIS] post. I wrote about [Quitting] because sometimes you just SHOULD.[Motorcycles] were a different subject, as was [school pictures]. [Politics] popped up a few times, as did my [favorite book] and some of my [favorite movies].

My attempt at humor didn't exactly get me invited to do Saturday Night Live, but I laughed at {The Family Shame] even if few did. I balanced out the funnies with a look at what was remaining to do in my life, hoping not too much loneliness in closing out 2017. With my own disappointment in love, offset with the shining light of hope in a few stories of students at a local college.

It was a good period for writing, as in the last 18 months, I posted 54 times and have around 20 that are started. The positive, in my eyes, has been the enthusiasm that seeped out of me from July onward. It was no coincidence that the exact time I was exposed to the possibility of drowning  in July. Sorrow from the reality that the woman I wanted in my life didn't want me in hers.

When STRONG emotions run me over, words come out so easily, it seems it will never stop. That's the positive of being crushed. Yet it does stop. Too often and for too long....

I have no delusions of this site ever being more than a repository for my thoughts and malformed sentences. If it was suddenly popular, I couldn't imagine what I would do or write about. I always felt like I was a minor character in my postings and that the reader should be recognizing him/her self in them instead. Maybe that is why promoting is such a chore, and why I have pretty much stopped.

I doubt I will get to 100,000 visits, but if it occurs, I will write about that journey as I did with this much shorter trip. With memories of the first day and the first 10, then 100 readers still firmly planted in my mind, imagining so many folks stopping by for a "bag of chips" is both humbling and gratifying.

You will never know how much it is appreciated to hear back from those that my words touched and know that strangers have seen a value here and shared with others.

Thank you and hopefully you will come again!

UPDATE: January 28, 2018

FINALLY got to 40k... a bit faster than expected. Does this mean I'll keep trying to promote and expand readership? Well.....

I'm dipping my toe in Instagram, so I guess I'll keep up the effort to entertain. If you stopped by and enjoyed the time here, let me know! All writers love hearing from readers...

Thank you one and all for visits!