Dear OOTOB readers,
2012 is coming to an end and we ring in 2013. Now, that actually means very little to me, other than my checks will all be wrong for awhile, but it’s a fun time to reflect back on where OOTOB has been this year – the highs, the lows, and the commenters – all of you!
My most popular post this year was my interview with Libby, my new Chassidish friend, back in July. At this moment the post has been viewed 4,197 times (for contrast, popular post #2, about what you need to know as a guest at an Orthodox Shabbat, from August 2011, has 3,608 hits). To this day the most frequent search terms that bring people to the blog involve Chassidish people and specifically “Hasidic” women. Libby is astonished at the interest, btw. She claims there are far more interesting posts here :).
My least popular post of 2012 was… surprise! An infomercial. And it was the very next post after Libby’s interview.
The post with the most comments was about whether Orthodox Jews consider Reform Jews to be Jewish – with 361 comments, back in April. That was exhilarating, even if we had to keep refreshing the page to continue the conversation.
For least amount of comments (excluding posts that link to guest posts elsewhere), a few of them only got one: in August, about how we manage to spend time with all our numerous relatives; in June, about how religious leadership must comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable (ironic, since it got almost 500 hits – and is also a very popular google search topic that brings people here); in March, some philosophical musings about wheels and windows; and this one really surprised me, my January post Half-Judaism (which also got a couple hundred hits).
Comments!
4,146 comments have been published on OOTOB since its inception in July 2011.
While most of my commenters are anonymous and using an alias, I know who most of them are…heh heh heh. Blogging has its perks, you see. And while I never reveal that which is confidential, I’d like to honor my most frequent commenters with some awards! Here goes:
1. The LINKING LIVING LIBRARY award goes to none other than Larry Lennhoff. A virtual storehouse of online info, he is also to be credited for using his real name. I know how scary that is. Thanks, Larry, for educating us and for always keeping the conversation fascinating.
2. The NON-ORTHODOX and BEST CONVERSATIONALIST award goes to…SBW (aka Should Be Working). SBW asks the questions many others are thinking and brings an awesome perspective to this blog. She (since she has outed herself as female) also hangs around even though rough evidence indicates this blog is 70% Orthodox. Not easy. Kudos!
3. The I AGREE WITH ALMOST EVERY SINGLE THING THIS PERSON SAYS EXCEPT S/HE SAYS IT BETTER THAN ME AND KNOWS MORE THAN ME award goes to DG!! DG also gets the award for NO ONE CAN FIGURE OUT IF DG IS MALE OR FEMALE. This is impressive. Thanks for joining the blog, DG!
4. And now, for the ALMOST USES HER REAL NAME AND ADDS SUCH BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS award goes to miriambyk. I just love her insights and braveness. Hey, miriambyk!
5. The MOST EXOTIC PERSPECTIVE award goes by far to Diplogeek, who resides in China (I think?) and, as a convert to Judaism, brings some great views to the table. Thanks for hanging with us, Diplogeek!
6. A newcomer to the blog, “Anonymous/Orthoprax,” at least from my perspective, wins for MOST INTRIGUING LIFE award. I would love to learn more about you, A/O! Thanks for adding your thoughts.
7. And finally, the award for I NEVER KNOW IF YOU’RE THE SAME PERSON WHEN YOU POST goes to “Sarah.” I always wonder: are you the same Sarah every time? Or are there multiple Sarahs here?
So that’s my 2012 round-up! Hope you enjoy the little click down memory lane. Once again, I’d like to express my gratitude to all of you, my readers, and to all of my commenters, for making this roller coaster worth it.
Happy 2013. May all your dreams come true.
What was your most favorite/least favorite post? Who’s your favorite commenter?