How Long Do Blogs Live?

How long do blogs live?

Well, the most successful ones outgrow the name “blog” – they become websites. The Huffington Post started as a blog, for example, but it sure seems like a full-blown media outlet now.

And then there are all those short-lived one- or two-post specials. Someone said, “Let me blog!” and they started and then abruptly never posted again.

I've always heard that three years is the average lifespan of the blog. Balancing the HuffPos and the singular blips in the blogosphere, that seems about right. Heck, I have at least four blogs (yes, I lost track), including a project dedicated to discarded weather-worn umbrellas (Umbrellacide) and a brief celebration of the lives of recently-deceased poets (We Lost a Poet).

My original success as a blogger came with the autobiographical BillyBlog, which I associate with Hurricane Katrina, having started around the same time and, it is still lingering on life support, chalking up one or two posts a year. [I wrote this in a word document, and felt it most appropriate to post here, where it all started.]

BillyBlog gave birth to Tattoosday, an idea that outgrew its initial weekly inkiling, and became my most successful blog. It’s even part of my Facebook identity.

But something happened to Tattoosday, back in August 2012. I stopped posting whereas previously I posted daily and felt like an abject failure if I failed to do so.

I lost my job around the same time, and you would have thought that would have spurred a flurry of activity, but it didn't.

It looked like Tattoosday had a second wind in early 2013, but again, the summer seemed to kill it.

Ask my family – I wouldn't go anywhere without my notebook and Tattoosday fliers promoting the site. I ran out of fliers and haven’t reprinted. I only occasionally have my book with me and, despite still conducting the occasional interview, I still have material from five months ago, in June, that remains unpublished. 

How’s this for perspective: at its peak, I posted daily, seven times a week. In contrast, since I started my new job in September after a year out of work, I have posted just seven times. And I can’t tell you exactly why.

September marked our sixth anniversary.

I have spent more time wondering why I’m not writing Tattoosday than I have spent time writing Tattoosday.

My words fail me.

It is not that I am less interested in tattoos – I still jump at the chance to talk to people about them. I am guessing it is more just that, as I grow older, and have shifted focus onto a new job, I am focused on other things, things so mundane it is not even worth mentioning in a blog post.

So, I do not know what will happen with Tattoosday. I would like to think that I will keep posting, that I just need that spark to reignite the blogger fire within me. Right now, there are a few embers, smoldering. I have no idea what will happen – if the Tattoosday fire will blaze again, or if it will go out, quietly, with a thin white wisp of smoke, vanishing into the blogosphere.

Rising from the Ashes

Someone just venturing over to BillyBlog may notice something: not a lot has been going on here in recent months. My last post was in December. Since the end of the 2010 Tattooed Poets Project, I have posted here only nine times.

This kind of makes me sad, but it also makes sense, I read somewhere once that the average blog lifespan is three years, at best. Started in September 2005, BillyBlog had 113 posts in its first four months, In 2006, I expanded to 448 posts, and peaked in 2007 with 532 posts.

And then, dwindling returns: 299 posts in 2008, 83 posts in 2009, and 46 in 2010.

So what happened? Tattoosday happened and Facebook happened.

Readers familiar with me know that, in the second half of 2007, I started blogging once a week about tattoos and, before I knew it, I found a consistent subject about which I never got bored. I month later, I spun off the site to its own blogspot, and the rest is history, albeit recent history.

I even moved the poetry section of the Tattooed Poets Project off of BillyBlog and onto Tattoosday beginning in 2011.

One can also attribute the demise of BillyBlog to Facebook, as any look at my wall will reveal a lot of stuff that I used to blog about got posted up on the social network instead. It was just easier, what else can I say?

But reports of BillyBlog’s demise may be exaggerated.

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes (explaining, of course, the tattoo above, which was originally seen here), there is life yet in these pages.

Or is there?

We’ll see, dear readers. Although, you may just get stuff that was just too wordy for Tattoosday, posts about ink, and other tattoo supplies. How about a poem entitled “Ode on a Clip Cord”? Who knows?

