Surprising Statistics

Recently I noticed a rather staggering number when scanning through my social media accounts. It turns out that, somehow, I have had over one million profile views on Google+. That being said, of the social media sites that I use on a regular basis I am the least familiar with Google+ so I had to do some digging to figure out how that number is calculated. This led me to a post by Mark Traphagen on the Stone Temple Consulting website which provided some useful bullet points:

• Posts are counted for any view of them in any Google+ stream. A viewer does not have to click on or otherwise engage with a post for it to count as a view. So even if the viewer scrolls by the post in her stream, a view is counted. Basically, the post just has to have been seen on someone’s screen. Interesting tidbits: 
• All shares of a post that are seen by others count as views, both for the sharer and for the original poster.
• Posts that become recommended content in others’ streams because someone +1’ed them can count as views for the original poster.
• Embedded Google + posts also can increment this view count. That’s because a post embedded in a site page using the post’s embed code displays in an iframe, which means it is actually being viewed on the plus.google.com server.
• Photos/images (UPDATED!) must be “opened” only need to go by in someone’s stream (or be seen on Blogger, Picasa, or Chromecast) to count for a view.
• Profiles & Pages only count as a view when someone opens them in their own tab or window.

Even with this “explanation” it is still a surprising figure to me as I am one that uses social media but doesn’t really leverage it to the best of my ability. When you factor in that I only have just over 160 Google+ followers, 3,536 LinkedIn followers, 1,000 Twitter followers, and exactly zero people following my blog through Blogger, it still doesn’t add up. I could dig a little more and try to find a proper accounting of this figure but, in the end, this isn’t really important.

The numbers that I am focused on are the daily goals that I have set for myself by writing a blog a day, every day, with a minimum word count of 400. That is what I focus on with everything else being a pleasant surprise. It is with this in mind that I find the nearly 90,000 blog views much more gratifying than the magical one million figure under my Google+ profile picture. The growth of the blog has been steady over the years and knowing that I have been able to keep the promise I made to myself (and later my readers) is what keeps me writing every single day.

TMI Tuesday: From Mime To Mimic

Ever since our son gained some control over his body, he would mime many of the things that we did. Sometimes it was as subtle as a facial expression while other times he would mirror our hand and arm movements. Clapping was a favorite for a while. There were even several occasions when I would be on the phone on my way home and he would honk the horn on his car as soon as daddy honked at the people cutting him off on the highway. It has been interesting to see what he would pick up and what other things he wouldn’t bother trying.

Now those simulations are a little more focused as he likes to flip through books just like mommy and daddy do when we read him a story. Other times he waits to take a bite of his food until he sees us doing the same thing at the dinner table. He even likes sitting on the couch, in daddy’s spot, and lounging in the same way. And while he has yet to start walking, there is a tentative look in his face when he watches us walk… a look that lets us know that the next thing he is going to copy is how we walk around the house.

However, over the last month he has gone from mime to mimic. While he has a few words in his growing vocabulary and can understand much more than he can actually pronounce, he has a tendency to sound out words and short phrases that he hears mommy and daddy say throughout the course of the day. Most of the time this is a great sound to hear as we try to teach him different words but there are other times when he picks up a piece of conversation that isn’t focused on his education.

Of course, there are the moments when he tries to sound out a word and it doesn’t quite match up with what was originally said. These are the moments that are both adorable and just flat out funny at times. For example, “Apple” and “A-Hole” are two completely different things but if you point to a picture of a Macintosh it is, according to our son, most definitely an “a-hole”. Needless to say, we are becoming increasingly more careful with what words our son hears us say and the conversations that we have within earshot.

The most important part of this whole thing is that he is learning and he is picking up things faster than we expected… faster than he should be. And when his ability to speak catches up with his cognition and ability to understand what we are saying we are going to be in trouble because he picks up more and understands more than he should at this point. Maybe it is from his obsession of watching Sunday Morning every weekend with daddy (yes, he looks forward to it and gets excited when he hears the introduction music). Whatever it is, I guess we are doing something right.

