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| Pol Roger Brut Réserve (my favourite) photo: plindberg |
The "most popular posts" gadget in the left column arranges the posts in descending order of the number of page hits and it is no surprise to me that Living with a coyote hybrid Coydog) consistently gets about twice the hits as the second most popular post. While original research, such as the posts about the seal of Alexander the Great and the only British example of Jacobsthal's Plastic Style of early Celtic art are important for their subject matter to specialists, most people are (understandably) more interested in the type of dog they own. Dogs are, after all, family. I think it helps to put things in the right perspective.
My own favorite post is So speak, you dead: thoughts about archaeology. 5 ― excerpts from T.S. Elliot's Four Quartets, although its formatting challenges just about drove me crazy!
I would have preferred to include more guest spots and to have had more "live" collaboration in the research articles and thus have better "emphasized the community of inquirers -- for it is only in and through such a critical community that one can adequately test the collective strength of such multiple argumentation." (Richard J. Bernstein). Contact me at john [at] writer2001.com (you know the format) if you would like to contribute something of your own.
As for the future of this blog, I cannot say. I do have to get a couple of E-books prepared for sale: one being on the iconography and background of the Gundestrup cauldron and the other being a speculative novel on the primary cause of war that is set in the Megalithic and also presents some speculations about the nature of Megalithic belief. My main purpose in writing it, though, was to give a story with a unified mythological theme as I found too many mythologically-inspired novels fell into a rather disorganized pastiche of mythological elements woven around a lot of "feel-good" New Age themes. Perhaps I will blog about working on these projects at the same time, it all depends on how the extra work load affects me, and I am also in communication with Trefor about his study of the materials issues of the latest Jersey hoard. Worst case scenario is that I might reduce the posts by one or two a week, or include some sample chapters, now and again, from the e-books in progress.
Tomorrow, back to the Viking's ring series.
John, my thoughts, for what they are worth, concerning this blog. My occupation, until cancer struck, was medical engineering...if you ever wonder where all the designs for medical implants come from, a few came from me, specializing in metatarsal (toes) devices. You will find most engineers, and technical folk, enjoy thought-provoking, well-written (not the usual "for-the-lowest-common-denominator" pieces that clutter a lot of internet blogs) pieces on a wide range of subjects.I have to say, from my point of view, this blog is a true gem of intellectual endeavor and though you do not get as many comments as you should here, I think you have a wide following of folks that truly enjoy your thought-provoking and interesting commentary. I realize that you are not receiving any compensation for this, and, on occasion, you need to focus on what puts food on the table, I, for one, just wanted you to know that I do appreciate your thoughts and writings here on an ongoing basis. Thank you for all the time and trouble you expend in bringing to the rest of us, this true labor of love on my small, glowing window on the world. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind words, James, I hope the ideas keep coming! I'm sorry to hear about your cancer, I'm no stranger to that disease as my wife was struck with it twice over many years. Although it returned with its terminal diagnosis, she lived three times longer than the statistics might suggest to those who think that statistics can predict any one case. We went through the whole gamut of surgery, radiation and chemo as well as adding Essiac and lactoferrin for good measure (the latter was before a cancer clinic in New York started to specialize in that treatment which strips cancer cells of iron and increases the neutrophils in the blood). It couldn't do anything when the cancer finally attacked her digestive system, though. The best advice I could give to anyone with cancer is to avoid stress and keep positive.
DeleteAll the best,
John