- 2016 (3553)
- 2015 (3788)
- 2014 (3825)
- 2013 (5118)
- 2012 (4971)
- 2011 (4463)
- 2010 (3835)
- 2009 (3716)
- 2008 (3407)
- 2007 (2915)
- 2006 (2745)
- 2005 (2920)
- 2004 (2035)
- 2013 (5118)
- 2012 (4971)
- 2011 (4463)
- 2010 (3835)
- 2014 (3825)
- 2015 (3788)
- 2009 (3716)
- 2016 (3553)
- 2008 (3407)
- 2005 (2920)
- 2007 (2915)
- 2006 (2745)
- 2004 (2035)
ADDED: A poll:
Posts
48 comments:
Very impressive. I assume you might set a new record in the first year of retirement?
It surprises me how stable the numbers are. The weekly numbers throughout the entire time are even very consistent, between 50 and 90 posts per week, week after week. I never count the posts or think about how many I want to do each day, and some posts are very short and others quite long.
I think that I'm leaning toward longer posts, which are more indulgent, but people seem to like. But it doesn't seem to change the numbers. It's kind of freaky.
Average number of comments per post per year would also be interesting.
Ann Althouse said...
"I think that I'm leaning toward longer posts, which are more indulgent, but people seem to like. But it doesn't seem to change the numbers. It's kind of freaky."
Internally, you have a very reliable Blogging Thermostat.
You keep the Althouse House at a nice room temperature.
Cozy.
I am Laslo.
I went with "Long and short. It's the variety that's nice."
You have developed a Great Rhythm to your Blog.
You can dance to it.
Althouse Bandstand.
May you have the longevity of Dick Clark, to complete the analogy.
I am Laslo.
Internally, you have a very reliable Blogging Thermostat.
You rectal'd a nice mood.
Was 2013 "peak Althouse"?
Looking at those numbers, I'd say your blog owns you.
Thanks for the posts this past year and Happy 2017!
It's the unpredictability. Each day is a new day.
I like the women's point of view posts dressed as good common sense.
I like your longer posts, however I think length for the sake of length would not be good. And some of your shortest posts have been the most challenging.
The blog is fine! You have more time, so there will be more posts, whether we want them or not. Personally, I always enjoyed class discussion more than lecture, which means I like it when you interact with the comments.
The long ones are better done than most New Yorker Magazine writers. And the panoply of subjects covered is unmatched anywhere outside Drudge. And Meade is a perfect companion voice.
Other than that, you have created a great Blog.
Will Trump delay moving to the White House until it's cleared of mines.
Don't say crafted and I'll be happy.
There is variation in the number of posts, but what is the variation in the number of words written? You don't waste many words so that would also be a good test also.
Numbers aside, most striking is the consistency. Consistency of output and consistency of quality. That is very hard to do under the newspaper like deadlines you often impose on your self, especially with only one underpaid editorial helper (Meade.) I sense he is more of a muse or a foil than an editor, and that's probably better. He also shows wonderful restraint (at least while writing in public.)
It will be interesting to see where you go with this, now relieved of the daily obligations of teaching law. Even for a disciplined person, all that time can sometimes be an overloaded buffet. You have a Trumpian opportunity for change here. You have made big changes before, and nearly all of them seem to have enhanced your creativity.
What makes a great blog? No time to riff on that right now, but you have assembled the elements over time. It keeps people like me interested and stimulated on a daily basis, and all thanks for something like that are inadequate.
A great New Year to you and Meade.
I tend to skip the cultural posts but enjoy most of them. I have no interest in Bob Dylan and rock music but read most of the others.
It's interesting that you continue to have leftist commenters. I used to read leftist blogs and comment but about 2004, they all banned me and other conservative, or even libertarian, commenters. I think that is a problem that bit the Democrats badly this election. They don't listen to other opinions.
I wish the leftists were better at presenting alternative views. I still have high regard for Kevin Drum, for example, even though we disagree on most things. I can't even post a get well comment on Mother Jones. He has been ill and I go by once in a while to see that he is OK.
Talk about data screaming for a bar chart!
Althouse left out one time allocation possibility: our hostess being more involved in the comment thread following the original post.
Finding a better methodology to cultivate a better comment thread through some kind of guidance might be worthwhile.
Plus, not to say Althouse will need something to fill the void of now longer correcting exam papers, but...
Speaking for myself, direct feedback from the professor on more of the off-the-beaten-path legal arguments tested here would be appreciated.
Laslo, the kids used to tell Dick Clark "I like the beat. I'll give it a 95."
It's still one of my shortcut phrases for approval. It gets a lot of puzzled looks nowadays but that's the point.
Ann, I apologize if you've addressed this elsewhere but I'm curious as to what your expectations were about the possible lifespan of your blog when you started. I remember first reading your work in 2004 via a link from Instapundit, I think, and clearly remember hoping you would stick with it for a while. I am glad that you have and hope you keep on keepin' on. Thank you!
"direct feedback from the professor on more of the off-the-beaten-path legal arguments tested here would be appreciated."
Fees should be involved for that. I see Althouse at $250-600 per hour, depending on topic and context. (Flexible rates are big in the profession nowadays.) Are you up for that? We could all contribute to a pool, or you could pay for your own advice out of pocket.
I am good with what you are currently doing Ann.
While your posts are definitely enlightening, I learned a great deal from the commentariat.
Especially enjoy the end of the day cafe posts.
"It's interesting that you continue to have leftist commenters."
I have considered creating one. Do you recommend parody or serious? (No fair saying they are all parody.)
My brother is a sensible thoughtful lefty. He walks the walk (village building in Cambodia, deep involvement with kids and clergy in Wilmington, Del. to reduce violence and crime among minority youths.) He's not a big talker on partisan political subjects but his views are very different than mine.
My brother and I have a lot of agreement on what the problems are, considerably less so on the solutions. I have great respect for him but I could not channel him. It has to be someone's own voice.
I guess I would have to do parody.
I'd love to see the tags vs. number of comments. That is, which tags are associated with the most comments.
Sure, I know that many of the comment threads turn into I-know-you-are-but-what-am-I pettiness, but I think there might be some interesting insights into what makes this blog interesting.
Also, what caused so many posts in 2013?
I couldn't vote for any of the listed alternatives. My thought would be, "whatever works for you." The result in the past has been excellent.
As your whimsy takes you.
"It surprises me how stable the numbers are." It surprises me that you consider those numbers "stable."
In any case: just don't slack off in retirement.
"There is variation in the number of posts, but what is the variation in the number of words written? You don't waste many words so that would also be a good test also."
I don't have an easy way to see those numbers. Even if I called up every page and did a word count for the page and added it all up, I wouldn't see how many words I wrote, because of all the quoted material. And some of my writing, like this, is in the comments. I really can't count it.
As for which tags get the most comments... feel free to calculate that and tell me, but that would be incredibly hard to count.
I'm interested in the archive as a source of material, but not so much to count things. I've often thought of using it to synthesize something new. I've thought up many book ideas.
"I remember first reading your work in 2004 via a link from Instapundit, I think, and clearly remember hoping you would stick with it for a while. I am glad that you have and hope you keep on keepin' on. Thank you!"
What might have happened is that I would shift into writing for a significant website like Slate or the Wall Street Journal. But I had a natural resistance to that. I want my independence. It's just too perfect here for me. The other thing is that I could have shifted into books, balanced with blogging. I have many ideas. What stops me is I like the spontaneity and the immediate publishing. I'm already reaching a lot of people. It's so rewarding, so integrated with normal life for me. Why go through an elaborate process to make a book and distribute it when you have a blog with a lot of readers and you can comment on what's going on right now?
You could say: To make more money! But as soon as you have that thought, you add to the negatives of the book-writing project. It becomes a means to an end and not the end in itself. I value the income-producing quality of the blog, but that seems to be something that happens on the side along the way. It isn't what drives daily writing. Completing a book and marketing it would feel very different.
I really enjoy the posts where you analyze things in detail, overtly stating what you think, especially when your conclusions differ from my own (probably somewhat tribal) conclusions. Diversity of thought, and all.
Thank you, Althouse, for your work. Thank you for a thread where I can say without being too far off topic:
People! Chill! Do.Not.Feed.The.Trolls. You argue with an idiot, they'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Too many threads degenerate into spitting contests. You know who you are. Cut it out!
But to answer your question:
..insightful, well reasoned, analysis of current events, covers major points without excessive legalese or detail overkill; informative comments, often from those with particualr knowledge on the subject.
..eclectic selection of topics, even art, fashion, music, even sports and dogs, stuff I would not normally encounter in a small rural texas town (excepting the packs of wild dogs we have here, and the neighbors who bring dogs to crap in our yard).
Just keep doin' what you're doin', girl. It's workin'.
Maybe a few more videos of you debating other bloggers
Looking at the numbers in order I see a fairly consistent rise--until this year when, for some reason, the number of posts seems to have fallen off a cliff.
...or a gradual decline that started in 2014.
Maybe I'll chart them in Excel; should be a nice curve.
Since apparently I don't have anything better to think about, I have actually asked myself, "I wonder if in retirement Ms. Althouse will, as one might imagine she would, post more often or at different times of the day, and mightn't this throw off her rhythm in some bad way and cause blogging chaos in her head which would be bad."
Ah, 2013. A hardcore of dim-witted, emotionally incontinent Leftists with nothing but free time and a corresponding hardcore of gullible conservatives who never quite understood that they were arguing with shadows.
Surprise us.
It is good to see you gave up methamphetamine after 2013. If we can get you off of caffeine, maybe we can get you down to 2000 posts/year.
Please trust your instincts and not your dippy commenters.
You are doing fine as is. I defer to your blogging superiority.
A greater range of political opinion would be interesting.
Royalism and ultramontanism for instance.
Intelligent leftists would always be welcome.
A pity that even U Wisconsin-Madison has no informed persons with curiosity or appetite for engagement. This is the case at the U of CA campuses also sadly, even on the inside. The closing of the American mind indeed.
These are false choices. Any post, long or short, should be carefully crafted. Anyway, that's what I would tell myself if I were you.
I guess the number of posts must not correlate very well with the interestingness of the year, because I think 2016 was a much more interesting year than the preceding seven, however all seven of the years 2009 - 2015 had more posts.
Because one thing I'm certain of is that we live -- and have been living -- in "interesting times."
Happy New Year to Ann and Meade and to all the bloggerinos.
Please enable the mobile version of your blog in the settings.
Hi Ho! Bloggerinos!
I like the variety, but am partial to the art and literature posts.
Not included in your poll:
You have an eye for photography, Lady Althouse, particularly of everyday things. That's what drew me back when you were in Brooklyn Heights, especially the night scenes of the city - all pictures worth a thousand words.
But also your more intimate photos; a table in a local coffee shop, or contemplating lines and angles, even political pics from Madison's rotunda.
So, that's my vote: more pictures (with commentary, brief of expansive).
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