BillyBlog will never retain its old glory. 532 posts? That even impresses the older me, that 1.457534246 posts per day average. But here’s hoping for two or three decent explosions of words every few weeks, just for old times sake!

Cheers.

An Update

A lot has happened since I last posted. But what hasn't happened is the composition of 32 additional 42-themed poems.

For what it's worth, I even took a week off from posting on Tattoosday as well.

So, thanks for checking back. BillyBlog is not dead in the water, just slouching along in the shadow of its spawn.

BillyBlog, R.I.P?

I just noticed that I posted a whopping singular time in June. How sad.

As one might expect, Tattoosday has been my primary focus, although the importance of BillyBlog as a cultural bastion of useless information cannot be denied.

But here it is July.

And I have some living up to do.

Forty posts on my fortieth birthday in 2007.

Forty-one posts of forty-one consecutive days (and beyond) of riding my bike in 2008.

What of this July 3, when I turn 42?

Alas, I have an idea, but it is not nearly as ambitious as 2008, but is moreso than 2007. My only concern is whether I will be able to rise to the occasion.

Stay tuned and see.....

A Subdued Anniversary

Today BillyBlog is three.

Of course, by Blog Standards (whose, I don’t know), BillyBlog is middle-aged.

I don’t have a lot to say, other than thank you to all of you who come back and visit. My creative energies have really been focused on the spawn of BillyBlog, Tattoosday, which celebrates 1 full year of blogdependence today as well.

My big problem with BillyBlog of late has been the ambitiousness of its posts, many of which are still stuck in draft mode. This summer’s 41 Days on the Bike was relatively crisp and easy (although ultimately a bit tedious, at least to me).

I imagine, with cooler weather (still elusive at this point of the year), we may see a swing back toward a healthy mix between the two vehicles. But I can only follow my heart and my mind to take me where it goes.

My company has upgraded me to a BlackBerry Curve, which has one of those newfangled camera phone thingamabobs in it. That may prove a source of endless entertainment.

At 41, I try to be hip, although as Jolee notes, I often try too hard. Example: I recently snagged some sweet Ed Hardy sweat shorts at Bloomingdale’s significantly on sale and using a delightful gift card, courtesy of the BillyBlogMom. Jolee sayeth: “Those shorts are too cool for you, Dad.”

And so it goes.

End of August Update (A Series of Interconnected Words)

Yeah, sure, BillyBlog has been trudging along. Just like BillyBlog killed my journal (which exists in its papery world like a wispy wraith), so, too, BillyBlog seems like the lost child of my thought process, Tattoosday having nearly eclipsed it in significance.

But there are still many of you loyal readers who check back every so often to see if I've scribbled anything new.

If you've visited during the summer, you may have followed my ambitious 41-day consecutive bike trek in honor of my 41st birthday, from July 3 to August 12, 2008.

Well, a funny thing happened. I kept riding. Melanie gets some credit here, she convinced me not to stop. So, as of today, I have extended my consecutive day streak of riding the Raleigh to 60 days. And today on the sixtieth day, I passed 505 miles. In other words, I have ridden enough since my birthday to pedal past Cleveland.

What else is new?

Shayna's new favorite show is The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. She had her first Fall soccer practice on Friday and her first game in the new Bantam division of the 68th Precinct Youth Council soccer league will be next Saturday. Hopefully, we'll have some new GSD (Gratuitous Soccer Dad) posts in the months to come.

Jolee is about to start Seventh grade. 'Nuff said.

And we are approaching the three-year anniversary of BillyBlog (disregard those back-dated posts).

What's More Tiring - Riding a Bike for 41 Consecutive Days, or Blogging About It?

The answer of course is "yes".

I'm sure many of you are curious to know whether I biked this morning.

Despite exhaustion at staying up to watch all of the men's and gymnastics team events on NBC, I did manage to get my sleeo-deprived okole up and rode the bike to work, another 11.7 miles to work. The streak continues!

