culture / Reblogged

The Worst of 2021

The Portly Politico23 Comments

It’s New Year’s Eve!  And being the last day of the year, it’s time to look back the worst posts of 2021.

Now, by “worst,” I don’t mean “the lowest quality” or “the most offensive.”  I wouldn’t be an impartial judge of the former (and my readers are generally too polite to tell me if my writing sucks), and I’ve toned down my rhetoric too much to be the latter (although, who knows with the delicate sensibilities of modern Westerners).

No, by “worst” I simply mean “the posts with the lowest views.”  In the old days, when I routinely had posts with single views, I’d just hoover up those and plop them into one big post.  Fortunately, the blog has grown to the point that I don’t have single-view posts anymore, but I still have some neglected posts.

For this list, I will ignore posts that were written in prior years, with the exception of TBT posts, as I often add substantial new commentary on such posts.  I will also ignore posts that merely informed readers that that day’s real post would be delayed, or has been posted (so classics like “SubscribeStar Saturday Post ‘The TJC Spring Jam’ is Posted!” and “Lazy Sunday is Coming” won’t be included).

In order to prevent the list from being too short, I’m only featuring posts with under ten views (as of the time of this writing on Tuesday, 28 December 2021).  That will also keep it from being too long, as this post historically takes a long time to compile.

So!  With those tedious criteria in place, here it is:  The WORST posts of 2021:

1.) “TBT: Disorder” (9 views) – There are a lot of TBTs on this list.  This one was about the social and racial ructions of Summer 2020.

2.) “The Joy of Romantic Music II:  Bedřich Smetana‘s ‘The Moldau’” (9 views) – This post deserves way more views, not because I’m some kind of incredible writer, but because this piece is amazing!  Please help put it into double digits.

3.) “TBT: Guest Contributor – photog – ‘The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms’ – A Science Fiction Movie Review” (9 views) – My poor buddy photog of Orion’s Cold Fire didn’t fare too well in this edition of TBT, but I think the original post performed much better.

4.) “For the Love of Crumb Cake, Please: Not Another Bandcamp Friday!” (9 views) – There are also a lot of these Bandcamp Friday posts on this list.  Turns out people don’t like being sold to once a month.  But I have to keep trying!

5.) “Happy Memorial Day 2021!” (9 views) – I can only assume my readers don’t honor our veterans the way yours portly does.  Or they were all on vacation.

6.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Hammer Films IV: Hammer Films Collection, Volume II, Part I” (9 views) – I love Hammer Films.  My readers, however, do not.

7.) “TBT: The Creation of Culture” (9 views) – The original post is one of my personal favorites.  The TBT did not do quite as well.

8.) “Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2021, Part II: ‘The Personality Cult’” (9 views) – I really think more readers should check out the author who wrote this short story, Michael Noonan.  I bought his book after reading this story, and it’s an amazing short story collection.

9.) “Lazy Sunday CXLV: Christmas Cheer” (9 views) – The most recent Lazy Sunday, I’m chalking this one’s low views up to it being Christmas weekend.

10.) “TBT: The Desperate Search for Meaning IV: Vanity” (9 views) – A meditation on Ecclesiastes.

11.) “Memorable Monday: Happy MLK Day 2019 – Suggested Reading” (9 views) – This one was a real blast from the past.  I can’t even remember what I recommended to be read!

12.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Homeownership” (9 views) – Homeownership is great.

13.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Yuletide Mania” (8 views) – I had a very busy Christmas.  Turns out that doesn’t exactly sell subscriptions.

14.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Minecraft Camp 2021 Review” (8 views) – Minecraft Camp is always a big deal for me and my campers every summer.  It’s fun and lucrative.

15.) “TBT^16: Happy Birthday, America!” (8 views) – I suppose you can only reblog the same post so many times before people start tuning out.

16.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Concert Postmortem” (8 views) – One of many concert reviews.

17.) “Supporting Friends Friday: photog” (8 views) – Wow, photog is not getting the love he deserves.  Read this post!

18.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Spooktacular 2021 Review” (8 views) – This post performed about as well as the 2021 Spooktacular—poorly.

19.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Educational Tyranny” (8 views) – Forced vaccinations and neurotic masking have ruined what little good remained in education.

20.) “Lazy Sunday CXLIII: More Movies, Part XIII: Movie Reviews, Part XIII” (8 views) – I really got lazy with Lazy Sundays this year, doing a ton of movie review retrospectives.

21.) “MAGAWeek2021: Red Meat” (8 views) – I’ll admit, I was reaching for a topic on this one.  It is a mildly interesting, very brief (one might say “digestible”) history of beef in America.

22.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Dog Days: Early Reflections on Dog Ownership” (8 views) – This blog went for a dogs for a few weeks this summer.

