You may wonder at the 500th-post claim because the permalink contained in the date for this entry says “516,” but that counting includes test posts I did early on which have since been deleted. So this is #500, and is coming close to the first anniversary to this blog, which will be April 6th, a year after I posted to mention how hard it could be for the uninitiated to set up a blog. But I was also posting about my upcoming trip to Spain, which took me off the air for a few weeks. My real blogging got started in late April after I returned from the trip, and has become a routine for me–especially since August 2 of last year, when I made a resolution to blog at least once each day (231 consecutive days and counting).

Things have changed since I started. After my first full month of blogging, the average number of visitors per day was 22, with a grand monthly total of 442 unique visitors. In the past ten days, my average number of visitors per day was 403, and as of the year to date, I have been averaging about 5400 unique visitors per month. Quite a lift up, though recently the numbers seem to have reached a kind of plateau.

If you are a regular reader of the site, then you are aware of the fact that this site has become a tourist attraction for eyelid twitchers, after a very early post on the topic drew an amazing number of Google hits (I’m presently #2 on Google for that search term, and at least 20 people a day come from search engines looking for information on that topic). Making gyoza is next most popular, with a recent surge of a few dozen Indonesian women from the IndoUSAcouples forum. My review of Mac OS X v. 10.3, a.k.a. Panther, is still drawing lots of hits, after its debut drew the first link from MacSurfer.com that I received–one which brought 8,000 visitors to the site in just two days. And my blog about Christmas in Japan is still getting hits from a prominent mention in the Japan Times several months back.

Running a blog, it seems, can bring you into the public eye in unexpected and often quite interesting ways. The MacSurfer flood was completely unexpected, and checking the stats for the site are kind of like unwrapping a present–you never know what’s going to be in there. And yeah, it’s narcissistic to a certain degree, I’ll grant you that. But narcissism can be so fun!

I should also take the time to thank people who have me on their blogrolls, where many of my visitors also come from: Mark at VuDeja, “K” from Kinuk.co.uk, Nils at Alive in Kyoto, Tim at ChariOtaku, and Kurt at his Hmmn blog at Easterwood. Many of these are linked through the Japan Bloggers Webring, which also sends readers this way via their members list. Thanks also go to Kristen, whose blog made me aware of what is possible in blogging, and to Sako Eaton, with whom I have started the xpat.org web site, designed for North American expats who want to comment on politics and social issues (we’re always open to new contributors–leave a comment with an email address and I can tell you how to join).

Meanwhile, back on BlogD, the latest comment (#569) was left by Latisha, who read the comments on the ancillary eyelid twitching post, and tells us that she started sharing our malady when her husband left for Iraq 3 weeks ago. Our hopes and prayers go out to you, Latisha, and we hope your husband returns to you safe.