blog update

Back when I was first blogging here at WordPress, they would prepare a year-end summary. As someone who is (in)famously sloppy at checking stats, I appreciated this snapshot of the year.

Unfortunately, without the handy-dandy report, my own post will be more haphazard and less prettily formatted, but I’ll give it a try.

I put out 135 posts in 2025, fewer than average for me, but more than I thought I had, given that my health situation was limiting my brainpower and energy. The average word count was 248, which is lower than usual, too.

My WordPress stats page lists 1,797 subscribers but my total on my site is 2,180, which includes people who follow me on other platforms, such as my Facebook page. Over 1,100 subscribers receive my posts via email, although 80-90% are not opened. Still, I often forget that what shows up as views for each post is only people who visit my site directly, not those who read posts by email. I often am surprised when in-person friends know a bit of news before I see them because I forget that I mentioned it in a post!

One thing that really surprised me was the “Number of Shares” box on my status page. It says that there have been 36,000 shares on Bluesky, which does not seem even vaguely possible! Maybe some bot got ahold of some posts and spread them around?

I am, as always, grateful for all my readers, visitors, and commenters. I’m also mindful of the privilege of being able to continue blogging, however imperfectly, given my health challenges. There has been some news on that front that I may be able to share later this week or next.

It will probably be more than jot…

Speaking of which, please join us for Linda’s Just Jot It January! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2026/01/13/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-13th-2026/

Share A Poem On Ink and Quill

Thank you, Jennifer, for opening this poetry sharing thread. Friends at Top of JC’s Mind, please join in by visiting Ink and Quill and adding links to your favorite poems.

Jennifer Calvert's avatarJennifer Calvert Author

quillShare a link here of your favourite poem/s, which you have written or a poem written by a fellow poet. Or both!

A poem/s which may have moved you, or are close to your heart. A poem, you thought about, long after you finished reading it.

I will repost all links.

As you are probably aware. I love poetry. So I can’t wait to read and share your links.

Please feel free to reblog this post!

I want to support my fellow bloggers, by sharing their work.

A small way of saying I appreciate you.

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WELCOME TO THE CHICAGO FILES HOLIDAY BLOG PARTY!!!

Cher of The Chicago Files is hosting a big Holiday Blog Party this weekend. Check it out!

seaangel4444's avatarThe Chicago Files

Snowglobe for Holiday Blog Party

Welcome to The Chicago Files Holiday Blog Party! I am so happy you are here!

Help yourself to virtual Christmas Tree-shaped pieces of Chicago deep dish pizza! The Eggnog and sparkling drinks are also here!  There are butter tarts (a Canadian favorite), Nanaimo Bars (another Canuck delight), sugar cookies, various cheeses, crackers, and lots more!

Oh, and now for a little hint about the surprises I mentioned in a pre-party post earlier this week!

We are going to have a few giveaways! Yes, not virtual, but real!  How would you like to win a little Chicago chocolate treat?  We’ll do this by random draw, so every link you post will be an entry into the draw.  I will be contacting the winners a day or two after the party.  Once the winners have responded, I’ll list the names of the winners in a post!

Please join in on this post! …

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Share a Post with OM

OM has a thread open for bloggers to promote themselves, their book, their project, etc. Come one, come all!

The Blog Post Share Project – Share the Love

Jay Dee is helping out other bloggers by encouraging us to share each other’s work through social media. Are you ready to help out in this way?

Jay Dee's avatarI Read Encyclopedias for Fun

I was thinking yesterday, I’m usually giving blog posts I like a comment and a like. I get plenty of those myself on this blog. But there are other ways to show your appreciation to blogs and bloggers.

So, how about this? Whenever you see a blog post you like, don’t just like it. Leave a comment if there’s something you want to say, of course. But why not use social media to help get the word out to others about that post? At the bottom of each post in a blog, there should be buttons you can click on for various social media. Twitter is great, if you use it. Why not pin it on Pinterest? Or how about share it with your friends on Facebook? Or even Google+? If you think the post is really, really good, you could even share it on Reddit.

So, this is what…

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