As for BillyBlog, give us a little space while we recover and let me plug Tattoosday, which is going strong (over 28 thousand hits since June 1). The summer has certainly improved the selection of ink from which to choose, and I have been busy writing about cool ink over
there. Go check it out here.

Thank you.

UPDATE: What can I say? I rode home too. 12.16 miles for a total of 23.86 miles on the day.

21 Questions for BillyBlog

I had so much fun with the Jamie Lynn Spears post (if you missed it, and are intrigued, it's here), that I couldn't resist this one as well. It's based on New York magazine's 21 Questions feature, when I originally stumbled on the one by book-jacket graphic designer extraordinaire, Chip
Kidd, here.

So here I go...

Name: Bill Cohen

Age: 40, but not for much longer.

Occupation: Lover of All Humankind

Neighborhood: Bay Ridge, Near Fort Hamilton

Who's your favorite New Yorker, living or dead, real or fictional?

This was tougher than I expected, since the definition of "New Yorker" is so open to various interpretations. I will say John Lennon.


What's the best meal you've eaten in New York?
Maybe after being here a year, the parents of a friend of ours, visiting from Houston, took us to Felidia. I don't remember what we ate, but I remember it was awesome. A close second is the River Cafe, in Brooklyn.

In one sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?
Put out fires and sulk.

Would you still live here on a $35,000 salary?
Me, yes. My family, no.

What's the last thing you saw on Broadway?
Spamalot. For my birthday the year it opened. Tim Curry is awesome.

Do you give money to panhandlers?
Generally, no.

What's your drink?
Black Russian.

How often do you prepare your own meals?
Generally it's a team effort. Maybe once or twice a week I make a killer salad.

What's your favorite medication?
Pearl Jam's eponymous album, also known as the Avocado Album. It has taken on new meaning for me as it has braced me for difficult days at the office.

What's hanging above your sofa?


A print of Francisco de Zurburan's Still Life with Lemons, Oranges and a Rose(1633).

How much is too much to spend on a haircut?
I spend $20, including tip, every six weeks or so. My hair is generally one of the things I care little about.

When's bedtime?
Usually much earlier than when I actually go to sleep. I have been hard-wired as a night owl, ever since my freshman year in college when I religiously watched Late Night with David Letterman on NBC from12:30 to 1:30AM each night.

Which do you prefer, the old Times Square or the new Times Square?
Having never really experienced the old Time Square, I'll go with the old, as it is shrouded in mystery and the displaced nostalgia of others.

What do you think of Donald Trump?
The fact that he can parlay a career in business and succeed in reality television is either admirable or despicable, I'm not sure which. Adspicirble?

What do you hate most about living in New York?
After 11 years here, I have yet to build the network of friends like the wonderful ones I have in L.A. Although that is more likely due to me being me, as opposed to New York's fault. One of my best friends, Jill, I met in L.A., and she is a New Yorker now, too.

Who is your mortal enemy?
People who clip their fingernails on the subway. Nothing brings me closer
to rage.

When's the last time you drove a car?
Someone asked me this the other day and I was stumped. I think last summer (2007) when my father-in-law was in town and he sprained his ankle. I had to retrieve his car for him to spare him a long walk to a remote parking spot.

Who should be the next president?
Dennis Haysbert. And not his character from 24. Pedro Cerrano from Major League.

Times, Post, or Daily News?
Times. I love the Post's silly headlines, but I am annoyed when their clearly conservative agenda is so thinly-veiled in the guise of news. A perfect example is when, several weeks back, Barack Obama left the church where Reverend Jeremiah Wright is pastor. The Post headline reported
"Obama Quits Church". Seemingly innocent headline, one might say, but others could falsely interpret it as Senator Obama forsaking religion. Clever, but despicable, and not in the Trumpian way.

Where do you go to be alone? The Laundromat. Sure, I'm not really alone, but I am in a bubble, oblivious to the world around me.

What makes someone a New Yorker?
Being able to get from point A to point B on foot, or by mass transit, with minimal confusion or panic.

