Monday, July 8, 2013

What You May Have Missed


My modest blog just passed the quarter million views mark which is an inflated way of saying 250,063 pageviews. Thank you dear readers!

Here are the "top ten" posts according to my Blogger statistics, as well as a short recap:

1  The Parable Of The Doorkeeper*  19,420 views
This post is just my favorite Kafka parable and compares the German and English texts. It must be others' favorite too as it was Instalaunched (thank you, Professor Reynolds!)
2   Hail Britannic!  16,311 views
This one concerned the RMS Titanic's younger sister ship, HMHS Britannic and her sad story. Also, I drew a link between Jacques Cousteau's TV coverage of the shipwreck and the plot of James Cameron's Titanic. But I think many people were just looking for the interesting photo. 
3  Titanic Centennial: at the real Café Parisien  9,698 views
I think it odd that this post is number 3. It's just a famous old photograph of a very hip cafe on board the Titanic. Maybe that's all people were looking for. I did a series of posts on Titanic.
4  Forgotten Americans: Jack Thayer, Titanic Survivor  3,918 views
This post tells the story of young Jack Thayer and his heroic account of surviving the sinking. He was the first to publicly assert that Titanic broke in two. His views were contradicted in the official investigations and reports at the time, but he was vindicated when the wreck was actually found. Sadly, he committed suicide. 
5  The SS Great Eastern  3,452 views
Another famous ship and shipwreck story here. The photo is a haunting one and is worth a look. 
6  It's No Lye That Soap Is Made From Pot Ash  2,087 views
This post concerns the element potassium and was one of a series of posts I did covering the chemical elements. I got as far as rhodium with that series and plan to pick it up again with palladium.
7  Newlands' Law of Octaves 1,676 views
This post retells the interesting saga of John Newlands, the man who first drew attention to the chemical periodicity of the elements, a very favorite topic of mine. 
8  Last Letters From Stalingrad: #23  1,572 views
This post is one of a series of letters I transcribed from Last Letters From Stalingrad, an out-of-print, but very haunting book. See the links at the bottom of that post for more on that series. 
9  Last Letters From Stalingrad: #9  1,271 views


10  The Essence of Distillation 972 views
This is actually my personal favorite of the 10. If I could write more of these, I'd do it all day long. 

21 comments:

  1. Wow! That's it, Wow! I had no idea you were so well read! Not just hundreds but thousands responding to "a little focused energy". The last line of #10 captures the essence:

    The essence of an idea can be distilled from crude thought too. All it takes is a little focused energy--just enough to set it free from context--and a little care in gathering and enjoying it.

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  2. Does this mean that you're back in business?

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  3. Congrats, chick! Glad to see you back.

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    1. Thanks, deborah. Please link me some music links when you get a chance.

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  4. Congratulations chickie! I enjoyed each and every one of these greatest hits. I read you all the time but just haven't had the time to post comments. I hope you keep plugging away. I know what a grind it is.

    Anyhoo...Congratulations!

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    1. Why thank you, fogblather (I mean blogfather)

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  5. Bruce, Good to see you back in the rotation.

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    1. Stay cool, Nick. Enjoy the heat in Madison! And congrats on your wife's book. I'll buy it and read when I can.

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    2. Good job, Royal Chicken, and Nick, I got a Kindle but I have no way to connect it to anything. Once I overcome that technical hurdle I will buy your wife's book. I swear!

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    3. Sixty, I thought you're supposed to kindle your mind with those things, not connect them to body parts.

      Me? I'm still a dead tree guy.

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    4. I can't get shit to kindle back here - we are having one thunderstorm after another and it's put rather a damper on my whole bonfire concept.

      At least the drought is over...

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