Achieving The Improbable!

When I first started this daily blog I had what I thought was a rather far fetched goal. I had never kept a daily blog before (heck, even my old journals have days missing here and there) and I knew that it was going to be a challenge but I still wanted to set a milestone that was possible even if it wasn’t probable. We all have these kinds of goals stored in the recesses of our minds many of which are forgotten regardless of whether they are actually achieved. Well, I clearly haven’t forgotten and now the improbable has happened as I find myself writing my 1000^th post.

Obviously, things have changed quite a bit since those first words were made public and the title of the blog has gone from descriptive to ironic but, overall, the basic purpose of the blog remains the same… honest reflections and reports about my life including my thoughts on topics and current events that piqued my interest. With that said, I have held myself to the basic guidelines of 400+ words per post which will be posted every day (although there are a few times I have had to play catch up). It has certainly been trying at times but, looking back, I am happy with the overall content that I have been able to produce and the ability that this blog affords me to look back at the details of certain moments in my wife especially those surrounding the birth of my son.

Not only has this blog served its basic purpose of pushing me to write but it has also forced me to pay closer attention to the world around me, the experiences that I have had, rework some of my long forgotten creative projects, keep in touch with people (family, friends, and followers), and simply appreciate all that has happened in my life. This is a record of my life which I can now pass on and while I started this for more selfish reasons I am now motivated to keep writing so that my son has something to look back on. This is now his life too.

One of the other ideas that developed in my mind as this milestone inched closer over the years is what I was going to do to celebrate this achievement. Well, sometimes the best way to celebrate the present is to revisit the past. Prior to this month, the last time that I published a book was in the summer of 2005 and now I have two additional books that have been resurrected from my hard drive, Paintings In Under A Thousand Words: Nature Poems and What Was Not Said: Echoes from the Holocaust. Both of these collections where compiled years ago and relegated to the confines of a small USB sitting in my desk. Now, having found the motivation in keeping this daily blog, they are finally in print.

However, that is just the beginning of the celebration as I am also turning many of the posts found on this blog into collections. They will, of course, be compiled based on topic and should be published throughout the year. The first two of these books are currently in the editorial process (I had forgotten how much “fun” there was in reviewing a galley proof), Out On The Limbs: Searching For Answers In the Family Tree and The Good, The Bad, and The Adorable: My First Year as a Father. These should be available within the next month. Again, those are just the first two with other collections from the blog to follow soon after as well as a few other creative projects unrelated to the blog that I have been working on.

So, I will end this post in much the same manner that I have concluded other milestone entries by offering my thanks to all of you who continue to read these simple words, those who continue to support this endeavor, and the family, friends, brothers, and colleagues that make these posts possible. Here’s to you. Here’s to the first thousand. And, here’s to the thousands that are to follow! It is only going to get better from here!

Golden Globes And The Art Of The Quip!

While flipping through the channels the weekend before last, I stumbled upon the Golden Globes. Actually, it was the cheekiness of Ricky Gervais that really caught my attention. With my wife and son sick and having long since gone to bed, especially since our usual programs were reruns, I was looking for something to put on in the background while I did some work on my computer. Now that a program was selected, I pulled out my laptop and proceeded to open up the numerous pages and tabs that had been dormant for the past day. It didn’t take long before some of the quips pulled my attention away from my work.

In particular, his banter with Mel Gibson was something to behold as you could tell there were a number of lines that Gervais was waiting to say hoping that someday the two of them would meet face to face. However, it wasn’t all about the ongoing dialogues. Many times it was a single line that had the audience gasping and my chucking from the kitchen. For instance, who else would introduce one of the nominees in the following way while taking a jab at another celebrity: “He’s also the only person who Ben Affleck hasn’t been unfaithful to. Please welcome, Matt Damon!”

