Out Of The 144 Photos I Posted In September, 2011...Only Nine Remain

Every once in a while, I'll check out some past blog posts. I've got a few thousand to choose from (3, 168, to be exact...). I thought I'd see what I wrote about back in September, 2011. Turns out, Google's blog format, Blogger, is great at saving the words, but not the pictures. 

Oh, there are spaces where the pictures once were, but the pictures--almost all of them--are gone. And I don't believe they're ever coming back.

I should say that the pictures weren't that great to begin with. I'm sure some were better than others, but most were...you know...not the most interesting shots out there. Of course, I can't remember all of them. I'm going by memory.

At first, I was a bit disappointed. I thought the words, pictures and videos would be there forever. But of all the blog posts created by bloggers across the world for decades, just keeping track of all the photos would be a massive assignment. I know I wouldn't want it.

I checked out September 30, 2011 and I saw the circle with a line in the middle--missing picture. I scrolled down and saw all the pictures were gone. I looked through all 30 blog posts from September, 2011. I posted 144 photos. Only nine pictures remain, eight from my post on 9/2/11 about a baseball book I bought at the D.I. thrift store (a book, I no longer have...), and one picture of acrylic grapes form a 9/13/11 post--interestingly enough, also about another trip to a different D.I. thrift store. If you've followed this blog, you know I love that place.

I know that over the years I've searched specifically for the post about that book and about acrylic grapes. I believe that's why those pictures pulled up when all the rest are gone. If you want to search those posts, be my guest. They're all located on the right side of this blog post page.

I know nothing lasts forever, even digital blog post entries. Looks like the pictures go first, then I suppose if the internet were to go away, so would all my words. It would be cool to have all these posts published into physical books. But if so, what would I do with them? Of the 144 photos I posted in September, 2011 on my blog, only nine remain. I wonder if anyone will ever see them. Looks like they won't see the others.

And, a decade or so in the future, will the picture I posted today of a missing picture show up? If past is prologue, probably not. Then again, it'll be the right picture after all.

Three-Thousand Blog Posts...Plus Seven

There was a time when I used to check stats and milestones on my little blog. I remember when I passed one-hundred posts, when I got a couple of thousand views, when I hit my one-year mark.

That was a long time ago.

Since I made it a goal to write a post every day, getting the post written became the important part. Every night for eight + years, as the day draws to a close, I think about what I'm going to write. I think back on if I've taken a picture (or several...) throughout the day and if I haven't, I look for something to photograph.

Then, before I go to sleep, I pull out my laptop and start clicking the keys. I come up with a couple of--hopefully, somewhat entertaining--paragraphs, add a picture (or several...) to the post, proof it (I don't catch all the errors...), then hit the "Publish" link in the top right corner of the page.

Another day, another blog post.

And I do it all over again the next day...a pattern I've continued since January 24, 2011.

If you're keeping score at home, that's three-thousand and seven days ago--eight, if you count today.

I may have glanced at the post count a month or two ago. Truth be told, I never look at how many posts I've written. Three-thousand is a nice number, thought, and had I paid more attention, I may have blogged about reaching the number when it actually happened. I didn't notice until I had surpassed the 3k mark by a day or two.

Yes, 3000 + 7. It's just eight short years. I wonder if I'll pay attention if I'm fortunate enough to reach 4k, 6k, 7k, or more. I guess the only way to find out, is to keep writing and see what happens.

Back When I Used To Monitor The Blog Stats...

I started this blog January 24, 2011. I've written a post every day. This will be Blog Post # 2199. Which means I've come up with almost 2200 topics, used more than that many photos, and posted each of them, one a day, for over six years. Number 2200 will happen tomorrow.

That's a lot of stuff. 

I knew when I started I wanted to write a daily post, and to be honest, I'm a little surprised it's gone this long. I don't know how long it will continue, but for not, at least, I'm writing tonight and plan on writing tomorrow.

I've learned a lot in the past six years. I hardly ever go back and read the old posts. That's not unusual for me. I've written a daily journal entry everyday since 1985 and I never go back and read those--well, hardly ever.

