Although statistics for my blog are not overly important to me, as I choose not to monetize etc, what does matter to me is all the people who take time to visit my site! Whether it’s a quick look at some half-naked totty, or if you’re here to read a theatre review, or a dedicated blog subscriber, then I offer you a HUGE thank you!
This post marks that the most conservative of the stats counters that I use has now just topped the half a million mark; a remarkable achievement for what is essentially a blog that I really just keep for myself to look back on when I’m old and grey, with no real agenda or marketing pull behind it. It also is nice to hit this mark at last, given that this blog represents several years of my life, and so it’s fab to be able to feel like it’s achieved something hehe.
I’ve met some AWESOME people via my writing this blog, and I genuinely want to thank everyone who has ever taken even a second of interest in my ramblings, you’re all awesome!!!
And now to celebrate, and toast the next half million, with an iced bun!
Incidentally, my birthday weekend will likely be Sat 6th – Sun 7th August.
Oh, and here’s a stunning picture that I took recently; if you view it in full size (simply by clicking on it) you can see just how stunning it is! Look at those beautiful star-shaped stamen! WOW!!!!
I’ve just received a rather nice comment regarding a post on my blog from Ed Balls MP, the current Shadow Chancellor, which I thought I’d share in rare moment of vanity heh!
@DarkAeon – It was prompted by your excellent Wicked review on your blog…— Ed Balls (@edballsmp) June 02, 2011
All very fabulous as I am not only a Labour Party member, but I also have a very keen interest in Finance / Economics, and so out of the entire shadow cabinet, the Shadow Chancellor is probably the role that I most like!
For anyone interested in reading my re-review of Wicked, please click here.
Thanks to all who continue to visit and comment, whether you’re a Shadow Chancellor or not, you’re all equally as fab – now tweet me and tell me lovely things and I’ll stick you on here too perhaps hehe!!!
This morning, this blog managed to hit the big four-oh (oh-oh-oh-oh-oh) by the most conservative of my website visits statistics, which has made me feel rather chuft and accomplished on what, workwise, is proving to be a rather frustratingly unproductive day.
As I always say whenever I post a mile-stone, thank YOU very much for all your support and for the visits, be it a first time visit or if you’re a regular subscriber – this blog serves no commercial purpose, it’s simply a collection of thoughts, reviews and randomness that makes me smile.
To celebrate this marvelous early Christmas present, and to get you all humming this rather addictive song, here’s a World of Warcraft lipdub to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire”, which has kept Karl, myself and my housemates entertained all week – you’ll need fullscreen, but it’s fantastically clever! *dances*
Another Sunday stuck on my own in the office + waiting on long-running processes = yet more whiteboard doodles!
Stick this YouTube on whilst you read, it’ll help with the atmosphere
[you can click to enlarge the images if you wish to do so]
Regular visitors will already be familiar with the evil robot who comes along to help me when bad things happen in Excel, however the post-it notes are from during the week, and the lad is from today (yes, I know that I accidentally edited the sense out of it, and committed a big grammatical sin, however there may be a new grammar pedant robot to eat the kid next Sunday… ).
You think that my drawing these on the team’s whiteboard would draw some kind of negative comment, but far from it, the post-it notes were actually stuck on there by my manager! Tsk! Don’t my employers know that it’s a bad idea to encourage the hyperactive children…? heh!
For anyone still a little baffled by this post, this evening we have easily smashed through the most conservative of numbers from of my range of blog statistics – meaning that this now puts the total visits to pages on http://garidavies.me.uk at well over 300,000!
Thank you SO much to all of you people out there who continue to visit and support my ramblings and especially to those who regularly keep updated on goings in my little corner of the internet! You guys are amazing! x
I’ve been feeling rather nostalgic recently for reasons unknown, and thought that as my friendship circle has taken another expansive turn for the better, that I’d share some of my history with folk and whatnot. These are old pictures that I’ve stumbled across recently that I thought that I’d like to share I say “like”…. they’re hideously embarrassing, but they’re part of my story I guess and fundamentally part of the whole reason that I blog (which is for me to look back on in old age!) heh.
So cast your mind back a good number of years (photos start from 2004ish), back to the days of FaceParty (I had 100,000 profile views and was one of the highest viewed people on the site don’t you know? heh), STEPS (I was at their last concert), and bad bad hair on my part heh!
Please, dear readers, don’t judge my former self too harshly!
If you’re interested in seeing how I look these days, there are a few pictures in the ‘Photos’ section of my website.
Figured that I’d go with a bit of a personal update to my blog, as it’s been a while since I’ve done one.
Recently, life has been hurtling by at an absolutely manic place, and at the moment I feel thoroughly exhausted and a little depressed. Not the best of ways to be.
Work wise, we’re in the process of implementing a brand new financial system called SAP into the company, which basically involves gutting a lot and putting it all back together with the new system integrated into it. Unfortunately, this has meant that I’ve been doing 60+ hour weeks, and I’m not getting a bank holiday at the start of May, as that’s our ‘go live’ date.
