15,000 visits!

The Daily Beat has topped 15,000 visits since Sitemeter tracking started on October 25, 2008, soon after The Beat Handbook was published and I started this blog. My Kerouacthusiasm has not waned, but after 100s of blog posts (see the archives to the right), it does get difficult to come up with something new to say, especially on a daily basis (as I did in the first year).

Thanks to everyone who follows The Daily Beat or checks in from time-to-time. I'm going to try to post more regularly again. It seems easier to do in the winter months, particularly in Maine where if one is not a skier or snowmobiler, one gets a bunch of "inside time" for several months.

Happy 10/10/10. Jack didn't see one of these dates, not having lived during the first twelve years of a century. And you reading this will only get two more: 11/11//11 and 12/12/12. That puts some perspective on things.

Crystal pointed out that my first full day of 57-ness will be on 12/12/12. 5 + 7 = 12. And 12 is 2 numbers that add up to 3, making 23, which is the enigma attributed to beat legend William S. Burroughs that I wrote about here and on several other occasions in The Daily Beat (click on the 23 under Labels below to read the others).

Weird.

Happy 2,500

As of today, this blog has had over 2,500 visits (according to Sitemeter) since October 25, 2008. That's over 600 in November, 700 in December, and 1,100 in January. Looking at that data on a graph shows a significant (perhaps even statistically significant?), steady increase in visits over time. I also have 16 followers now, which tickles my heartstrings.

Maybe I'm doing something right, at least where blog readership is concerned.

I really do appreciate each and every one of you who stop by for a visit, and I promise to keep blogging if you'll keep visiting. To say thank you for your patronage, here's a website that generates random Jack Kerouac quotes.

Enough.

Sitemeter and StumbleUpon mysteries

Yesterday's blog, about The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke, garnered the most visits in a single day since I started tracking with Sitemeter on October 25, 2008. Interestingly, 99 of the over 130 visits happened in one specific hour (1-2 PM).

I think I can account for the overall traffic: The Wrestler is a hot topic right now and Crystal gave my post a thumbs-up on Stumble, and Stumble is where most of the additional traffic came from (I had been averaging 37 visits per day). But why 1-2 PM? That remains a mystery. Does a site given a thumbs-up rotate through Stumble more frequently immediately after it's first given that thumbs-up? Do 3/5 of Stumblers do their Stumbling only between 1-2 PM? I doubt the latter, so I guess the recency of a thumbs-up on Stumble is the key.

Toward that end, if you're a Stumbler, I'd appreciate a thumbs-up any time you read my blog. It sure increased traffic exponentially, and we authors want readers.

Thanks.

Oh, and if you're not a Stumbler, consider checking it out at StumbleUpon. You'll have to install a toolbar in your browser, but it's pretty simple and it's a really cool way to surf the web. Stumble learns what you're interested in and customizes what you see when you Stumble. Plus it acts like a social networking site as well, giving you a blog and allowing you to message other Stumblers. My page is at thebeathandbook.

Stumble on, fellow beats.