When I first started this blog, I was a little obsessed with the blog stats. I used to look at them daily, several times a day, actually. I remember getting excited when I a lot of people viewed my blog. I even looked to see which country had the most viewers. But things change over time. I almost never look at the stats now. One of the reasons for this is because I made a decision a long time ago that I wasn't writing posts for popularity. I wasn't going to do it to see how many followers I could get. I wanted to keep the blog going to make myself write something--at least something--everyday.

And that's what I've done.

Today I decided to just check out the stats. I've had over a quarter-million page views. The most successful post had over four-thousand views, the second-most popular had just over half that (I think you can click on the photos to see the numbers better...). Occasionally I've had friends tell me they like my blog, that they read it all the time. That makes me feel good. I like writing things people want to read. I wish I could spend more time on each blog post to make them better, but time management dictates sometimes other things are more important.

Yes, there was a time when I followed religiously the stats of my little blog. A long time's passed since the stats were that important.

Who Knew...I Had A Fan In Arizona?

It's not every day you find out that someone in Arizona knows about your blog. I found out about it on Facebook.

My friend J. Scott Savage, an amazing author and good guy, sent me a little message back on September 16th. Scott said that a nice woman came up to him at a writer's conference he attended there and asked if he was Scott Watty Doodle. To which he answered he wasn't.

Of course, I wanted to know just who that nice woman was. I would have loved to talk to her and see what she thought of my blog. Was she a regular reader, or did she see it once and the name stuck? I've written many times why I write my blog. It's obvious to anyone who studies these things, I'm not writing to the masses. I write it mostly for me and my family. And, if I ever made it as an author, it would also be for my fans. 

I thought at one time that I wanted a lot of readers, a lot of blog post views. But to do that, I'd have to change things. I'd probably have to give up writing daily, and produce more like a one or two posts a week. Also, the most popular blogs seem to focus on single issues, like politics or writing about a specific genre. I didn't feel like doing that, so I didn't and I haven't. Thus, my following appears to be loyal, but small. They're the chosen few.

And so I continue writing my daily little blog post, like this one. One day I might one day travel to conferences in distance lands and maybe--just maybe--someone might come up to me and ask me if I'm Scotty Watty Doodle. 

And on that day, I'll say, "Yes."

Checking Out June 27...For The Past Five Years

One of the advantages of writing a daily blog for over five years is you can go back in time and instantly access any one of those blog posts to see what you wrote about.

I know it's not the greatest advantage, but it can be, especially when you want to remember things that happened to you, or if others want to see things from the past. Since I'm closing in on almost 2000 blog posts (kind of staggering when I think about it...), I decided to go back in time and see what I wrote about on June 27 in 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

I was surprised.

Last year I wrote about an incident that happened while doing a show. I was also doing a summer gig performing at an amusement park. 2015 was crazy when it came to doing a show and I was glad my list of blog posts included something about performing.

In 2014 I must have been bored (or I had too many good pictures...) because I did a post about random photographs I had taken. I do that sometimes, but not too often. I like that post because it includes what I did during that time and it also brought back a lot of memories.

The 2013 blog post for this day is special for me. I dedicated it to a friend who we lost way too early. Danny Thompson was a special person, special in the way he made everyone around him feel better, feel good, feel loved. I found out that a girl I had done many shows with was actually my friend's daughter and she dedicated a post on Facebook to her father on his birthday. It blew me away how small a world this really is. I wanted to honor him and I hope I did a good job, even though any words I could have written were inadequate to let you know just what an amazing person he was.

The post for 2012 brought back memories as well. I used to participate in a weekly blog writing exercise. We would be given a photograph and five randomly chosen words. We then had to write a story in 500 or less words using the picture and the words. I wrote a lot of short stories. It was a lot of fun and helped me keep my daily blog going. It's been years since those running the exercise shut it down. Those were a lot of fun to write.

And in 2011 I wrote about our neighbors remodeling an old home in the neighborhood. They're now well established in their home with kids arriving and growing up. They even got a little dog.

I should do this more, look back on these posts. I hardly ever do it, actually. It's been fun to see what I've been writing about going back for five years. At least, it's been fun for me.

