Blogging Milestone: Six Months of the Cup

Today marks the six-month anniversary of A Cup of Coffey, so I’m taking a few minutes to reflect and brag.

I have to admit, when I started this blog — after being pushed for two years by Paul and having Dan beat me to the Blogger Dashboard — I wondered if I’d have much to write about. It still surprises me that I have something to say nearly every day; in fact, there are several columns in the hopper, just waiting for a slow news day.

And, damn, I love a forum where I can upload and obsess about songs. And write lists.


A Cupful of Blog Stats

• This is post #197. I’m planning a blog tradition for post #200, so come back in a few days.

• As of five minutes ago, there have been 21,615 visits to A Cup of Coffey. Seriously? That many of you want to know which R.E.M. album I listened to last night? I’m flattered.

• There have been 1,669 peeks at my profile. I hope one or two folks have explored Tim Sandlin or Parting Glances or Warren Zevon after reading my lists o’ faves.

• I’m still surprised that every third post is not about R.E.M.

• I’ve cut down on how often I use fabulous and excellent and the rest of my overused words. They’re still here, peppering each column … just a little less each month.

• It took five months, but I was finally tagged. Twice.

• Not really a stat, but I’ve been introduced to several new bands and authors through this blogging experience. And for that I’m eternally grateful.

• I’m also thrilled about the people I’ve met through this blog.


Cup’s Googliest Posts

• Review: The BODIES Exhibition (March 14; my second post): I get at least one hit a day for this review. That post is even linked on some site for the traveling exhibit. It’s quite a fascinating, educational exhibit, by the way; go see it if it’s in your town.

• Who Knew That I Love Puppets? (June 16): I’ve been able to trace Beck’s tour based on where the hits come from, thanks to Stereogum including a link to this post in its Bonnaroo review. Beck’s puppets really were cool, possibly the coolest stage thing I’ve ever seen.

• Tonight’s Top 10: Beth's Sexiest Songs (April 2): If someone’s looking for a sexy song, they’ve hit this post. I get about 10 hits a week for sexiest songs (might explain last week’s stripper hits); I hope these folks are taking my list and your suggestions, and enjoying their extracurricular activities.


The Wall Came Down

Coincidentally, I had a blog first tonight: I met a blogger, the author of one of the first blogs I started reading regularly.

One of the interesting things about the blog universe is you have some level of intimacy with your blog circle — you know their secrets and heartaches, their triumphs and quirks, their brilliant and deep love for R.E.M. — and yet you’ve never heard their voices, nor seen them in the real world, nor know their real names. It’s a forum that allows you to be freer, more honest in what you write about since chances are you won’t run into them at your neighborhood coffee shop.

There are a few regular readers with whom I’ve become close — long e-mail conversations, non-blog discussions. I talk regularly on the phone to a couple of these folks and consider them true friends. But this was the first press-the-flesh moment.

As I came up the driveway I realized I was about to walk into a dinner party where I’d never met anyone sitting around the table, not even the host. The shy, nerdy kid inside me — the one who always had to look off to the side in the class picture because her glasses would cause a glare, and so she felt even nerdier — wanted to run back to the car. I didn’t, though. This was like being invited to sit at the cool kids’ table, and I was going to enjoy every moment.

The dinner party was a lot of fun. The Blogger Family is quite interesting and wonderful, very much as described on the blog, and I liked their friends. Added bonus: Since we read each other’s blogs regularly, we didn’t have to fall back on standard dinner party getting-to-know-you questions that can drag down the table conversation. They already knew I was a little too obsessed with R.E.M.

So, which of you bloggers is next?

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