Getting to Know: BillyBlog

In which BillyBlog asks itself the same questions Teen magazine asked now-pregnant teen idol Jamie Lynn Spears; see original interview here. This is an idea shamelessly ripped off this post from The Best American Poetry Blog.


BillyBlog: You’re in Jr. High, right?
BB: "Well, I'm in my third "active" year in the Blogosphere. Not sure if that translates to Junior High or not. My oldest child is in intermediate school, which others refer to as Jr. High."


What are you most looking forward to?
"A Democrat in the White House. I don't often get political here, but I am worried for the children."


What kind of car do you want?
"I am carless, and proud. Sometimes inconvenienced, but proud. A car would be a luxury for me. I would like a Lamborghini Countach (because it sounds kinda dirty), but I couldn't afford the insurance."


What's your favorite subject?
"Poetry about Umbrella Tattoos."


Do you play any sports?
"I ride a bicycle. No other sports to report."


Are kids in school treating you differently because of Nickelodeon exposure?
"No, they still ignore me because they think I'm an old man. Although my older daughters' friends think I'm slightly more interesting than the "normal" parent because I have a blog."


You have a new puppy named Ali, right? How is she?
"No puppy. No animal. My animals have died. I still have a flash disk with video of my cat Goblin throwing up in his last days on Earth. If I had a dog, I'd name him something literary, like Yossarian."


How old is she now?
"My imaginary dog Yossarian is three years old. And Yossarian is a boy's name. If I had a girl dog I'd name her Muffin Top."


She's a mix, right?
"She would be a mix, a cross between an Akita and a Yorkie. An Akorkie. I just like the image of her parents procreating. It's comical."


What are your feelings about Ali?
"The greatest boxer, ever."


Where did you find her?
"Oh, you mean his daughter? She's co-hosting American Gladiators now, I think. I dunno. I appreciate the opportunity to name-drop all these pop culture references, which will certainly do wonder for my blog traffic."


Do you dress her up?
"Last time I tried, I had to eat all my meals through a straw. For a month."


Do you try to coordinate it with what you're wearing?
"Your line of questioning confuses me. My clothing, however, rarely coordinates. My wife has tried for years, but she has only been mildly successful. I'm a lost cause."


What is your fashion style?
"Scattered casual. Although I have some cool neckties."


Year 'round?
"Generally, although I occasionally will throw in some man-boob cleavage and plumber-butt, just to keep them guessing."


What do you like to do for fun?
"I like to go to poetry readings and sulk. They are inspiring and depressing simultaneously, which leaves me a little disoriented. I think my best poems are better than some of the worst poems read at such events. That makes me sad. Then I am inspired to write more. And then, rinse and repeat."


Was it really scary?
"Poetry readings are never scary. Smelly, sometimes, but rarely scary."


TV anything you watch?
"Pretty much anything that isn't nailed down."


Are you watching Joey?
"I love Blossom reruns!"


So, you have to get TiVo?
"I have a DVR chock full of Daily Shows, South Parks, Miami Inks, and a bunch of kid crap that makes me regret ever teaching my offspring how to search for shows."


Do you have an acting coach working with you?
"No, I fool everyone without professional help."


Is Zoe like you?
"No, I actually graduated high school. Although my college looked a lot like PCA, only more unattractive people."


How are you not alike?
"Her character has, um, well, lady-parts."


Will that change as you get older?
"Lord, I hope not. Those surgeries can be expensive!"


Have you gotten advice from mom or sister about business?
"No, they are wise to let me do my own thing."


Do you have a celebrity crush?
"Julianne Moore makes me giggle like a schoolgirl."


What was your most embarrassing moment:
"I was Bat Boy for the Springfield Caps, a collegiate Summer League team in Central Illinois in the 1970's. I once brought the umpire balls when everyone was ready to pitch. He was crouched down behind the catcher, and I was holding his balls. And the pitcher had to stop to let me give the umpire his balls. Several hundred or maybe even a thousand people were watching me. I turned bright red like the helmet on my head."