23.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Easter Weekend 2021” (8 views) – Either people don’t care about Easter, or they care so much they weren’t reading my self-important blog that weekend.

24.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Bric-a-Brac” (8 views) – I love bric-a-brac—random little things that makea  space personal.  But it was definitely a reach for a paywalled piece.

25.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: The History of Electrock” (7 views) – The history of my musical series Electrock.

26.) “Lazy Sunday CXXXIX: More Movies, Part X: Movie Reviews, Part X” (7 views) – More movies.

27.) “Lazy Sunday CXLI: Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)” (7 views) – A collection of Thanksgiving posts.

28.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Inspector Gerard Preview” (7 views) – A preview for subscribers of my debut short story collection, The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot.

29.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Hammer Films V: Hammer Films Collection, Volume II, Part II” (7 views) – More Hammer Films!

30.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Hammer Films II: Universal Horror Films, Part I” (7 views) – And even more Hammer Films, the ones distributed by Universal Studios.

31.) “TBT: Cass on Our Diminished Income” (7 views) – An important post that is even more relevant now with hyperinflation.

32.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: The High Life at Universal Studios” (7 views) – I really lived it up with the premiere Universal Studios experience this summer.

33.) “Lazy Sunday CXXXIV: Friends, Part IV” (6 views) – I am blessed to have good friends; only six people cared.

34.) “Here We Go Again: Yet Another Bandcamp Friday” (6 views) – Another failed sales pitch.

35.) “Belated SubscribeStar Saturday: Back into the Arena Again” (6 views) – A post about running for another term on Lamar Town Council.

36.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: 2021 Election Analysis” (6 views) – An analysis of the 2021 election (in which I won election to a full term on Lamar Town Council).

37.) “TBT: Albino Giraffes Poached” (5 views) – Poor giraffes.

38.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Authoritarian Creep” (5 views) – No one cares about creeping authoritarianism, either.  That explains a lot.

39.) “Friday Rundown (18-22 January 2021)” (5 views) – I think I was just out of ideas this week, so I did a retrospective of that week’s posts.

40.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Hammer Films III: Universal Horror Films, Part II” (5 views) – Dang, people really hate Hammer Films.

41.) “SubscribeStar Saturday: Christmas Concert 2021 Review” (5 views) – And Christmas concerts!

42.) “December Bandcamp Friday” (5 views) – C’mon, y’all—you’re supposed to buy your friends’ stuff at Christmas—especially mine!

Well, there you have it—the forty-two WORST posts of 2021.  They aren’t all bad; some of them are even great.  Why not give them some clicks?

If you make it through all forty-two, let me know in the comments!  I would be very impressed (and appreciative).

Happy New Year!

—TPP

23 thoughts on “The Worst of 2021”

  1. Laughing … I feel your pain; having just started my own blog, WordPress is ever happy to show me, first thing, how many people didn’t come to the blog. Sigh. But I’m well aware that it is typical to have no one at all view your blog. Good thing I’m not thin-skinned. LOL!

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    • Tom Penn had the same problem when he set up neoconscription. That’s one of the reasons he set up a Twitter account, to try and spread his articles as far and wide as he could but I think he realises he’s fighting a losing battle.

      I think for new sites (or old sites with a particular niche), it’s a case of word of mouth half the time. Circulate amongst friends (whether real people in your area, family or friends you speak to online) and hope for the ripple effect. I’ve posted articles from both here and Neo on TCW and Breitbart but if you’re fortunate to have someone with a lot of followers to advertise, as it were, your pieces, that’s another good way to pick up on traffic. If you want to spread interest in your own blog, Audre, maybe you could ask either Margaret or Kathy to post your pieces on their Twitter feeds. Something to think about.

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      • Those are brilliant ideas and I thank you for them. The blog will be whatever the blog is; I’m just going to let it do its thing organically. But thank you again – you’re a very savvy gentleman.

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      • I searched for “Neoconscription” and found a defunct WordPress site. Is that the one?

        It really is an uphill battle. It takes plugging away at it, day after day. I have not hit that “eureka” moment where everything just suddenly takes off, but I have had some good ones. Getting you, Alys, and others over from TWC has been a real blessing. I wrote a post about Tom Steyer’s stupid belt (back when he was foolishly running for president and dominating the airwaves with ads) that has 3000-odd views (my blog was apparently the only American source that discussed his belt). Lauren Witzke and Milo Yiannopoulos have both shared some of my work, which has helped, as has Rachel Fulton Brown at the University of Chicago.

        So, yeah, there’s definitely some great moments. I’ve tried going into comments sections of bigger sites and dropping links (tastefully), but it takes a lot of time to do that, and it’s easy to come off as a shameless self-promoter and spammer when doing so.