I’ve been being terribly social recently too; meeting several new people in the last week alone (mainly thanks to twitter and the lovely folk that I chat to on there).
In the past week, I’ve been to see the musical ‘HAIR’ twice (click here for my review), and have also had some very early mornings getting up in time to get to Wimbledon (as I am going to be working there on behalf of my department during the Championships this summer, and we had some inventory work to get done).
On top of all this activity, I also found time to squeeze in a quick trip (April 21 – 22) back home to Manchester with my Aussie pal Ryan, something I’d been looking forward to for months.
To give you a bit of background (though I am sure I’ve discussed this before), Ryan and I have been chatting online for eons (around 10 years) and were probably pioneers for global friend making via the internet back in the day. Anyway, skip forward 10 years, and after 18 months in England, Ryan announces that he needs to go back home as his work visa is about to run out – boo!! Thus, I decided that I definitely wanted to drag him around my hometown before he went back!
Hotel wasn’t too bad (we Travelodge’d it, meaning the entire trip, including train, was only £36.50 each – bargain!), and the weather was gorgeous, if not deceptively chilly! (I think we spent more time complaining about the chill than anything else heh).
Actually, I lie… Ryan saw a stunning (but expensive) coat in a shop called Intro on Deansgate, which he bought, and didn’t stop chatting about ALL THE FREAKIN TIME heh. Pleased he was so excited about it; was a really nice coat and a fab momento of the trip. I’ve tried to search for a picture of the coat online so that you can all see how awesome it was, but alas no joy.
Of course, in the evening, we made the obligatory forage into the Village for drinks, and started off with several nice shooters in a deserted Baa Bar (at £1 each, it’d be cheeky not to, right?!).
As pictured above, we had a couple of Bakewell Tarts, a Brain Damage thing for me (complete with icky lumps!) and we got something that looked rather potent for Ryan (lots of bright colours went in, but it still came out clear – erk!), called an Assassin. I also had a cheeky Traffic Lights too (they’ve always been my fave).
Afterwards, I took him across to Via, as all Mancunians know that this is the best way to get those non-Mancunians to gasp in amazement heh. Lovely venue and it had the desired effect! After a few cheap rounds (£6.30 for Strongbow and a pint of beer) we decided to head back early to try to catch up on some sleep as we were both shattered (and thus avoiding the need to humiliate myself with my lack of dance skills at Cruz heh!!).
Thursday was a nice chilled out day, we wandered around the shops after a much appreciated late lie in, and also went to see Alice In Wonderland as we’d both missed seeing it back when it was released – a good film, but not worth the wait. As always, AMC Cinemas were deserted, hurrah.
Ate so well whilst I was away that I felt like a right piggy! I’m not used to eating so well – so many restaurants and the eating of ‘proper’ cooked food!
Alas, as I was feeling so tired, I fear that I may not have been the best of company, however I hope that Ryan enjoyed himself and seeing the City. I know that I had a marvellous time, and it was awesome to get to spend some time with him before he has to go back (*mumbles about stupid immigration policy and Commonwealth citizens etc etc*)
(and yes eagle-eyed viewers, this picture was taken in the exact same spot as the photo that I use for my blog header was taken! These glass blue circles have become infamous, with everyone I go to Manchester with insisting they get pictures by them too heh.)
One of the funniest moments of the trip came right at the end, as we were leaving the train at London Euston (on which, incidentally, I discovered that I’m pants at playing Checkers). Literally, as I was stepping off, a lady whizzed past with a baby in a push-chair. The baby had this really weird grin on its face, and it’s hair had been done up in what I can only describe as ‘twiglets’ (or something out of In The Night Garden!!) I know it was rather rude, but it was late, and I couldn’t help myself – I pointed and guffawed very loudly!!
Laughed could be a bit of an understatement…. shall we agree on I had uncontrolled hysterics? I’d best come clean about this now, as I know that Ryan has part of my hysterics on camera, so I can’t fib! It must have taken me about ten-to-fifteen minutes to regain my composure and to be able to walk properly!!
I’ve come away from the trip feeling very confused, which is how I always tend to feel. I miss Manchester immensely now that I live in London, and a large part of me is already ready to move back there. Of course, life is never that simple.
Looking ahead to the next week or so, all I have in my diary is work, work, work, so I’m struggling to remain positive if I am honest. Tired, depressed and glum (booo), but I’ve also had some really fab moments mixed in along the way too, which have really helped.
Feel free to leave me nice comments below / nice emails via ‘Contact Me’ to help cheer me up
Gx
PS – this post was written whilst listening to La Ritournelle by Sebastien Tellier- a fabulous song that was also featured in Ugly Betty Series 3 (Ep11) . It’s a song that I am really liking at the moment, I love the instrumental bit, especially with the prominent piano sound… it’s become my ‘thinking’ music.