Beyond the quick wit on display, one of the more memorable moments was when Sylvester Stallone won for best supporting actor for his role as, you guessed it, Rocky Balboa in the film Creed. Thankfully, he didn’t forget to thank his imaginary friend, the aforementioned Rocky, because that would have been an interesting apology later. Good think Adrianne is dead because that might have been even more awkward.

But there were also lines that were topical as well as humorous including an interesting reference to El Chapo: “I want to do this monologue and go into hiding, OK? Not even Sean Penn will find me.”

However, there were moments of seriousness during the broadcast beyond tremendous speech by Tom Hanks and the tearful acceptances of stunned stars. Leonardo DiCaprio, regardless of what you may think of him he is one heck of an actor, while accepting the Golden Globe for Best Lead Actor for The Revenant proclaimed that he shares the honor with “all the indigenous communities around the world. It is time that we recognize your history and that we protect your indigenous lands from corporate interests and people that are out there to exploit them. It is time that we heard your voice and protected this planet for future generations.”

It will be interesting to see if his actions reflect the words that he spoke during the ceremony and if he makes similar statements should he win the Academy Award next month. That is what it really comes down to… follow through. He can say, preach even, all that he wants but you earn the respect of the people you supposedly represent by taking action. So, similar to the way Gervais ended the night while invoking the sentiments of Mel Gibson, I will end this post with a single word… Shalom!

TMI Tuesday: Hi Da Da!

Someone call Sting! Our son already knows part of a Police song!

At some point each night, my wife and I try to unsuccessfully prompt our son to say either “ma ma” or “da da”. Every night and every weekend it is the same routine. When our son got really sick with croup some weeks back, he was finally able to call for his “ma ma” which alleviated the pounding in our heads just a little bit. It was that sad and touching moment when the two of them connected. He knew that “ma ma” would make things a little better and my wife was able to tear up as he said it for the first, second, and third time throughout the day and night. It also proved that he knows how to say it but chooses to remain a quiet little boy most of the time.

It is because of this that my wife has been pushing more and more for our son to say “da da” as she wants me to have the same experience albeit without the running nose and constant crying (bonus for me). Of course, it is just like our son to say “da da” the moment we stopped pushing him. It was a moment when we were playing on the couch after having been at the office all day and my little boy was just happy to see me. I forget what I had done to make him smile but soon after he said “da da” in such a way that he wanted me to continue keeping him entertained. It was a spontaneous moment for both of us and an instant reinforced our bond once it happened.

Like many of his achievements thus far he seemed to check it off the list as complete and moved on to the next milestone without any plan on revisiting what he had already accomplished. Hence, I have not heard those simple words since. It was a brief moment but one that will surely remain vivid in my mind for the rest of my life and I look forward to hearing it again when he chooses to do so. Who the heck knows when that will happen again?

I guess this is just another way in which our son is like me, at least that is what my wife thinks. We both tend to check things off the list and almost immediately move on to the next new thing, something that we haven’t done before. With that said, we have our routines and there are times when we both revisit our accomplishments especially when they bring a little happiness to those around us. And this little monkey has certainly made us happy.

Baby Bucket List

As the days fly by and our son keeps getting bigger and bigger, the list of things that I want to do with him keeps getting longer. Actually, it is not just about things I want to do with him, it is also about the milestones that I am looking forward to witnessing. While by no means my complete list of scribbles, here are a few of the things that I am looking forward to as our son grows up:  

1. First Words – He is already proving to be quite the vocal child and while he is already making a sound similar to that of saying ‘Hi’ when I come home from work, I am looking forward to hearing that first distinct word. I am hoping that it will be either mommy or daddy (or something similar) but I am not completely ruling out the possibility that we could have a similar instance than that seen in “Meet The Fockers”.

2. Crawling./ Walking – He has surprised us at this point by standing with little help from either of us (we are mostly there for stability) but he also has no interest in laying on his tummy so I am curious to see how this progresses. While a whole new host of issues arise once he becomes mobile, I am looking forward to the day when he demonstrates this little kernel of independence.

