Top 15 Posts for 2012

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. It’s a good time to look back and see what has worked and what hasn’t. I read a post from Michael Hyatt this morning that offered a good suggestion. Pull up the year’s stats and see what you top, most-viewed posts were. This kind of thing can be very helpful in determining the direction of posts for the next year.

He was right. It was rather intriguing. My stats are nowhere near as large as his (he ranges from 60,000 to 200,00 per post), but they still tell me something. Here are my top 15.

  1. Is Chinese a Language of the Tower of Babel? (306)
  2. Photoshop Tutorial: Adding Grass to an Image (192)
  3. Here’s a Good iGoogle Alternative (179)
  4. Acappella Memories: Kathisophobia or I’ll Stand, Thank You (173)
  5. Acappella Memories: The Seat of Questioning (170)
  6. Acappella Memories: Entertaining Angels Unaware (149)
  7. Acafest 2012 Review (143)
  8. Acappella Memories: Alvin! (142)
  9. Lose 10 Pounds Without Really Trying (142)
  10. Acappella Memories: Duane Adams at Acafest 2012 Pt. 2 (132)
  11. Acappella Memories: Grounded in Texas (130)
  12. Arranging (129) – this one is actually a page, not a post, for those of you who know the difference.
  13. The Power of Introverts (129)
  14. Acappella Memories: The Original Well on my Way (109)
  15. Acappella Memories: Duane Adams at Acafest 2012 Pt. 1 (107)

I removed the “About Gary” page, which actually fell at #2 on the list.

So what does this tell me? First, it seems there’s a great interest in the mysteries of history as they pertain to the Bible. Who would’ve thought that the Chinese/Babel connection would’ve come in first? I will need to explore more topics along this line.

Next, 2 of the top 3 posts were about productivity. Looking at the top 50, I could see that it placed very strongly as a topic. I should do more productivity.

But obviously, the thing that easily stands out the most is the number of top 15 posts that were Acappella-related. 9 of the top 15 were about my time with Acappella. I guess I need to brush off the cobwebs and revive more memories.

If you have a blog, have you checked your top posts for the year? It’s rather revealing.

My Favorite Superbowl XLVI Commercials

It’s Monday morning after Superbowl 46. I agree with those who are calling for a national holiday on the Monday after the game. Everyone’s dead anyway.

You’ve probably seen most of these commercials already, but  thought I would post my top 5 anyway. Well, I guess my top 4. It appears that the NFL has filed an injunction against Chrysler to pull the Clint Eastwood commercial from showing on YouTube due to copyright infringement. It seems they think they own the phrase “halftime.” Good grief.

So, with a bow to Chrysler and Clint Eastwood’s Halftime in America as my #1 favorite commercial, here are the next four (I will post the Eastwood ad, but it may not show). The list of my biggest losers are at the end, where they should be.

Chrysler – It’s Halftime in America

As I said above, this is a very well done commercial. It especially resonated for me during my current unemployed state.

Chevy Silverado 2012: End of the World

This was great. I need to watch this one several times. It appeared there were several reasons for the end of the world, including a giant Mayan robot head. Did you catch that one?

M&M’S Just My Shell

Our house had about 15 people gathered to watch the game. This one had us laughing so loud and long we missed the next commercial entirely. Hilarious.

Hyundai Genesis Coupe: Think Fast

Another good laugh. This was a well written commercial, even though very little was said.

Doritos: Man’s Best Friend

I love the scene where he turns around and the dog is in his face. I heard on ABC this morning that this commercial cost a whopping $20 to produce. Nice.

Notable mention goes to Bridgestone’s Performance Football, Coke’s finger crossing superstitious polar bear, E-Trade’s speed dating baby, Honda CR-V and Matthew’s day off (the full version is better), the Bud Light Rescue Dog, and the strange 2nd alien head on Cars.com’s Confident You.

Big Losers:

Budweiser: Return of the King – So was the message that the entire country celebrated the end of prohibition, or that after years of no drinking even Budweiser tastes good?

David Beckham Bodywear – I’m a guy. I don’t want to see Beckham’s tattooed body.

Teleflora with Adriana Lima – Another stupid message. Give flowers and get sex in return? Stoopid.

Anything GoDaddy – Enough is enough. I switched to Hover.com long ago because of commercials like this. And they keep pumping them out. Get a clue.

 

 

Natural Energy When You Need It

I’m a night owl. My mind starts going about 9:00 PM and won’t shut down until midnight or so. In the mornings, I usually arise around 6:30 AM. It’s pretty common for me to get less than 6 hours sleep. For years, coffee has been my best friend. Due to my third round of kidney stones,  I haven’t had more than 1 cup of coffee per week in over 4 months. Carbonated drinks are even more rare… maybe one a month.

I have really been in need of something else to supply energy to get me through the day (short of sleeping more, which I occasionally do). To that end, I have found something that I think works extremely well. I’ve recently become an Independent Business Owner with Genesis Pure, Inc. offering health and nutrition products. They offer an all-natural energy drink that works wonders.

ENERGY comes in packets and you mix it with 8-12 ounces of water. They recommend (and I agree) to drink it before you hop in the shower in the morning. By the time you’re out and dressed, you feel great. It provides sustainable and healthy energy all day long. Unlike other “energy drinks”,  this produces no crash afterward, no jitters, no nervousness, no hyperactivity and no heart palpitations.

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