Figured that I’d go with a bit of a personal update to my blog, as it’s been a while since I’ve done one.
Life recently has been hurtling by at an absolutely manic place, and at the moment I feel thoroughly exhausted and a little depressed. Not the best of ways to be.
Work wise, we’re in the process of implementing a brand new financial system called SAP into the company, which basically involves gutting a lot and putting it all back together with the new system integrated into it. Unfortunately, this has meant that I’ve been doing 60+ hour weeks, and I’m not getting a bank holiday at the start of May, as that’s our ‘go live’ date.
I’ve been being terribly social recently too; meeting several new people in the last week alone (mainly thanks to twitter and the lovely folk who I chat to on there).
In the past week, I’ve been to see the musical ‘HAIR’ twice (click here for my review), and have also had some very early mornings getting up in time to get to Wimbledon (as I am going to be working there on behalf of my department during the Championships this summer, and we had some inventory work to get done).
On top of all this activity, I also found time to squeeze in a quick trip to Manchester with my Auzzie pal Ryan.
To give you a bit of background (though I am sure I’ve discussed this before), Ryan and I have been chatting online for eons (around 10 years) and were probably pioneers for global friend making back in the day. Anyway, skip forward 10 years, and after 18 months in England, Ryan announces that he needs to go back home as his work visa is about to run out – boo!! Thus, I definitely wanted to drag him around my hometown before he went back!
Hotel wasn’t too bad (we Travelodge’d it, meaning the entire trip, including train, was only £36.50 each – bargain!), and the weather was gorgeous, if not deceptively chilly! (I think we spent more time complaining about the chill than anything else heh).
Actually, I lie… Ryan saw a stunning (but expensive) coat in a shop called Intro on Deansgate, which he bought, and didn’t stop chatting about ALL THE FREAKIN TIME heh. Pleased he was so excited about it; was a really nice coat and a fab momento of the trip. I’ve tried to search for a picture of the coat online, but no joy.
Of course, in the evening, we made the obligatory forage into the Village for drinks on the night that we stayed over – had several nice shooters in a deserted Baa Baa (at £1 each, it’d be cheeky not to, right?!).
[pic]
Afterwards, I took him across to Via, as all Mancunians know that this is the best way to get those non-Mancunians to gasp in amazement heh. Lovely venue and it had the desired effect! After a few cheap rounds (£6.30 for Strongbow and a pint of beer) we decided to head back early to try and catch up on some sleep as we were both shattered (and thus avoiding the need to humiliate myself with my lack of dance skills at Cruz heh!!).
Thursday was a nice chilled out day, we wandered around the shops after a late lie in, and also went to see Alice In Wonderland as we’d both missed seeing it back when it was released – a good film, but not worth the wait. As always, AMC Cinemas were deserted, hurrah.
Ate so well whilst I was away that I felt like a pig! I’m not used to eating so well – so many restaurants and the eating of ‘proper’ cooked food!
Alas, as I was feeling so tired, I fear that I may not have been the best of company, however I hope that he enjoyed himself and seeing the City! I know that I had a marvellous time, and it was awesome to get to spend some time with him before he has to go back (*mumbles about stupid immigration policy and Commonwealth citizens etc etc*)
I’ve come away from the trip feeling very confused, which is how I always tend to feel. I miss Manchester immensely now that I live in London, and a large part of me is already ready to move back there. Of course, life is never that simple.
Looking forward to the next week or so, all I have in my diary is work, work, work, so I’m struggling to remain positive if I am honest. Tired, depressed and glum. Boo.
Feel free to leave me nice comments below / nice emails via ‘Contact Me’ [link] to help cheer me up
I am very pleased to report that this blog saw its 250,000th visitor last night!
Ever the chap working in accounting (so forecasts and ‘budgets’ come naturally), it happened pretty much exactly when I thought it would, 23:45 on Friday night – a nice bit of excitement for a quiet Friday night in, and a perfect excuse for a gin or two heh.
A quarter of a million people hitting my blog is an awesome amount I reckon, especially as this blog is just a personal blog set up primarily for me to enjoy in my older age when I read it all back – I am so pleased that it has evolved into what it is today, and has become a ‘something for everyone’ kind of site.
Quick note on the stats themselves – several other stat providers put me as topping 250K as early as a few weeks ago, but I wanted to wait until WordPress also passed this figure, as their stats are the most conservative of the ones that I use, thus prudence has been exercised (see… back to the accounts thing again heh!).
Thank you to everyone who visits, who keeps visiting and those who subscribe to my content – reaching such a landmark figure inspires me to keep blogging.
Whether it’s a quick look at some half-naked totty, or if you’re here to read a theatre review, or a dedicated blog subscriber, then I offer you a HUGE thank you!
Look at those beautiful star-shaped stamen! WOW!!!!