Pardon The Interruption...

It's Saturday and also a rare day. It's a day I was not scheduled to work--work outside the house, that is. And so, as the laundry was being cleaned and dried in the room next door, I pulled out the computer and did a little writing. In fact, I'm interrupting that writing by composing this post.

But I don't necessarily mind the interruption. It's good for me to try and expand my thoughts, and to do something that many consider a difficult thing--keeping a daily blog. I've admitted before that at times coming up with something original can be daunting, and I know I've bored many a soul with tales of Comic Con conventions, being in shows, and stories of my kids and our pets.

Still, it's something that I enjoy doing, so I'll continue.

Some of the posts are long, some are short. Some posts are poetic, some bland. Some are philosophical, others, not so much. There have been funny posts, serious posts, and posts that have made some cry. It's been a nice little break...now, back to the writing!

1500...And Counting

If you scroll down on the right side of this webpage you will see dates. Blogger has a handy function where you can easily access every blog post ever written for a particular blog. Each year has a number--the number of blog posts written that year. Click on the year and you get a similar breakdown of posts written in a given month.

Looking at those years and numbers, it was exactly 1500 days since I started my blog. 1500 stories or book reviews or posts about adventures or random thoughts or profiles of family, friends and neighbors. 1500 times I opened the blog and hit the "New Post" button in the upper right hand corner.

I remember when I first began posting in the blog I would highlight certain milestones, first month of daily writing, first 50K then 100K in page views, stuff like that. I've kind of forgotten about the highlights (although I do sometimes keep track of how many times the blog is viewed...). Today, however, I happened to look at the number of posts I've written. It came to 1499, which means this one is number 1500.

Of course, there's times when I've wanted to stop. One of my goals when I started the blog was to write everyday. This I've done, but maybe at the expense of other writing I've wanted to do. Then again, if I didn't have the blog, who's to say I would have written anything at all on some of those days?

For now, I'll keep at it, keep wearing the letters off the keyboard on my Mac. It's been just over four years since I started. It's going to be fun to see how many more I'll be able to do.

How To Write A Daily Blog

How To Write A Daily Blog

My mother-in-law told me that she reads my blog everyday. She's amazed that I manage to put out a blog post every day (she has her own blog and it can be found: Here...you should visit). I told her that she too can put out a daily blog post, but she disagrees. Actually, she doesn't disagree, per se, for she knows she can write daily, but I think--to her--a daily blog post is daunting.

So, I thought I would give some pointers on how I've been able to write a daily post to see if it will help anyone out there. I need to rightfully acknowledge that I've only been blogging daily since January of this year, and I know many, many, (many...) others have been blogging--sometimes daily--for years, perhaps even decades. I can only hope to have such dedication.

First thing, write daily. I have written a daily journal for literally decades so I'm hoping this tradition can carry over to the digital world.

Next, take lots of pictures and take pictures of cute kids. I happen to be blessed with very photogenic kids (and them wanting me to take their picture all the time doesn't hurt).

For the arboreal fans out there, get pictures of nature--it's all around you if you just look and keep a camera with you ALL THE TIME!

Pictures are great. They take the focus away from disorganized writing, poor grammar, and lack of interesting things to write about (or, if you're following Latin sentence structure...interesting things about which to write). If your house has a view of a lake and an island, throw in a picture of your house every once in a while (I do that a lot...). Inside the house pictures can be interesting too, even if the house isn't "tidy."

And, of course, if you have pets, any shot of a pet is cute--to somebody, all pets are cute.

Here, I incorporated two pointers in one shot...not only is it acceptable, but highly recommended.

These are some of the things that have helped me keep up a daily blog. Now, having said that, I must again confess that my blog is new and not the most visited site on the net (I NEVER said I knew how to write a SUCCESSFUL daily blog...). One source of inspiration (and someone who utilizes all of the above keys to perfection...) is Natalie Holbrook, a.k.a Nat The Fat Rat and her blog which can be found: Here.

Good luck everyone! Take pictures! Write stuff--good or bad! And most importantly, WRITE DAILY!!