HW: #ThrowbackThursday; 2nd blogging anniversary.

(This is my 300th post!!!)

As you have probably deduced from the title, DailyFlabbergast (i.e. this blog) is now two years old! I cannot even begin to express how happy, proud, and positively surprised I am that I have reached that milestone and that you are celebrating it with me.

Admittedly, there were plans for more fanfare, but due to a busy period at work, I was unable to plan and execute what I wanted. I hope that you stick with me without the glitz and glamour that is normally associated with blogging anniversaries. It reflects my personality. I much prefer quiet gatherings with a group of close friends than an over-the-top bash filled with strangers, who came in only for the bling. You might know that I am not really a New Year’s resolutions kind of person. I do not like to start something new just because of societal norms. There will be cool things to come, but they will be rolled out … not today.

My WordPress account was born on April 28th, 2017. It took me over two weeks to figure out a theme I would not mind using, customize it, and introduce myself to the blogosphere. My initial post, explaining the purpose of this blog, was posted on May 13th, 2017. Looking back, I am actually pretty impressed with myself. I must have really craved an outlet. Actually, I know I did.

How long have you waited after creating an account before you wrote your first post? It seems to me that blogging is often a spontaneous decision. People have something they want to share with the world, so they create a blogging account and write the first post as soon as the account is confirmed and verified. I consider myself a spontaneous person, but I think this time I was right to approach it in a methodical way. There were a couple of blogs in the past that I created on the fly. I had an idea that I needed to get out, so I created a blog and wrote about it. Chances are I wrote something the next day, too. But I have stopped pretty soon after. It was just a whim.

THIS never was a whim. I have toyed with the idea for a while. Weighing all the pros and cons. Finally, the scale tipped and so the account was created two years ago. I made sure my website was nice, clean, and functional before I wrote anything. I did not want people to flock to my site only to turn right back around. The visual aspects of this blog have mostly remained the same throughout the years. Nothing is perfect, but 2 years later, what I have is still the best I can think of (theme and customization wise). (Tips for new bloggers: View your website the way other people see your page. Often times people forget to clean up their widgets, edit their About pages, or choose conflicting colors for backgrounds and fonts.)

As expected, I had no views in the month of April in the year of 2017. However, unexpectedly, I had seven visitors in the month of May. I wrote seven posts. Those seven visitors viewed my blog fourteen times. In June I had 10 visitors with 4 posts, and in July, I had 20 visitors with 5 posts. You can hardly call this inspiring, encouraging, or motivating.  But I persevered. 

Once I discovered Community Pool in November/ December of that year, my numbers started going up, reaching an ultimate high in February of 2018. Because I was on a computer hiatus in March, my stats dipped that month but rose again in April once I returned. (That actually made me super appreciative of the blogging community. I received a warm welcome.) Unfortunately, because I was going through a pretty big move and some life changes, my stats started dropping in June, as I became pretty irregular about writing, reading, and interacting on WP. Once I was ready to get back in the saddle, Community Pool was canceled, and many of my blogging buddies left never to be seen again.

My stats are not as good as they have been in my heyday, but they have finally stabilized. I attribute it to my more organized posting schedule. Blogging still provides me with a surge of adrenaline when I open WP. Once I hit “Publish”, my head starts spinning, while I wonder who will say what. There are certain people that come back to every post of mine and I am deeply grateful. Thank you. You keep me going. It is not only about having my writing complimented on, or agreed with. I truly enjoy conversing with you and learning about your likes, dislikes, and experiences. It enriches me.

The blog started with NROP (News Related Opinion Pieces), shortly followed by CW (Creative Writing) posts. Last year I was proud of adding the HW (Hashtag Week) and Award posts. This time around, I celebrate the beginnings of a phenomenal collaboration – BT (Blogging Tips). In addition to all sorts of Q&A in the Award posts, I also decided to introduce a new award I give to my supporters – The Stormer Award. There is only one given out every month, and there are strict rules for obtaining it. If you would like to be in the running, make sure you join in on the conversation whenever I post.

This is my world map as of today. There are still plenty of countries that have not heard of The DailyFlabbergast or Goldie, so feel free to share it with your readers, should they be from one of those elusive countries. Even though I am not where I want to be (visited by ALL countries), I am making progress. Since last year I have been able to cross off over 20 countries from the “to do” list.

• Greenland (Denmark)
• Swalbard (Norway) + Jan Mayen (Norway)
• Iceland
• North Korea
• Mongolia
• Kazahstan
• Kyrgyzstan
• Uzbekistan
• Tajikistan
• Afghanistan
• Turkmenistan
• Azerbaijan
• Iran
• Armenia
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands
• Vanuatu
• New Caledonia
• Fiji
• Yemen
• Libya
• Morocco
• Western Sahara
• Mauritania
• Mali
• Guinea- Bissau
• Guinea
• Sierra Leone
• Liberia
• Cote d’Ivoire
• Togo
• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Niger
• Chad
• Sudan
• Ethiopia
• North Sudan
• Central African Republic
• Republic of the Congo
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Rwanda
• Burundi
• Gabon
• Equatorial Guinea
• Angola
• Namibia
• Botswana
• Uruguay
• Paraguay
• Bolivia
• Peru
• Ecuador
• Venezuela
• Guyana
• Suriname
• French Guinea
• Panama
• Nicaragua
• Honduras
• Guatemala
• Cuba
• The Bahamas
• Haiti
• Dominican Republic
• Puerto Rico

This post is just to remind myself where I came from and what kind of a roller-coaster journey this has been. Also, I wanted to show you the evolution of me and my blog in case you were curious. Otherwise, have a piece of cake, leave a gift and be on your merry way.

How long have you been regularly blogging for?

What are some of the most illusive countries for you?

Do you have any suggestions on how to get people from foreign countries to visit your blog?

Stay golden,

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