3. Pool / Swimming – This one is more for my wife. We haven’t taken him to a pool yet. This should be an interesting experience. Hopefully he likes the pool as much as he enjoys his bath (at least the first half of the bath).

4. Baseball – Now we are progressing a little further in his development. While he has already shown an interest in throwing things and watching baseball on TV (made for a quiet dinner at Fox & Hound last week), I am looking forward to putting those two things together. I just hope he got his grandfather’s athletic ability because it definitely skipped me.  

5. Lodge Events – While we have taken him to the lodge once I am looking forward to the future events both at my lodge as well as other masonic events in the area (and outside the area like our trip to Pittsburgh coming up). There are a lot of us with young kids and I really want to see all of us get together for an experience far different from those on meeting nights.

6. Synagogue – We are a little behind on this one. While there isn’t much that he will comprehend early on, we want our son to be used to going to synagogue and make it part of his routine. We need to get moving on this search.

7. First Day of School – Again, looking into the future. This is a milestone that I think every parent looks forward to happening. I will be there the day that this happens (mixed emotions and all). Hopefully he proves to be a better student than his father.

8. Family History – My wife and I have spent a lot of time learning about our families and we want to share those histories with our son. We want to make sure that he knows where he comes from and learns all about the people we come from both more recent and in the distant past. Hopefully, I can find some answers along the way and share these discoveries with him. After all, he is a continuation of both our families.

9. Family Reunions – This is something that my wife and I agreed is incredibly important for us as a family. We are starting this year with my side of the family (I will be writing extensively about our trip to Virginia this summer) followed by my wife’s family next year. We plan on going back and forth every year. Again, we want our son to know his family and family history.

10. Family Vacations – In addition to bringing our son to some of the places that my wife have been and enjoyed over the last several years both local (i.e. Jim Thorpe, Gettysburg, Knoebels, etc.) and not so local (i.e. Florida, Massachusetts, London, Israel, etc.), we are also looking forward to exploring new places and destinations with him. While we have no idea where those places will be at this point, it is still fun to think of the possibilities.  

As I previously mentioned, there are countless other things that I am looking forward to but this at least gives you an idea of some of the things that I am eagerly anticipating. There are a few things that I have already been able to check off (cooing, smiling, first weekend trip, etc.) but the list is growing much faster than we are able to take things off. I guess this is also a part of parenthood… the annoying, slightly OCD, impatient part.  

So I now turn things over to you: What does your list look like? What have you already checked off? What are some of the things that you wish you had done?

From Above

It seems to be lost in the news today with weather reports seemingly playing on a loop. No matter how much snow is on the ground, today will never be remembered for the weather that occurred or never happened. Today is the day we remember the liberation of Auschwitz. Today, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we rededicate ourselves to NEVER FORGET what happened, how it happened, and what was not done to prevent the horror.

The past 70 years have done nothing to ease the pain that permeates the conscious of the world, the families of the survivors, and the generations that were cast into the sky across Europe. For those that survived it is not simply a memory, it is a reality as vivid as the number on their arm. It is history that requires the strength of the living in order to ensure that those who did not survive are forever remembered.

Unfortunately, the lessons taught in the schools are continuously being tempered removing much of the horrifying vividness and barbarism that can be found in the words of those who survived the Nazi reign. As the number of survivors slowly dwindles we find ourselves in a situation where the only people that can describe what happened are disappearing. While we can do our best and even gain praise from those who were there, our words will forever fall short as our experiences will never come close to what actually happened.

Sometimes when we are doing our best we still feel as though we are falling short of reality. I have attempted to tell the little known stories of those who have vanished into history but I know that my words are just that… words on a page. Even the images that we have all seen on the screen can only convey so much. We watch, removed no matter how engrossed, far away in both time and space.

The emotions are still fresh even in what would seem to be an objective view such as the aerial footage of Auschwitz released by the BBC today. I watch that video and see the expanse of the camp from the vantage point of the countless Jews who floated up the smoke stacks and drifted over those same buildings on their voyage to meet G-d. It is an emotion and a connection that keeps me from watching the short video straight through.

