It should not surprise you at all when I tell you that I am one of those individuals who actually spends time writing goals and a game plan for my New Year, and in case you were wondering, yes, for the most part, I do stick to them!!!
With that being said, one of my major goals for this upcoming year is to transition to a career as a paralegal. In order to do that, I need to complete two more courses - Real Property and Advanced Legal Research & Writing. I'm not so concerned about the Real Property class (other than the fact that it will be insanely boring), but from what I have been told, the Advanced Legal Research & Writing class has a killer workload that requires one to spend countless hours in the law library. I am in love with the law library - so that's not the issue. I do, however, see the countless hours part posing a dilemma!
I am not prepared to completely abandon this blog because I am very attached to it, but I will have to cut back on the number of days per week that I post. I think I can realistically turn out at least four good & solid posts per week. So I am taking tomorrow off, and I'll be back with a brand new post starting on Monday, December 31, 2012. Then I'll post weekly from Monday through Thursday. That honestly seems to be when I get the vast majority of traffic to the site; so I am also attempting to accommodate all of you who read my random silliness... and because I don't think I have had an opportunity to say it: "Thank you to anyone who has taken a moment to read my random silliness... it actually does mean a lot to me!!!"
XOXOXO
Anastasia
**********************************************************************
FAQ's
Over the past few months, some individuals have posed different questions to me in regards to my blog and various posts... so I will attempt to answer them below...
1) Why do you keep calling it a mixed-tape??? I call it a mix-tape!
Okay, this one, for me, is a grammatical thing. If you call it a mix, then mix is being used as a noun. If you call it a tape, then tape is also being used as a noun. A noun cannot be used to describe another noun. That's where our other friends, also known as adjectives, come into play. Mixed is the adjective form - like mixed nuts and mixed salads... and mixed-tapes... don't worry, though, I won't hold it against you if you call it a mix-tape. Okay, maybe I'll cringe a little bit on the inside (and so would all the nuns who taught me grammar --- no, wait, they would smack you with a ruler).
2) How do you know if people actually read what you write?
Honestly, I have no way of knowing if people read what I write unless they specifically comment on something that I posted; however, I did not create this blog with the intentions of anyone other than friends and family accessing and enjoying it.
I was giddy with excitement when I hit 100 pageviews; I was exuberant when I got 1000 pageviews, and I was bursting with fruit flavor when I last saw that I had over 3800 pageviews!
Blogspot gives you a fancy little dashboard that tells you how many pageviews you have and the top ten countries of your viewers. It's fairly safe to assume that the views from Russia are bogus and have me linked to some gnarly sex sites, but from what I can tell, the others appear to be somewhat valid. Still, there is no guarantee that any of them actually read anything --- and why does everyone dislike reading so much - what's wrong with people?!?!?
3) Is anybody officially following your blog?
I don't even know. I never turned that feature on when I got to the widget's screen --- that's why you don't ever see a bunch of random peoples' profile pictures off to the right of my blog, under or above the post history, like you see on other blogs. Maybe I do have followers & maybe I don't --- the world will never know... nor will I. I sort of like the mystery of it all!!!
4) Which posts have been accessed the most?
Actually, people can stop by my blog and fiddle around without having to access any specific posts, so I'll never have a truly accurate count of that information. However, I am given stats as to which posts were specifically clicked on and how many times, but I only have the ability to see the top ten here, as well. I'll break it down for you below:
I) In the top spot is the post that I did around the one-year anniversary of Amy Winehouse's death. From what I can gather, it seems like most people access that one to look at her tattoos. I don't even know from where I snagged that picture, but it has become quite popular! The dashboard shows what people typed into the Google search to get to the site, and these two searches were my favorite for this post: from France - "tatouage d'élvis" & from Latvia (I'm guessing this translates to Amy Winehouse tattoos) - "эми уайнхаус тату"
II & III) It appears that my favorite young gentlemen in the local band, Sunglasses & Sugar, hold the second and third spots. Most of these views came from the Facebook & website links & Google searches that sent traffic my way. Take heed when I say that this band will become one of your new favorites if you give them a listen --- very catchy music & lyrics --- check 'em out --- you know you want to. As I tell my students when I am coercing them to do something, like homework or studying or silent reading: "C'mon, all the 'cool kids' are doing it! Don't you wanna be a 'cool kid'?!?!?" --- they either laugh or roll their eyes at me...