So you raised your hand to answer a question and it was wrong?
"Not often, but occasionally. At least I tried."


You probably haven't raised your hand since?
"Only when applying deodorant."


Favorite movie:
"It will always be The Outlaw Josey Wales. I could watch it over and over again and never get sick of it."


Reason?
"Gunplay, humor, revenge, Clint Eastwood and a disturbing glimpse of Sondra Locke's breasts."


Film star you look up to/like to have a career like?
"John Cusack. I wish I could be as cool as he was, even when he was playing a dork."


Do you like Hilary's music?
"The God-awful Celine Dion song she had in her campaign ads early in the primary season made me regurgitate every time I heard it."


If you could work with any other actor/actress who?
"Sean Penn. Because then he could introduce me to Eddie Vedder and we could all go hang out at my mom's place in Hawai'i."


Would you think you'd died and gone to heaven if you got a part in an Ashton Kutcher/Lindsay Lohan movie?
"No, although working with Ashton would mean seeing Demi again. I could apologize to her for not initially recognizing her when I was coordinating parking behind the Universal Amphitheater during Comic Relief in 1992."


Something you can't live without:
"My BlackBerry clothes me. In other words, I feel naked without it."


Play video games?
"No, not since college. My children are better off without such distractions in the house."


Who's someone you look up to?
"My wife, Melanie."


Why?
"She changes people's lives every day she goes to work. She would dismiss such talk as rubbish and say that the people she works with are changing their own lives, that she is only facilitating their journeys, but she makes a difference. And I love her."

What’s Up with BillyBlog?

Hello, readers. Those of you who have been visitors here since the blog’s inception in September 2005 may have noticed that I occasionally will have posting droughts that leave fans o’ BillyBlog thirsting for more.

Usually you’ll see one of these self-reflective posts pop up during these dry spells, pondering the life of the blog, ruminating about its future, or whatever.

The National Poetry Month 31 Favorite Poems project sapped me mentally. Not that it was difficult, the poems were written, and I just had to rank them and post them. It was the feeling of obligation to the blog itself that took its toll. It became a chore. And I even resented it a little.

Perhaps what we’re seeing is the nature of the dual blogging mentality. BillyBlog used to be a year-round blog. But the beast that is Tattoosday, born in the heat of last summer, is rising again after a quiet winter. And even regular visitors over there will note, I’m not posting every day there either, despite the fact that tattoos smother the sidewalks of New York City like cherry blossom petals in a koi pond.

That’s why Umbrellacide has been a fun and easy diversion. Easy-peasy. Take a picture of an inanimate object, upload the photo, say where I saw it, title it cleverly, and schedule it.

And so here we are, thinking out loud. On April 26, I went to a poetry reading. There is a recap in the works, but it’s taken a while. I have read several books that I want to discuss. John McCain had a slice of pizza at OUR pizza shop, on the same block on which we live, my brother Seth came to visit and we went to a Tigers-Yankees game (if only the Tigers could play the Yankees all year long. It seems to be the only team Detroit can beat this year), Shayna’s been playing baseball, Jolee’s a blogging machine and an “A” student and I still have a dozen video clips I want to post and share from her drama club performance in February. The extra day that month didn’t help.

And here I am rambling about nothing and everything simultaneously. My sister Alicia just finished her master’s program and they had a big party for her out in California. I am sad because I missed it. Everyone understands why it wasn’t feasible to cross the country for the event, but it still makes me sad. The consolation prize is that she’s moving next month to Delaware to start a new job. Hooray! Congrats Alicia!

I’ll end positively with that note. No I won’t.

Do not give up on BillyBlog, folks. Try this exercise. Google “average life of a blog”. Use the quotation marks. Note the variance in average blog life spans. The range is 3 months to 3 years.

As Kurt Vonnegut would often say, “so it goes”.

Potpourri for $500, Alex

Just read a great story by Jeffrey Eugenides from a recent New Yorker.
Entitled "Great Experiment," one is reminded what a talent Eugenides
is.