However, just above where the camera hovered, jets scream across the sky. Hope flies above as the Israeli Air Force conducted a fly over of the concentration camp today. This, above and beyond any words that I can write, is the best way not only to say but to declare NEVER AGAIN!

600 Really Sneaks Up On You!

Honestly, 600 is a number that I wasn’t even sure would be possible when I first started this blog in May 2013. My goal back then was to just get through the first year as I knew that the daily routine of writing is something that I had long forgotten about. My writing remained dormant and while this is vastly different to the daily work that I was producing a decade ago, it is still keeping me productive beyond the confines of the responsibilities and stresses of life.

I have shared more personal items as of late while still respecting the anonymity of those around me, I have written about some of the things that bother me and piss me off, and there have been other posts that I wrote because a topic or certain thing that I watched or read interested me. There have been moments, especially over the last few months when I have doubted my ability to continue writing every day and I seriously questioned whether I should continue committing the time to these words. Those moments continue to come and go but, in the end, I made a commitment to myself to keep writing so that is what I am going to continue doing.

The usual topics persist throughout these digital pages as my weekly lodge posts and frequent genealogy musings have been joined by the weekly firearms related material and frequent baby updates. Now more than ever, you can see the diversity in the topics that I write about and why I chose from the onset to not focus on any one subject. This may be the most important aspect in keeping this thing going as there are times when I come up with the most random thoughts for posts and I know that I don’t have to second guess as to whether they would fit.

There is tremendous freedom in not being limited in what I can say. Sure I keep names off the screen but I can still make my point without calling people out or making others uncomfortable (and, given some of the posts I have put up, I am sure that my writing wouldn’t help them with their friends or employers if their name was found on here). And where there is freedom there is also structure.

I have made it through 600 posts now and few people can find their name anywhere on the blog. Considering the fact that given the 400 word minimum for each post that is at least 240,000 places where their name doesn’t appear. Of course, if you have read this blog for any length of time you know that I seldom come close to the 400 so it is probably more along the lines of 300,000 words.

Well, here is to the next 300K with the hope that things smooth out a bit. There at least should be plenty of fodder that will keep me busy. I just don’t know if it will keep my too busy.

Another Milestone

Last month I wrote about reaching a major milestone with this blog in that I finally accomplished the main goal that I set at the beginning of this experiment by posting a blog every day for an entire year. Well, as you have been reading, I have not stopped writing and posting. In fact, I have yet to dip under 400 words per post which, at times, is painfully obvious. I know that many of you are aware to these moments because over the weekend this blog surpassed 20,000 views.

Certainly, a lot of you read multiple blogs so I am uncertain as to how many actual readers are out there but it is a nice little milestone nevertheless. And it is one of those things that I really have no control over as all I can do it write, post, and do a little bit of dissemination through my social media accounts. The rest is up to all of you. So, really, this is your accomplishment.

It also got me thinking about how many times this blog is read and all of the views that I have gotten that are not tracked by the aforementioned stat. I know that I have a few people who receive my posts via email which doesn’t register in the total above. I am curious to know what the total really is but also what posts people enjoy reading versus those that they either delete or don’t bother finishing.

While this blog really is serving more as a journal or public diary if you will, I am not going to ignore those that read the contents on a regular basis. Obviously there is something that is interesting of else I wouldn’t have had so many views to date but what is it that you want to read about? You have taken the time to read about my views, time and again, but what are some of your opinions?

While I am happy with the progress that has been made on this blog, there is still something that is lacking… your voice. There are opinions on a variety of topics in the pages of this blog, some popular while others not so much but it should not be solely my opinion that is expressed. While I am sure that what I say represents some people it, by no means, represents everyone. So I open up the discussion to you. You can comment, email me, or write up a guest blog (even if it is of a completely opposite viewpoint). I want to make sure that there are more voices heard rather than just the sounds coming from my mind and mouth.