IV) The next one is kind of odd --- The Pocket Rockers - Tiffany post. I couldn't determine if it was the Yiddish banter in the comments, or if it was the picture update of Donnie & me at the show, or if it was just the fact that people were really interested in what I had to say about Tiffany that made this one so popular. I suppose it could also be the link from the band site, as well.
V) That one is followed by the Halloween post --- that was a fun one for me!!! I'm glad that others seemed to enjoy it too!
VI) After that one is Morrissey, whom I am patiently waiting to see in February, with "My Love Life"... That was another fun post, and the video is one of my all-time faves. Somebody asked me if I really had to wipe drool off my keyboard... uh, no, I was joking about that!!!
VII) The next one is the Tammy Wynette post. I had just lost my grandmother a few days before that one, and I was so, so sad. When my iPod picked this one, however, it reminded me of my other grandmother too, and I wanted everyone to see how insanely awesome all of my grandparents were!!! It sucks that I don't get anymore holiday celebrations with them, but I will always have my memories... and yes, my maternal grandparents really were the Polka King & Queen of Texas. They even danced on one of those floats in the State Fair of Texas parade that year.
VIII & IX) These are both posts about the teen club XENON --- that place kicked @rse and introduced me to many of the bands that I still adore today! And for all of you Erasure fans, Vince Clark will be at the Lizard Lounge on Friday, January 18, 2013.
X) The last one is the Jane's Addiction - "Classic Girl" post. Two words here: Casey Niccoli... need I say more?!?!?!
5) Do you make any money doing this?
Um, no, and I don't make much money as a teacher either --- so not everything is about money for me. I love music, and I love literature... they are my passions... blogging about bands allows me to have the best of both worlds in this case! It has been suggested that I look into putting some ads up on my blog to see if I can generate income, but I cannot bring myself to do it... I hate it when I try to access a blog and I have to wait almost five minutes for all of those ads and widgets to pull up... therefore, I have no intention of doing that to anyone who accesses my blog... I like to keep it simple - it's a good motto for life too!
And if you have made it this far, then you definitely deserve a reward!! I'm a teacher; it's my duty to reward good and dedicated behaviors. So what I will offer you is the video to my favorite song in the whole wide world - "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. Even when I finally get around to having The Cure week, I will most likely talk about some of their more obscure material; so I am not ruining anything. Most people are amazed that, since I have such a wide variety of musical tastes, I am able to narrow it down to just one, but this song has been my favorite since the first time I heard those drums and that bass line kick in at some point in 1988. I'll even show you proof throughout the years:
I) In the top spot is the post that I did around the one-year anniversary of Amy Winehouse's death. From what I can gather, it seems like most people access that one to look at her tattoos. I don't even know from where I snagged that picture, but it has become quite popular! The dashboard shows what people typed into the Google search to get to the site, and these two searches were my favorite for this post: from France - "tatouage d'élvis" & from Latvia (I'm guessing this translates to Amy Winehouse tattoos) - "эми уайнхаус тату"
II & III) It appears that my favorite young gentlemen in the local band, Sunglasses & Sugar, hold the second and third spots. Most of these views came from the Facebook & website links & Google searches that sent traffic my way. Take heed when I say that this band will become one of your new favorites if you give them a listen --- very catchy music & lyrics --- check 'em out --- you know you want to. As I tell my students when I am coercing them to do something, like homework or studying or silent reading: "C'mon, all the 'cool kids' are doing it! Don't you wanna be a 'cool kid'?!?!?" --- they either laugh or roll their eyes at me...
