You are, you really are! Never would I have thought that my life would ever be interesting enough for people to want to read about it once, much less come back day after day....but you do! Today I hit 20,000 page loads. Yeah I know that there are some websites that get 20,000 page loads in a day but this is me we're talking about.
So in honor of my 20,000 I went back and read all 268 posts that I have made in the last 489 days. I was amazed at how long it took. I can hardly believe how much stuff there is. This was probably my 10th attempt at a journal (paper or otherwise) over the years and my 1st attempt at a blog. I think what has kept me going is all of you. knowing that people come here looking for content makes me produce.
This blog started as a way to show pictures to my friends and family far away and let them know what was going on in life. Strange this is, over time new people showed up from all over the world and I have gotten to know some very interesting people. I even have a friend that I made through this blog that is coming to visit me at the end of August (even though her daughter is not convinced that I am not an internet weirdo). If it wasn't for people coming every day to look at this place I would probably have lost interest long ago.
So now I have a little favor for those of you who have made it through this post. I want to know "Who are you?". "How did you find me?", and "Why do you come back?". Come on fess up all you lurkers and newcomers alike! I am curious about you. You all are the reason I do this. You in Denver, and you in Bloomington, and you in Finland...and Spokane, and Boston, and San Diego, and Germany, and everywhere. Please satisfy my curiosity!
27 comments:
I'm not sure how I found your blog, but it must've been when I was looking for blogs from Northern Canada. I used to live in Inuvik and fell in love with the whole area, including the Yukon and Alaska during travels.
I love your photography and writing because it reminds me of my time in the North and it teaches me things I didn't know before.
Trudie in Sweden
I am Peruby. I found you on PhotoFriday. I come back because I like to know what life is like up there in Alaska and because I relate to your personality of writing. And the photos. :-D
That means, you don't ramble on about things that don't interest me (Religion, etc.) but you tell me about people and places up there and you throw in a little about you and your son.
I like to read autobiographies and biographies so people and their lives interest me.
More and more I find out that folks in Montana, California, WV all feel pretty much the same way I do about America and the direction we are headed and about other things as well. It makes me feel more connected to the world as a whole. Of course this could just be the average personality of a blogger that we are all somewhat similar.
Hello!
I found your blog some times ago, when I was looking pictures from Alaska. I think it was last winter after christmas.
Pictures of normal life in Alaska and beautiful nature are best things in this blog.
I visit here every day.
Thank You this wonderful blog!
Leena form Finland
Dean & Kathleen in Kotzebue: We like your photos and essays on our wonderful lives in Northern Alaska
I found your blog looking for pictures of pilot bread to explain to people outside what it is, and why the state is so obsessed with it. I'm a research biologist in Fairbanks, where I study primarily large game. I keep reading because of your clear writing style, good photos, and because you keep your subject matter interesting and relevant. And it gives me a better feel for Kotzebue, which is good, since I've never been over there.
I live in New England and found you when I was feeling homesick for Seward. I'm also a blogspot girl and simply searched for others with an "alaska" interest. I keep coming back because of your incredible photography, realistic portrayal of life in rural Alaska, and I have a little reminder on the sidebar of my blog that tells me anytime you've added a new post! Your site rocks and even though I never made it to Kotzebue and it's pretty different from Seward, there's a lot of similarities too. (And okay, if you say so...maybe I am a little crazy after all!)
I live in Anchorage, and I think I found your blog through a series of links through other Alaskan blogs.
I guess I like your blog because you live in a part of the world that most of us don't know much about. I live in Alaska, but Anchorage, which is much more like living in the lower 48. So it's nice to find out about real Alaskan culture through someone who lives it.
Also, I just like reading people's stories. Even though it is soooo public, people, including myself, seem to reveal more in these blogs than they would if you talked to them face to face. I think sometimes we forget how many are actually reading it.
Julie
Well I'm Sarah and I live in Georgia, but this time last year I was just home from a fantastic vacation in Alaska, which included a trip to a subsistence community above the Arctic Circle.
Since then, I've been mildly obsessed (Okay very) with life in Alaska, especially survival in the winter. I love your writing and photos.
I am Pam. I am from Sitka, but live in Astoria, Oregon. I found your blog while looking for information about life in Kotzebue. We came to visit and are moving to town next month. I'm sure we'll run into eachother at some point.
Maija from Sisualik: I come here everyday to steal photo's because I am a bad photographer and my job relies on photography skills of... (you!)
I come everyday, before the ADN, before the MSN news, because I, too, am a sarcastic person just trying to life a life! I'm still looking forward to some R&R bottle art/photography!
You're the best. :)
Maija, again:
And I am utterly disappointed when I come to your blog and there is nothing new. GASP, I start out with a bad day!
And, I wish I were from Finland, but alas, only my grandparents are. Ho hummm...
P.S. we BELIEVE we have the "proposal" approved. :)
I love this blog and its reportings on your different life. And you're a gifted photographer!
