20,000 Pageviews Under the See

Dear friends and loyal readers, my gratitude knows no bounds. This morning, my blog surpassed 20,000 page views. 20,000!

I think that's pretty cool for an unadvertised, unpromoted personal blog by an old, crippled guy in Somonauk, Illinois. Especially since my style of writing is not everyone's cup of tea, and I've been told I can be quite opinionated. I've posted poems, my old war stories, fiction, humor, holiday recipes, and oh yes, political pieces.

I've talked openly about sexuality, addiction, marriage, illness, depression, life, love, and death.

My goal, as always, was to educate and entertain.

But let's do the math. I started the blog in June of 2013. That means, on average, 5000 people per year stopped by to have a look. That's around 14 people per day who took some of their busy, precious time to read something I wrote. It might not seem like much, but as a writer, I dig it.

Of course, the vast majority of page views came from the United States, but you are in good company. Would it surprise you (it surprises the hell out of me) to learn that the second most page views came from Russia (please don't tell the special prosecutor), followed by Ukraine (not the Ukraine), France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Denmark, Japan, and Canada, in that order?

As strange as this list may seem, it does not even scratch the surface of the day to day page views. From Turkey to Turkmenistan, New Zealand to Iceland, Israel, Saudi Arabia, China, Malaysia. I can't even think of them all. Each time I get another odd one, I tell my wife, and we just shake our heads. I think it's hilarious.

I do know for a fact that my blog has been searched by several U.S. and foreign security services. Although, as of yet, no arrests have been made.

I've never received a negative comment, so I know it wasn't trolls.

Most importantly (to me), the blog formed the basis for my two-volume book, Man of Words (available on Amazon or through the author). The books represent the culmination of a lifelong dream.

The blog has a search engine, so you can enter keywords for topics that may interest you, and you can track the number of page views by scrolling to the bottom of any blog.

Man of Words notwithstanding, all I can think to say is thank you.

Thank you,

Stephen J. Dunn