26 December 2014

Taking a Break

Welcome back. I’m going to take a couple of weeks off to play and seek out new blog topics. I hope you won’t mind, and I sincerely hope you’ll miss me.

In the absence of new Retired—Now What? Blog posts, may I suggest that you review some of the older posts? I’ve released nearly 400 posts since April 2011, and the lengthy Blog Post Topics column of links on the right of the blog website can help you find possible posts of interest. (If you’re not on the website, it’s at www.retired--nowwhat.com)

Most-Viewed Blog Posts

If you’d like to sample the most-viewed posts, here are links to the top five, listed from first to fifth. Six posts are listed because the last two were tied.


Mehgan Murphy’s exceptional photographs made the Anteater Photo Addendum very special. (Photo from www.flickr.com/search/?w=26357527@N05&q=anteater)
I was surprised at the interest that Stroboscopic Training elicited, especially because it didn’t really catch on until months after the post was released. (Nike advertisement for stroboscopic eyewear.)
The interest in Fish Eyespots, which also began months after the post’s release, caused me to wonder if I should be writing more about tropical fish. (Photo from www.ibrc-bali.org/)
Like most of my research reviews, The Ecuadorian Bat mixed research reporting and personal experience, with a dose of humor. That wasn’t too difficult when writing about a bat whose tongue is roughly one and a half times longer than its body.
The blog has had writing contests, and I was thrilled when Josefina Wopatova's entry, Goal Setting--Second Winning Blog, made the most-viewed list. (Rock concert photo from multiple websites)
How rewarding that the research review Curse Tablets--a topic I found fascinating--did so well! (Photo of 5th century BC curse tablet from www.schoyencollection.com/greekbkscr.html)
Examples of Older Humorous Posts

Some of the oldest posts were very well received though the blog had yet to attain a ranking on Google that would allow it to be found by chance. Many of those posts tended to be humorous, such as these three:
In the post Time for Lawn and Garden, I described the rites of spring at our former house but somehow twisted my photos and captions. For example, this photo was labeled "Neighbors’ kids helping out in Warren’s garden."
The post Dental Check-Up Time was an abridged memoir of my dental experiences from youth to present day. Pictured here from the post is the drill used by the local dentist I visited in the Philippines. (Photo of Fuller drill from Amazon)
The pet posts were all well received, particularly those about cats. Nevertheless, my choice for the top pet post would be Time for Non-Furry Pets, at least the part about my wife’s tropical fish, Godzilla. (Photos provided by badmanstropicalfish.com/)
Noteworthy Firsts

Being a romantic, I’ve always had a special place in my heart and archive for my first Valentine’s Day post Happy Valentine’s Day!. Familiarity with the Trogg’s love song "Wild Thing" will enhance your admiration for the rose I presented to my wife.
I occasionally venture into the world of fantasy, most often knowingly. The first such post was Predawn Jogging Mystery.
Although I began including travel photos with my first blog post, the first travelogue was Time to Visit the Arecibo Observatory, which documented my introduction in 1965 to Puerto Rico and the world’s largest radar-radio astronomy telescope.
Research Reviews
 

A sea change in blog topics came with my shift from personal experiences to research reviews. While that didn’t please every regular reader, it certainly attracted a much larger audience. 

The first research review was the post Memories and Doors, which addressed how walking through doorways caused forgetting. I had questions about the student test participants and if doorways would affect cats.
Most of my blog posts are now research reviews; however, there was a gap of four months between the first and this second research review, Snail Power, in which I proposed powering your house with snails in the basement. (Photo of Giant East African snails by Roberta Zimmerman, USDA APHIS.)
Wrap Up

That’s probably more than enough. If there’s a blog post you would like to see but can’t find, email me at retirednw@gmail.com. I’ll try to find it.

Thank you for stopping by; your visits are always greatly appreciated. Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2015! -warren


One of the earliest Retired--Now What? Blog mastheads.

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