Next up, I saw this hilarious clip on the Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux one-month-a-year poetry blog. Take Stephen Colbert, add Sean Penn (proving he does have a sense of humor), and throw in former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, and you've got a great comedic clip for National Poetry Month.





I came across this because the FSG bloggers linked a post of mine here, about a reading in which Frank Bidart read a sestina. Nice to get a link on the poetry blog of a major publishing house. Thanks guys!

A Rabbi, a Mayor, and a Cheerleader Walk into a Blog....

Hmmm.

I swear this isn’t how I planned this, but I have to work some pictures in here.

In the last thirty days, I’ve had my picture taken with the mayor of one of the fifty largest cities in the United States, a cheerleader from a NCAA Division 1 school, and a rabbi.

See if you can tell who is who.

Exhibit "A"

Exhibit "B"
Exhibit "C"

If you guessed that picture "A" was of me with a rabbi, clearly you have no concept of what a rabbi is. Everyone knows that rabbis generally don’t grow past 6 and a half feet tall. If they do, they tend to have problems with chuppas, which make them undesirable wedding officiators.

You’d be closer if you guessed cheerleader from Syracuse. You’d be closer, but you’d still be wrong. The man I am pictured with is none other than the Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu, Mufi Hanneman. He played basketball at Harvard and is 6’ 7” (too tall for a rabbi). I met Mayor Hanneman at an Iolani alumni event in New York City on February 29 and he
indulged me with a photo. He graduated from Iolani in June 1972, three months before I matriculated there as a kindergartener.

This picture was taken by Frogma and my original intent was to just show it to my Mom so she could show it to everyone she knew and brag that the Mayor and I were cool enough to do the simultaneous shaka. I decided to include this picture in the post because, if I asked people to guess who was a rabbi and who was a cheerleader, that would be too easy. Throwing in a mayor
spices things up a bit.

If you thought the picture "B" was of me with a rabbi, clearly, again, you have no concept of what a rabbi is. And Annie (the one without the tie or grey in her hair) is too young to be mayor. Annie is on the cheerleading squad at Syracuse University and was in town for the Big East basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden.

If you are perplexed by the fact that a random cheerleader half my age would agree to be photographed with me, don’t be. Annie is the cousin of a co-worker and was swinging by work to say hi to her after the game. This photo demonstrates that sometimes it pays to be in the right place at the right time. I was also aided by the fact that I always wear deodorant and have a generally pleasant disposition.

Ok. I’m sure all you geniuses have deduced that picture "C" is with me and a rabbi. Sure, he’s a young rabbi, but he’s still a rabbi. A rabbi who agreed to pose with me the same day I had my picture taken with Annie. Rabbi Micah Kelber was willing to be photographed with me because he is a regular visitor to BillyBlog and he agreed that his presence would help lessen the shock that many readers would have after seeing a picture of yours truly with a cheerleader.

I am using Rabbi Kelber’s full name because now, when people google his name, they will find BillyBlog, and see how cool he is, being in the same post with a cheerleader and the Mayor of Honolulu. It's Six Degrees of Billy Cohen.

[On a side note, I am seen walking across the screen as the credits roll in a show called "Tales from the Whoop: Hot Rod Brown Class Clown". Whoopi Goldberg starred in that. Whoopi was in Ghost with Demi Moore. Demi Moore was in A Few Good Men with, you guessed it, Kevin Bacon. That's only three degrees for me.]

Thanks to Mayor Mufi, Annie, and Rabbi Kelber for helping me with this post.

Celebrating a Number, yadda yadda yadda

This has been a fun week for me, and my traffic. Boosted by my friends at the New York Times, we hit 44,444 hits today.

I always like to see when and where people chance upon BillyBlog. #44444 came from Clermont, Florida at 12:41 AM today. The individual googled "poetry turning 40" and they danced on over to one of my forty fortieth birthday posts featuring the poem "Turning Forty" by Pearl Cleage. A lot of fours in them thar hills.