I love your blog, the pictures and stories of people I've known. I was the psych nurse for Maniilaq 1986-88 and surely miss the people up there. If you know Dolly Sours please tell her I think of her often. I am also looking for Karen Reeve, Brad Reeve's sister. My time in Kotz has remained in my memory all of these years. I even have a yearly Iditarod contest for people down here in Indiana every year - lots of people join in, pick mushers, and I send them pictures and stories about AK and Kotz. Of course Ed, John, and Louis Sr. are always picked to win!
Linda, I know how to contact Brad and I'm sure he would help you out. Email me and I will pass along how to contact him.
Hi,
I was born and raised in Anchorage. I Moved to Arizona when I was 20 - talk about extremes! I moved back four years ago after living in AZ and NM for 17 years - newly divorced and kids in tow!
I found your blog through My Fairbanks Life, who I found through Scribbit. I just enjoy learning about everything to do with our Great State.
I think you quoted me and it showed up in a Google Alert I have set for KoKon and/or Ishmael. Then I visited your site, and being a lover of great photography, I was hooked. I was happy to find that you're as good a writer as a photographer, and are not insane. I also appreciate that you post regularly. That's why I keep coming back and why you're on my "Most Read" list!
Cheers!
I may have found your blog through Pioneer woman???? Not sure. All I know is that I make it back here every day! I love your photos, and you write about interesting things. It's also nice to see Native People represented here.
Cama In Hobart Indiana
Alison from Alexandria, VA. Not sure how I found your blog, but I am interested in Alaska (will visit someday) and love your photos and learning about life near the Artic Circle.
I think I mentioned this on my first comment, but from DC area working for a NANA subsidiary. Had a google Alert for "NANA +Alaska" and you surfaced. Been enjoying your posts and helps to see/hear about people in the region.
Should be in Kiana/Kotz around 2nd week of Jan to teach a class at the Kiana School!
I forgot how I found your blog, but I love Alaska. It is my favorite place in the world. And this is from someone who grew up in California, went to school in Boston, now live in the midwest, and has traveled extensively to Europe and Asia. I follow the Iditarod sled dog race as obsessively.
I love the wilderness, the wildlife and the spirit of the last frontier. I'm not sure how I became a large law firm litigator, but I did and I spend my time daydreaming about the Land of the Midnight sun.
Your life is so drastically different from mine that it is as escapist to read your blog as it is to watch Project Runway. When I read your blog, it is like loking at the road less traveled I could have taken if I had decided to be more adventurous after college. Instead, I chose to go to law school, live by downtown Chicago, and live a very urban lifestyle.
I know that I could never survive above the Arctic circle and live a subsistence lifestyle. But I have so much admiration for those of you who do. In short, that's why I keep coming back to read about you.
You must have mentioned Bethel or Kuskokwim at some point which gets picked up in my Google Alert. I have you as part of the Tundra Teachers (living and learning on, in, or near melting permafrost) - http://cerebraloddjobs.edublogs.org/2007/11/10/tundra-teachers/
My dad was Coast Guard, and we moved to Juneau for four years when I was twelve. They live there summers now, and two years ago my sister and I went up to visit. The minute I stepped off the plane I was home in a way no other place has been. The smell and feel of the air, the way I know the town, all the familiar faces and places. Some time after that trip I started looking for blogs by Alaskans and found you, and I've been coming back regularly ever since.
I still think about moving back to Juneau. I've been in Seattle nineteen years now, but it doesn't feel like home the way Juneau does. I like reading your blog for the same reason I read Dana Stabenow's books - you both portray Alaska in a very real way. And your pictures are beautiful.
I think I bumped into you on Wordless Wednesday, and kept coming back for the FABULOUS Photographs and interesting stories about life in Alaska. Always a delight, Cathy. Congrats on 20,000! (Whew, and here I thought I was doing so great with 10,000, lol!)
I found your blog from a link on another Alaska blog. I keep coming back to see how life is in the rest of this huge, wonderful state. Your life is different and the same as ours here is Hoonah, Alaska. Plus you are a great photographer!
I live in Texas but lived in Kotzebue for the first 29 years of my life. I found your site through google. We've e-mailed a few times back and forth. I love your photography and writings.
Hi Cathy - I think I first came upon your blog via Wordless Wednesday. But then I liked your stories and photos. Your life and surroundings are sort of the antithesis of what it's like here in Hawaii where I live. So maybe it's a case of "opposites attract."
Keep up the good work. We all need our regular doses of Kotzebue now, thanks to you. ;-}
First there was the McCain announcement of Palin as VP. Next came the photoshop pic which led to the KoKon blog which led to you.
I come back daily for the stories and photographs and am working my way back through your entries.
My life in NC is simple and uncomplicated. I long for excitement and look for it in the lives of others. Great blogs, such as yours, provide that for me.
Rebecca
North Carolina
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