        Getting folks to share links is probably the best way; it just takes time. Writing something that people will really want to share, and will do so organically, seems to be the key.

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      • I can always tell by the stats, and I’ll bet PP can too when you link to NEO posts. Audre would do well to link her FaceBook to her blog, Her FaceBook followers show up here on occasion. And mine (and Twatter) bot occasionally help.

        Happy New Year to you and the lovely Tina, Ponty. 🙂

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  2. Unless my eyes are deceiving me, my gaming article wasn’t on either list so not bad. That said, I’m not sure how far gaming articles would go on this site since only you and me seem interested in it. Maybe in the future, I may stick to human interest pieces for here and find another place to post game/film reviews. That’s not a sleight against this excellent site but it seems pointless posting articles that only one or two people find intriguing.

    Keep posting and I’ll keep reading and if you can get some more blogs up about life in America, that’d be pretty cool. It’d be good to know the ins and outs of your country, away from politics. You know, small town/village life.

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    • Yeah, your gaming article avoided single-digit views. I would encourage you to continue to contribute them, as I want the blog to feature a good deal of variety.

      I can certainly write more about small town life in America. Thanks for that feedback.

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      • I enjoy your pieces about what is going on in Lamar (hope that is spelled correctly), your more domestic stuff and pictures of doggo are always fun. Shame you don’t have a kitty as well. Anyway, keep on trucking Tyler, an occasional blog about – for want of a better word – ‘serious’ music always goes down well with me but I don’t suppose that is a great idea if it is only me reading and commenting. Also how is the romance going hm? Can Audre and I invest in matching hats for the nuptials? Sorry, being cheeky as well as nosy now, but do tell us how things in that department are coming along.

        iHave a fun New Year’s Eve. I don’t celebrate so shall be having an early bed with Our Man In Havana. Graham Greene is my most recent literary pash.

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      • I’m glad you enjoy the more domestic stuff! I worry sometimes that my posts veer into treacly “mommy blog” territory with some of the around-the-house stuff, but I’m glad to know it’s appreciated. Good to know you’re enjoying reading about goings-on in Lamar, too!

        I really do enjoy the “serious” music posts, and I don’t think you’re the only reader. I have quite a few folks who follow those posts as well. I am trying to get more acquainted with choral music, too, which I know you’d appreciate reading about more frequently.

        Ha! You and Audre are certainly invited to any nuptials, so long as you promise to wear matching hats. My girl is doing well, but she’s currently going through a bout of female fuming over some perceived inadequacy on my part, so I’m riding that out at the moment, haha. Should I make it through this current estrogen-fueled tempest, I’ll let you know if a visit to the haberdasher is in order.

        I, too, will be staying in this evening. I am getting over a fever (I think it broke last night, and it never got above 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and a sore throat (which stubbornly persists). An at-home test for The Virus came back negative, but I’m awaiting what I imagine will be slightly more accurate results from the Health Department. At this point, though, I think it’s either a cold, or—worse—strep throat, though it doesn’t feel too terrible swallowing at the moment. Some tea has helped with that immensely, as has some chicken noodle soup.

        Otherwise, it’s a quiet evening with Murphy here at Cook Manor.

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      • Alys, I suspect that there are quite a few people who enjoy the more classical music – we’re just more apt to write in response to it.

        Laughing! So much for ‘English reserve’, lol! I wanted to ask about the girlfriend, too, but daren’t push my relationship with Port that far, lol.

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      • Then I’ll continue to do so, Port. I do enjoy writing about something I love rather than penning articles on the state of the world.

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  3. Port … quiet night chez Myers as well; his nibs will be going to be shortly and I’ll probably hang out til eleven-ish. I’m always torn about New Year’s Eve – I used to stay up every year, faithfully, to say good bye (or good riddence, as the case may be) to the old year and welcome in the new but when he was 18 and out and about, my son called me at the stroke of midnight to wish me Happy New Year. He hasn’t missed one year since. I’ll see how I’m feeling; if I’m pooped, I’ll call him and then go to bed.

    In any event – wishing you all the things you wish for yourself in the new year.

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    • Yes, within the past few years, it’s been hit or miss whether or not I am awake at midnight to ring in the new year. It just depends. I have a feeling tonight I will be in bed before midnight, as I’m a bit under the weather.

      Happy New Year! Enjoy your chat with your son. See you in 2022!

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  4. Well, I missed seeing the beginning of the new year but I always find this a singulatly depressing time of year, the expectation and joy of Christmas has passed and we have dreary January and February to get through before spring starts springing.

    Hope your girlfriend gets over her disgruntlement but good luck with that one!

    Take it easy for a couple of days, loll about a bit with hot lemon and honey to drink and watch nonsense on TV, your poor overworked body is probably telling you to slow down a bit. Anyway young man I hope you feel better soon.

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