More exciting for me this week was Tattoosday striking 10,000 hits on Thursday at 9:17 am EST. Now remember, the first Tattoosday post reads July 31, 2007, but the posts started here before spinning off in September. So, really, in under 6 months, Tattoosday accomplished what it took BillyBlog to do in 14. And it wasn't until December when we broke 1000 over there.

Anyway, visit 10,000 came via the server at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A google search for skull tattoos brought them to my "Rad Tattoo for Nebraska" post which, to date, is one of my favorites over there..

40K, Hip Hip Hooray!

BillyBlog had its 40,000th hit on Thursday, January 31, at 12:02 PM, Eastern Standard Time.

An individual in the city of The Hague, in the province of Zuid-Holland, in the Netherlands,
googled "The Hot Chick Movie" under images, in Dutch, and hit this post.

Little did he (or she) know...

As always, thanks to all my visitors! Your attention makes me keep going.

Season's Greetings from BillyBlog and Valerie Lamboy

Happy Holidays to all!

To warm your heart this holiday season, and to see why blogging can be so fulfilling, refresh your memory with this post from 2006. Last night I received comments on it from Valerie Lamboy, a fellow Brooklynite, and one of the subjects of the post.

Please be sure to read Valerie's comments at the end of the post. They brought a smile to my face.

35,000th visit!

At 10:58 EST on December 7, 2007, BillyBlog registered its 35,000th hit. The visit cam from the United Technologies Research Center in Hartford, Connecticut. From what I can tell, the individual googled Pearl Jam and Philadelphia (I think) and got this poster image which then linked to BillyBlog.

Something happened, by the way, on or around December 1. My visits spiked both on BillyBlog and on Tattoosday, and from what I can tell, the hits came via google images. It's nice to have the extra traffic!

Blogging in a Post 11/9 World

So, since I've been "back" from my November hiatus, I've been taking it
relatively easy. I've decided that I will do a little more remote blogging
from the BillyBlackBerry.

Here are some random thoughts for this morning's commute:

I think I saw the actress/comedienne Sandra Bernhard yesterday in the
Chelsea Whole Foods.

Now, before you think I'm a "Whole Foods-y" type, let me proclaim that I am
not. I'm a strict Trader Joe's guy, even in the barren, nearly-TJ-less
landscape of NYC.

Anyway, this is the second time in the last few months I believe I've
spotted Ms. B. (or her doppelganger). The other time was a few blocks away,
on 8th and 23rd, so I'm guessing she resides in the area. Both times I was
with my lunchtime walking buddy, Steve (who buys his tea at Whole Foods),
and both times Steve missed her.

The BilliPod, providing tunes on this morning's commute, is playing the
latest version of "The Contrast Podcast," one of the handful I regularly
download. This week's theme is "Title Tracks". For example, currently
rolling is "Love Gun" from the KISS album, you guessed it, LOVE GUN.

I have nearly completed reading Joshua Henkin's novel Matrimony (see Amazon
link on sidebar). Mr. Henkin will be joining our book club to discuss the
novel next week. Looking forward to that. I will post a review after I
finish the last 50 pages.

By the way, Happy Chanukah to all!

Bookpeeping alert: someone near me reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

And how about that trade the Detroit Tigers finalized yesterday with the
Florida Marlins? Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera will make nice
additions to the Tiger lineup. I'm a little surprised that Dear Old Dad
hasn't swooned about it yet on his blog. Yet.

Just switched from a local R train to an N express at Pacific Street.

Standing and typing one-handedly is a little slow-going. Not sure how much
more quality cybertext you will be experiencing.

My fantasy football season ends this weekend. Despite winning the title in
my league last year, I will finish, at best, 7-6 and out of the playoffs.
Bit of a bummer. This week I will have Drew Brees at QB, Ryan Grant and
Adrian "AD" Peterson in the backfield, Chris Cooley at tight end, Lavernues
Coles and T.J. Houshmandzadeh as my two most-misspelled wide recievers,
Shayne Graham kicking, and the Packers' defense.

