Blogging Tag

I was doing some stuff around the site earlier this week when I stumbled upon my LI blogging stats --stats that revealed I was dangerously close to the 1,000 blog post marker. 1,000 blog posts. I know I've blogged a fair amount in the last (almost) two years I've been working at this great site, but if asked, I never would've guessed I was anywhere close to 1,000 blog posts. Because this is the magic 1,000th post, seems fitting I treat it like the milestone it is. I'll spare everyone a lengthy piece full of shallow profundities, but will instead share a few facts and things I've learned along the golden LI way.

I've changed my profile pic. For the first time since Legal Insurrection was founded on October 12, 2008. It's part of a new attitude. Hopefully it will last. In other news, I'm *almost* out of the woods on family health issues which have stressed the hell out of me the past few months and particularly the past few weeks. Assuming no further downturns, I should be *back* by the end of the month. Go ahead, sing it: Recently, we welcomed Mary Chastain and Mark Finkelstein to Legal Insurrection.

My husband Jeff and I are thrilled to announce that our family will have a new addition this fall. Sometime around October 4th our family will have another baby girl. Just in time for the election!

Where have I been, where am I going?...

In My Mind:

In Reality:

Remain calm, all is well....

Last night, for reasons unrelated to this post, I was looking back at the posts from when former Cornell undergrad Kathleen McCaffrey joined (November 2010) and then departed (May 2012) Legal Insurrection. What I immediately noticed is how many of the commenters back then still are commenters now. That sense of continuity and community is one of the things I think sets Legal Insurrection apart. But it wasn't something I was going to write about. Over the years I've struggled with how to handle the comment section. I've had to make repeated appeals to commenters to tone things down, and on occasion have had to ban people when they crossed that "you know it when you see it" line. Those appeals have met with limited success, and it troubles me that in the past couple of months I have received numerous communications from long-term readers -- some who have been with us almost since the beginning -- that the comment section is out of control and they don't like reading it anymore. They are not wrong, and things seem to be getting worse this election season. But, that said, I want our comment section to be vibrant and active.  I think it would be worse if we opened it up to third-party software like Disqus or Facebook. We would lose the sense of community, and would open ourselves up to more drive-by commenters throwing hand grenades into the comment section then moving on.

When Professor Jacobson suggested I put together a "Top 5" post, I thought it would be easy peasy. I was wrong. 2015 was a wild year and I wrote a lot of things. Picking a few favorites our of 40-some-odd pages of posts though? That was no easy task. And what posts should be included in the list? Posts I enjoyed writing? Subjects I found compelling? Stories I just liked? Posts y'all liked? Featured images I found humorous? So.many.questions. Questions that became a bit more difficult to answer after a few mimosas. I settled on a few that I liked for any number of the above-listed reasons. I'm sure I could've included a few more, but I reiterate -- mimosas. And maybe a bloody mary or three. Without further ado, My Top 5 Posts of 2015 in no particular order:

1. That time President Obama forgot all about that whole Barbary Corsairs War thing

Barring big breaking news, which unfortunately is a possibility tonight, this will be my and our last post of 2015. This is the time each year I get a little weepy-eyed and reflective. When I look back on the past year, there were some tough times. I think of Mandy often, and wish her and her family a better 2016. I'm also thankful for the many authors who have contributed so much over the past year. I don't want to name anyone for fear of leaving someone out, but Amy and Kemberlee and Aleister and Leslie and Andrew and Antonio and Fuzzy and David and Neo and AACONS, and new authors Vijeta, Miriam and (very recently) Jonathan, and old author Anne recently returned. They have allowed us to keep the content and quality flowing as my fight against anti-Semitism in the form of the anti-Israel boycott movement consumes so much of my time. And to the readers who keep returning despite all the other choices.

2015 was a decent year in terms of blog traffic. We were up over 1 million page views compared to 2014, to over 15 million for the year. Based on Google Analytics, here were the ten post with the most page views during 2015:

1. Finally Obtained: David Gregory Arrest Warrant Affidavit, January 22, 2015

Did this really happen this year? Seems so long ago.

(seriously)...