It's All in the Content, Apparently

Dudes, we need to talk...

Writing a blog is tricky.

I've noticed this... thing... about my blog posts.  Some receive more views than others.  This sounds extremely obvious and elementary, but there's more.   There's always more. Some receive far more views than others.   As in, way, way, way, way, wayyyy more.  For the past few years, basically since I started this blog, which I have a difficult time accepting was more than two years ago, yet, it's a cold, hard fact, so let's move on, I have been attempting to figure out why the heck that is the case.  Why do people like some of my content, and ignore other bits of it?  Why are certain posts essentially avoided like the plague while other ones are viewed by fifty people within the first four hours?  You won't get the plague from them.  You don't even require a creepy bird mask for safety purposes.

I have discovered the answer: content.  Duh, right?  It seems that I am not at your intelligence level, unfortunately, because this took me a few years to solidify from beyond the realm of intangible, unnamable concept into usable data.  Congratulations on your smartness.  We're all very pleased with you.  Proud, too.  Snaps.  I am not as intelligent, or perceptive, or something, as you are, because this has only now really installed itself in my brain.  The world there is most likely meant to be "instilled" but I thoroughly enjoy the idea of something being installed in your brain like it is in your computer.  Imagine... if you could say, "I'm going to install back handspring today" or "I'm going to install super stick fighting abilities, downloading, estimated completion time 20 minutes".  That would be so obnoxiously rad.  What a fun moment in which one could relish the wonders of technology.  Science, kids.  Science!  

Science!!!!

If these Google glasses ever take off, because, oh yes, Google glasses are now a patented thing... 

If there's a way to connect them to your brain and download TED talks, I will figure it out.  This shall be deciphered!  Okay, so, maybe I am as smart as you are... just in slightly different and nerdier ways.  Possibly less useful ones that involve science fiction style devices, back handsprings and stickfighting instead of basic problem-solving skills...

But, I digress.

Back to content.  You guys like it when I actually have something to say.  Once again, this probably sounds blatantly obvious and kind of stupid, but I'm blonde, so just bear with me.  I've put up a lot of articles here where, frankly, I was just trying to think of something to post.  This happens to me often.  Honestly, almost daily.   I'll be scrolling through photographs, looking at what I have, and grasping at straws.  Some days, I go in to this ritual with an idea.  There's a story on my mind, I'm fixated on something that happened earlier in the day, or perhaps I'm bothered by something, since our world is certainly not a perfect happyland of bunnies, cotton candy, and rainbows.  Many things are right, but many things are wrong here.  That's another post.

Other days, I've got nothing.  I'm sitting there, staring at a bunch of seemingly unrelated, artistic, but uninteresting photographs. There will be a lot of posts of flowers, or street art.  There always are.  Those happen often because flowers are pretty, thus, they attract my attention and I have a tendency to photograph them, and I live in New York City, so, when I'm meandering around snapping away, graffiti and murals are generally some of the most vibrant and eye-catching sights in view, or, some of the most ignored.  Both of those cases attract my fancy, and my lens. So, I will be scrolling through my files, staring, bewildered, at all of these flowers, spray-painted gang signs and stickers, pick a bunch of them that were all taken in the same place, and crank out some mediocre post about how flowers are really nice, or, oh, aren't I so edgy and modern because look, it's graffiti!  

No, I'm not a hipster.  I just live in Brooklyn and am attempting to prove to you that graffiti and property defacement are valid forms of decorating the world.  These concepts are unrelated.

Point made, hipster cat, point made.

My point, though?  The posts like that... they suck.  They really do.  Let's not mince words.  I wrote them, and I think they suck.  Occasionally, I'll have one that's a zinger, but when I don't know what I'm writing about, the result is almost consistently boring.  Sometimes, a good photograph or two will save my sorry, lazy, uninspired butt, but, usually, I'm just making a last ditch effort to produce an article because somewhere, in my mind, I harbor this feeling of adult responsibility to post here as often as possible.  Preferably, daily.  I'm never sure if I feel this for my readers or for myself, because, let's be real here, there aren't that many of you readers.  That is one of the reasons I thank you all so often- you are really the vanguard, putting yourselves on the line for me, all ten of you.  Okay, so, there are more than ten of you, but frankly,  you are mighty, but a mighty few.  

HOWEVER.  When I do have something to say... this place explodes.  It's like 11pm or midnight when the club blows up and people actually start dancing.  Tiesto is pumping and the roof is on fire.  Hands are up in the air.  Drinks are on the house.  Everyone is weeping tears of joy as they dance their worries away- especially me.  

Not going to lie, when one of my articles becomes very popular, there's this wonderful feeling of gratification, partly because something I've done has reached many people, validating my existence, but also because the posts about which I feel the best are also the ones upon which I worked the hardest.  The soul-dumping, heart-baring posts are the ones you lovely reader people seem to like the most.  This is awesome, because it gives me a little bit more freedom to do what I want.  It's also taxing because, well, I feel like I have to deliver more.  I've put up a few of the more "sucky" type of posts over the past few weeks after sharing a bunch of really good articles lately, and I was very disappointed in them.  

Wow, screw the past tense, I still am disappointed in them.  They are out there, on the internet, being all mediocre and stuff.  I could have done so much better if I had simply taken twenty minutes out of my day, and riffed on something I care about instead of "ooh, pretty flowers, spray paint, woohooooo!!" (That's not a direct quote, but you get the picture).

So, um, yeah. Expect some decent content, for three main reasons: 

1.  It's more fun for me to write, and for you to read.  

2. I avoided this for a while, but, I'm a nerd, and you seem to enjoy this.  Cool.

3. I'm so sick of writing posts that are lame- I might explode.

 This new, awesome content is not going to come every day.  I'm too busy for that.  Sorry.  I know, I know.  You can't really experience life until you've had your morning coffee and Travel and Toile.  I get it.  I feel similarly.  But, I'm going to try to bring the ruckus, and the good, no, freaking fantastic content.

Cheers, all.  Let's see how this goes.

Thanks!

Best,

Emily