Looks like Brett Favre will be extending his record of consecutive starts
with his 250th on Sunday. What a guy!

Speaking of quarterbacks, University of Hawai'i's Colt Brennan should be in
NYC this weekend for the Heisman Trophy ceremony. He most likely won't win,
but he could probably unseat Linda Lingle as governor of Hawai'i right now,
if he wanted to (and if it was constitutionally viable). BillyBlog will be
pulling for the Rainbow Warriors against the Georgia Bulldogs on New Year's
Day in the Cotton Bowl.

Someone near me is reading the New Yorker. This makes me sad, as I let my
subscription lapse for the first time in over 10 years. I have dozens of
back issues, unread, at home, and I just could not justify the expense,
considering how seldom I read them like I used to. Despite not reading them
as much, I will still miss their ceremonious arrival at our place. Thank
goodness I can still appreciate huge chunks of each issue on line.

The 23rd Street station on the Broadway line is one of the coolest in the
whole system.

Well, here we are at 34th Street. Time to send this into the ether.

Do let me know if you've found this post even remotely interesting.

(Links and editing to appear at a later time).

Self-Imposed Blog Exile

In the month of November, I posted three times at BillyBlog. Three times. There had been days in the past when I posted thrice in a single day.

The posts were all sent remotely via my BlackBerry, two were reports of new poems appearing on New York City's Poetry in Motion transit program, and the third was a Thanksgiving greeting.

A far cry from last November (55 posts) and the November before (26 posts).

And now, for a bit of an explanation.

Even though this drought concurred with a program called WebSense, cruelly imposed by Big Brother on the employees of my company, eradicating 90% of un-work-related web activity, I can't give the Man credit for silencing me.

It has been quite a year, and BillyBlog was its most successful. However, one could argue that it was taking over my life, usurping my identity.

Posting was no longer a luxury, but a priority, when other priorities in my life needed attention. I became increasingly self-conscious of my relying solely on blog fodder as my social conversational repertoire. Son of BillyBlog, Tattoosday, also contributed to this deterioration of my social make-up. Tattoosday has also gone dark in the month of November (despite some tattoo-spotting success).

I watched myself from outside of my body, conversing with people, seeing how long before "the blog" entered the discussion. Dishearteningly, it happened sooner rather than later. I am Bill Cohen, not BillyBlog. The lines blurred and it didn't feel healthy.

The Ancient One, Blessed Be He, called me a week into my self-imposed blog exile, just to make sure that I was okay. I was, and I am.

There are people in this world who find enlightenment through fasting, and November was my mental fast. I am hoping it will be for the better. I think that it will.

I appreciate the messages of support from my scattering of readers. November was still a big month for BillyBlog, as we surpassed the 33,333 hit and, on the last day of the month, registered #35,000.

I am back for December, although I may not be as prolific as I had been in the past. I'm not sure. I regret that I may have missed some good blogrotunities last month (a trip to the NYC Transit Museum, dinner at Junior's, and a disappointing Thanksgiving dinner at First Oasis, to name a few). But I needed the break.

Thank you for sticking by, checking in, and keeping the faith! Onward, ho!

30,000th Hit

At 7:45 PM, EST, after 2 years and 2 days, BillyBlog registered its 30,000th hit. Someone, presumably in the New York area, googled "heaven and hell jones beach review" and came upon BillyBlog. Alas, I was still working on my review (which has since been posted).

Thanks to everyone who has come and gone, and to all my returning visitors, and to everyone who will visit in the future!

BillyBlogiversary!

Well, ladies and gents, I didn't think when I launched BillyBlog two years ago today, that I would be able to stick with it. I had fizzled out on several prior blogging attempts.

But on September 8, 2005, BillyBlog was officially launched with a photo of my two children on their first day of school. That first post is linked here. Compare the photo with the kids' picture from this past Tuesday, when Shayna entered third grade and Jolee started middle school in the sixth grade:


So Happy Birthday to Me!