IV) The next one is kind of odd --- The Pocket Rockers - Tiffany post. I couldn't determine if it was the Yiddish banter in the comments, or if it was the picture update of Donnie & me at the show, or if it was just the fact that people were really interested in what I had to say about Tiffany that made this one so popular. I suppose it could also be the link from the band site, as well.
V) That one is followed by the Halloween post --- that was a fun one for me!!! I'm glad that others seemed to enjoy it too!
VI) After that one is Morrissey, whom I am patiently waiting to see in February, with "My Love Life"... That was another fun post, and the video is one of my all-time faves. Somebody asked me if I really had to wipe drool off my keyboard... uh, no, I was joking about that!!!
VII) The next one is the Tammy Wynette post. I had just lost my grandmother a few days before that one, and I was so, so sad. When my iPod picked this one, however, it reminded me of my other grandmother too, and I wanted everyone to see how insanely awesome all of my grandparents were!!! It sucks that I don't get anymore holiday celebrations with them, but I will always have my memories... and yes, my maternal grandparents really were the Polka King & Queen of Texas. They even danced on one of those floats in the State Fair of Texas parade that year.
VIII & IX) These are both posts about the teen club XENON --- that place kicked @rse and introduced me to many of the bands that I still adore today! And for all of you Erasure fans, Vince Clark will be at the Lizard Lounge on Friday, January 18, 2013.
X) The last one is the Jane's Addiction - "Classic Girl" post. Two words here: Casey Niccoli... need I say more?!?!?!
Um, no, and I don't make much money as a teacher either --- so not everything is about money for me. I love music, and I love literature... they are my passions... blogging about bands allows me to have the best of both worlds in this case! It has been suggested that I look into putting some ads up on my blog to see if I can generate income, but I cannot bring myself to do it... I hate it when I try to access a blog and I have to wait almost five minutes for all of those ads and widgets to pull up... therefore, I have no intention of doing that to anyone who accesses my blog... I like to keep it simple - it's a good motto for life too!
**********************************************************************
And if you have made it this far, then you definitely deserve a reward!! I'm a teacher; it's my duty to reward good and dedicated behaviors. So what I will offer you is the video to my favorite song in the whole wide world - "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. Even when I finally get around to having The Cure week, I will most likely talk about some of their more obscure material; so I am not ruining anything. Most people are amazed that, since I have such a wide variety of musical tastes, I am able to narrow it down to just one, but this song has been my favorite since the first time I heard those drums and that bass line kick in at some point in 1988. I'll even show you proof throughout the years:
In 1992, we had to create a poetry portfolio for my Honors English class, and we had to include the lyrics to our favorite song. My teacher's comments were: "some very moving images - also good examples of personification". This was the cover I created for that part of the project:
In 1996, the school gave us one of those Senior Year memory books to fill out. When asked for my favorite music video, I wrote in - "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. I've circled it for you:
And hanging above my desk, on my side of the room, in my dorm at Bruce Hall were the lyrics to "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure. That's from a project I had to do junior year in high school. I held on to it through college, as well. I've also circled it in the picture for you:
And even to this very day, hanging on the wall of my bedroom, are the lyrics to "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure... It's been my favorite song for almost 25 years... now that's dedication. Above them are the lyrics to "Kiss Them for Me" by Siouxsie & the Banshees because, although "Just Like Heaven" is my favorite song, Siouxsie & the Banshees has been my favorite band since 1991. Yes, those are Christmas lights, and yes, they do remain up year-round. I once had a close friend ask me when I was going to "grow up" and get adult decorations for my house. My response: "Why? So I can be like everyone else?":
And I figured that since I had to type the lyrics out for that poetry portfolio project, I might as well use them here too... and that's on an old-school typewriter:
See you all on Monday!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment