I pay a lot of attention to the “stats” on my blog site. I want to make sure I’m writing blogs that people read – or at the very least, click on, skim through, or read a few words and decide “meh, this is stupid, I don’t want to read this, after all.”

So which of my blogs have had the most views in 2018? Read on to find out! How many total blog views have I had so far this year? That answer is 5,659, compared to 3,432 in all of 2017. I’ve also had 203 blog likes this year, and 260 comments (most of those comments are me putting answers to Sporcle Live final questions in the comments box, or putting additional comments about games that I did not want to include in game recaps).

Trivia-related blogs have gotten the most views so far this year. There were a couple of “travel” blogs that also made the list – and some “opinion” pieces. There is even a “history” blog that made the list!

My Top 15 Most-Viewed Blogs of  2018 (so far)

15th place – 13 views

Two posts – both trivia recaps from Oscar’s Sports and Grill  dated July 1, 2018 and March 11, 2018

14th place – 14 views

Two posts – Face The Music recap, ROC Bar, January 18, 2017; and April 16, 2018 Sporcle Live League Championship recap.

13th place – 15 views

Trivia recap, Feb. 11, 2018, Haymaker Public House.

12th place – 16 views

Two posts – trivia recap, April 10, 2018, Powell’s; and my blog titled “Apparently, I’m an Asshole Now.” Interesting note about THAT blog, I sat two seats down in a restaurant from the subject of this blog just last night. And I didn’t kill him! Where’s my trophy, dammit? Yes, there is still bad blood between us, but the underlying sentiment of that blog was, to quote the film Cool Hand Luke,  “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” He didn’t read his e-mails, so a message I’d sent about my lineup for a trivia semifinals (specifically him being cut out of the lineup, as he’d been in several previous tournaments without incident) got blown WAY out of proportion. It’s not that I’m incapable of being an “asshole,” mind you…but calling someone a “fucking asshole” to their face – and then storming off and not allowing the other person to have a chance to defend herself is not something you easily come back from. For the record, if you’re going to call me names, go ahead and be politically incorrect! “Bitch” is perfectly fine! And so is “cunt.” To date, nobody has called me “cunt” yet. That’s a much stronger word than “bitch” (another blog topic entirely).   I’d much rather people cussing at me express how they REALLY feel, and not how they think the “P.C. Police” would dictate how they should feel.  I’m glad he’s out of my life, but I’m still pretty bitter about how all of this went down. Pesky feelings!

11th place – 17 views

Trivia recap, Jan. 28, 2018, Oscar’s Sports and Grill.

10th place – 18 views

Two posts – “What’s Up Doc?”, and “Once Upon a Time Flip Wilson Fell Into a Pop Culture Void.”

Wild West gunfighter and dentist Doc Holliday

“What’s Up Doc?” is a “history” blog I did a while back about Wild West gunfighter “Doc” Holliday. There are a few men I have “history crushes” on, and he is one of them! Otto von Bismarck, Che Guevara and young William McKinley are some other historical men I have crushes on (not all of these “crushes” are based on looks, mind you). I think McKinley’s stubbornness is pretty much what got him assassinated (refusing to shut down an event at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo that his security team said was risky).

I also have “girl” crushes on Marilyn Monroe, Jane Fonda and Judy Garland. Hey…I’m equal opportunity! If I were able to travel back in time and meet Judy Garland when she was still a Vaudeville performer, I’d advise her to focus on advancing her singing career, and not acting. I think she was one of the best female singers of the 20th century, but as an actress, she was abused so much by the studios that it basically killed her…

Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Niagara.

The Flip Wilson blog is basically about missing a question about Flip Wilson in a trivia game…but it still gets viewed at least once a month!

9th place – 19 views

Two posts – “Best Singable ’80s songs” (which is about my favorite ’80s songs to sing) and trivia recap from April 20, 2017 at the Wurst Bar. Both are also among my most viewed blogs of all time – 51 all-time views of the songs blog, and 134 total views of the recap from the Wurst Bar. This makes it the single most-viewed trivia recap of all time on my blog site. For reasons that STILL baffle me…!

8th place – 22 views

Trivia recap, Jan. 21, 2018 at Oscar’s Sports and Grill.

7th place – 24 views

“Cabins, a Great Alternative to Tents” blog I did summarizing the numerous cabin trips I’ve taken in Michigan over the past 15 years or so…

6th place – 27 views

Two posts – Sporcle Live League Championship recap, Dec. 3, 2016; and “When You Get Caught Between the Moon and New York City.” The trivia recap is also my fifth-most viewed blog of all time, with 72 total views.

The latter blog is a “study topic” blog I did about the boroughs of NYC, and its title is evocative of a single by singer Christopher Cross, whom was the adult contemporary poster boy of the early 1980s…Not only do I include numerous facts about NYC’s boroughs, but I also include commentary about Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Billy Joel, and…hipsters. This blog is also one of my top 10 most viewed blogs of all time (30 total views).

5th place – 28 views

Two posts – Recap of ’80s Movies theme trivia night in July, 2018; and trivia recap, May 8, 2018 at Powell’s Pub. The ’80s trivia night was one of the most fun trivia nights in recent memory. Sigh…how nice it was to have SO many questions for which I knew the answers! My team wound up finishing first on this night and got a $100 prize, but as my trivia teammate Kim said, “It was mostly shit Heather knows.”

The Powell’s Pub recap was one of the most fun ones I’ve written in recent memory…including commentary on questions that are too easy, too hard, or “just right.” I used an analogy to the classic children’s tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. A notable occurrence from that trivia night is a random guy trying to get me to smoke weed with him after my trivia game! Never a dull moment at Powell’s…a fellow trivia “comrade” of mine once said, “I feel like I take my life into my hands every time I walk into Powell’s.”

4th place – 35 views

“14 Foot Shoals Cabin, Love at First Sight.” This was basically a “recap” of a cabin trip my husband and I took in May, 2018. A trivia finals was scheduled the same weekend as this cabin trip, but we did not wind up qualifying for this game. It was a blessing in disguise, as we were able to arrive at the cabin early enough to enjoy some daylight, take a short hike, and get a fire going in the cabin’s wood stove. Had we played in that championship game, we would have arrived after dark…driving on the two-track leading to the remote cabin in the dark would not have been fun! Arriving early also meant that I had plenty of time to rig up my various lights on the cabin rafters (one of the benefits of being tall)!

A sampling of one of my cabin light setups. I used two battery-powered string light sets (LED), a butane-powered lantern (in the center), and two battery-powered lanterns for this configuration. The string lights turn off after six hours, so they make great “night lights.” I’ve even used these string lights in tents! They pack down very small, with fine wires that wrap around the battery cases.

3rd place – 46 views

Trivia recap, April 18, 2016, Sporcle Live League Championship. I don’t remember a whole lot about this game, besides team More Beer Less Pants taking first place…despite having forgotten to hand in one of their point slips! They also did not qualify for finals on their first attempt, and joined forces with another team to accomplish their “mission.”  My team didn’t do so hot on this day…which is one of many reasons my team is not attempting to qualify for the Sporcle “finals” this season. It’s just become too much to try to hustle the players at tournament time, play the minimum games, etc.  This is also my third most-viewed blog of all time with 99 total views.

2nd place – 57 views

List-type “study topic” blog I did about Dreamworks movies. So who’s on first????

1st place – 60 views

“U.S. States And All of the Other States They Get All Touchy-Feely With.” This blog with a long ridiculous name is yet another “study topic” blog I did about state borders, but it also includes a lot of silly (yet informative) commentary. This is also my fourth most-viewed blog of all time at 98 total views. I have a feeling that this blog is particularly popular with international blog visitors (nearly every time it gets a view there is also a viewer from overseas). I have a feeling trivia players also view this one, too!