Of course, recent postings have taken a severe backseat, as you might have observed. To be completely honest, I'm not sure whether I'll ever be able to get back into (semi) regular blogging activity if my workload continues to be this heavy. Hopefully that isn't the case, though... I've been told by almost everyone that the first semester of PhD is the worst.
But, enough blagging. You didn't stop by to hear excuses for current blogging inactivity. You came to see a review of the year passed! (If you didn't;
The top five posts over the last twelve months, in terms of unique page views, have been:
1) Why we need maths in economics (317 page views)
2) Movember* (266)
3) Meat and Veg(etarianism) (129)
4) Facts vs Beliefs (114)
5) Should pregnant women be banned from smoking? (110)
* Somewhat depressingly, (2) has virtually all been traffic directed from "movember" image web searches... And, almost certainly for the logo itself rather than my steamy latino pose.
The five most commented on posts are fairly similar:
1) Facts vs Beliefs (24 comments)
2) Should pregnant women be banned from smoking? (21 comments)
3) Meat and Veg(etarianism) (11 comments)
4) Mises's action "axiom" or false dichotomy? (8 comments)
5) And then a bunch with six comments...
If these staggering </sarcasm> numbers weren't enough for you, in terms of readership by country we have:
1) United States (1,871 page views)
2) South Africa (728)
3*) Norway (519... although we should really exclude this as they're mostly mine)
3) United Kingdom (470)
4) Canada (173)
5) Australia (145)
Thanks to everyone that has ever stopped by The Corral for a visit!
If these staggering </sarcasm> numbers weren't enough for you, in terms of readership by country we have:
1) United States (1,871 page views)
2) South Africa (728)
3*) Norway (519... although we should really exclude this as they're mostly mine)
3) United Kingdom (470)
4) Canada (173)
5) Australia (145)
Thanks to everyone that has ever stopped by The Corral for a visit!
My own favourite posts are bit harder to nail down, especially in the little time I have available here. Still, alongside some of those already mentioned, here are a couple that I probably did enjoy writing more than others:
- Basically, all those that I have listed in "The Zen of Stickman's Corral" box in the upper right-hand corner.
- Putting a Price on Nature and the Defining Sustainability posts
- South Africa and water pricing
- Leonard Cohen covers (more the sentiments expressed in the body of the test than the cover versions themselves)
- Free will in a world of Mad Men
- Hippie Baptists and Libertarian Bootleggers
- More on Norway, Liberty and Labels
The lessons that I have learned from blogging very closely parallel my general experiences in the blogosphere. And, on the whole, they are certainly positive.
- It really is a great resource for testing and expanding upon ideas; both in the sense of how others respond, and making sure that you understand an idea well enough to write it down in plain language for all to see. (Not that I always managed this...)
- Blogging takes up a lot of time. For me anyway. That may simply be due to the fact that I am something of a stickler for facts and have an uncanny knack for stretching a story out. Being on the long side of winded is not my favourite personal trait, but at the same time I don't wish to let go of it completely! I'm hoping that keeping this blog has actually moved me towards some kind of middle ground.
- It's hard to attract a big, regular audience unless you focus on specific, narrow themes. Jumping between completely unrelated topics kills your readership. My feeling is that people mostly visit blogs because they expect certain themes to be consistently addressed (even though the applications can vary widely); not to hear someone's everyday ramblings on whatever interests them. Unfortunately, I tend towards the latter... but so be it! (Although, I certainly have written posts simply because I thought that it would interest one particular person who might have been reading.)
Something I also want to mention specifically is music. I was hoping to put together a downloadable playlist of all the songs that I've linked to over the course of the year... but who has the time? I hope that you'll settle for YouTube links:
- Arcade Fire - "Suburban War"
- Smokey Robinson - "The Tracks Of My Tears" (live 1965)
- Pavement - "Gold Soundz"
- Neil Young - "Cortez The Killer", followed by the Dave Matthews Band version live in Central Park (with Warren Hayes)
- Sam Cooke - "Bring It On Home To Me" and "You Send Me"
- Goldfish - "Get Busy Living"
- Kings of Leon - "Fans" (BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge)
- Madrugada - "Majesty" (Live at the Tralfamadore)
- Elliott Smith - "Junk Bond Trader"
- Muse - "Map of the Problematique" (live at Glastonbury)
- The National - "Terrible Love" (live on Pitchfork TV)
- The Gossip - "Careless Whisper" (Wham! cover)
- Gnarls Barkley - "Reckoner" (live Radiohead cover)
- Eddie Vedder - "My City of Ruins" (live Bruce Springsteen cover)
- Tegan and Sara - "Dancing in the Dark" (live studio Bruce Springsteen cover)
- Gaslight Anthem - "9 Crimes" (live Damien Rice cover)
- Gaslight Anthem - "I Do Not Hook Up" (Kelly Clarkson cover on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge)
- The Subways - "Staring at the Sun" (TV on the Radio cover)
- TV on the Radio - "Mr Grieves" (a cappella Pixies cover)
- Frightened Rabbit - various tracks including "Keep Yourself Warm", "Poke", "Heads Roll Off", "Swim Until You Can't See Land", "Fast Blood", "The Wrestle, The Loneliness & The Scream", etc...
- The Lemonheads (feat. Liv Tyler) - "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" (Leonard Cohen cover)
- Judy Collins - "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen cover... some controversy surrounding this one, as apparently it should have been Nina Simone's version)
- GAYNGS - "By Your Side" (Sade cover)
- Bon Iver - "I Can't Make You Love Me" (live on The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon)
- Angus Stone - "River" (Joni Mitchell cover)
- Eddie Vedder - "Trouble" (live Cat Stevens cover)
- We are Scientists - "Hoppipolla" (Sigur Rós cover)
- Birdy - "Shelter" (The xx cover)
- Red House Painters - "Have You Forgotten"
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Diamond Sea" (Sonic Youth cover)
- Crash Test Dummies - "Androgynous" (The Replacements cover)
- Steve Earle - "My Back Pages" (Bob Dylan cover)
Not a bad collection, if I say so myself! (With a little help from the odd Poncey guest post and suggestions by others.)
And with that, I have some GMM estimation techniques that need looking at.
See you soon,
See you soon,
o-[-<
Some of those Norwegian views are mine!
ReplyDeleteIsn't there a way you can link the playlist together on YouTube?
A great year Stickman. Despite your last entry being 'an interesting paper' which, let's face it, it isn't!
ReplyDeletePoncey. *Ahem* May I direct you to the top right-hand portion of the screen? In the words of the Dude...
ReplyDelete