Umberto Eco, who as an owner of 50,000 books, is reputed to have made this observation regarding private libraries:
‘It is foolish to think that you have to read all the books you buy, as it is foolish to criticise those who buy more books than they will ever be able to read. It would be like saying that you should use all the cutlery or glasses or screwdrivers or drill bits you bought before buying new ones. There are things in life that we need to always have plenty of supplies, even if we will only use a small portion.
If, for example, we consider books as medicine, we understand that it is good to have many at home rather than a few: when you want to feel better, then you go to the ‘medicine closet’ and choose a book. Not a random one, but the right book for that moment. That’s why you should always have a nutrition choice!
Those who buy only one book, read only that one and then get rid of it. They simply apply the consumer mentality to books, that is, they consider them a consumer product, a good. Those who love books know that a book is anything but a commodity.’
It is the first week of the first month of the new year of 2024 and as is my usual want, I sit here preparing a review of the previous twelve months. The last twelve months have been positive and the success of my blog in 2022 has continued throughout 2023. In my previous blog review (Blogging 2022 – an end of year review), I did set myself some rather personal and arbitrary targets. My aim was to average one hundred hits a week and to finish the year with a minimum of five thousand overall. This I have certainly achieved. I have finished the year with over nine thousand hits for a total of eight hundred and eighty posts.
This gives me an average of ten hits per post, which is not as pleasing as I would like. My daily hit statistics have been quite inconsistent; my eventual high score finish is the result of some exceptionally successful days and weeks. Despite this qualification, I remain satisfied with the performance of my WordPress blog. I have averaged seven hundred and seventy seven hits per month or one hundred and seventy nine per week. These figures do sound rather more impressive than ten hits per day.
As I have outlined in a few of my more recent blog posts, the links to which can be found at the end of this post (see ‘An obscurity of poets’ for example), I am sometimes disappointed by my perceived lack of reach. There is little in the way of consistency. I can write a post that is all but ignored, perhaps only receiving a dozen or so hits. I can produce another and the hits of that post will be measured in the hundreds. It seems that social media is still a factor in reaching the public and as much as we may like to criticise it, Facebook remains the flagship social media outlet.
One rather odd and idiosyncratic aim that I was originally intending to end, I have continued. I had almost accidently discovered that I was engaged in a consecutive run of daily posts. Being able to say that I had posted consecutively for one full calendar year pleased me and amused me. I derived some satisfaction from that achievement but I did declare my intention to stop. Indeed I wrote in my last annual review; ‘At the time of writing my streak of consecutive days posting to WordPress continues and I have now sailed past the 530 days mark. I do not however, have any intention of continuing this magnificent record indefinitely. Although I have several scheduled posts and will I suspect pass 550 in February 2023, I am satisfied with my achievement and I will soon be halting this streak. In part, I feel that bombarding my followers with daily posts to eventually reach 1000 consecutive days; is just plain silly. There is a time to halt such games and to call it a day. That time is now.’
In this I did not keep my word but have rather continued to ‘bombard’ my followers with daily posts. I have finished 2023 with a streak of eight hundred and seventy consecutive days but it is getting silly, I accept that. The time has come to end this game and that I intend to do once I reach the target of one thousand consecutive posts, which should be sometime in early May. This time I will keep my word.
My target to produce an original post, weekly throughout 2023 I achieved but only just. Some very short posts, poetry and some quite curt announcements finally enabled me to achieve this target. Once again, it has proved surprisingly difficult to keep to a fixed schedule and whether I can continue to do so through 2024, will remain an open question. I am not promising anything this time and I am not setting targets for 2024. Once the consecutive run is complete, I may take something of a sabbatical.
Away from the blog I have also enjoyed success with regard to my other activities. I have seen my name in print at least four times during 2023. Twice in ‘Tumzantorum’ published by ZOSHOUSE, once in a new publication ‘Coire Ansic’ and for the second time in Enquiring Eye, which is published by the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. There may have been an unconfirmed fifth publication but I am unsure. Sadly not every editor will send a complimentary copy or even an acknowledgement. Such unprofessional behaviour does not endear the publication to the writer or encourage further participation. Links to the named publications can be found in the posts below and I recommend them all.
I also saw my work appear in the online version of the Nursing Standard, which was published by the Royal Collage of Nursing on the 23rd of February 2023. I reproduce the text of that work below:
Regretfully I am not entirely happy with the presentation of that piece, as I feel that the editor has been rather heavy handed in their own rewrite. A link to my original piece is provided below. Read and compare, make up your own mind.
My extracurricular activities within the nursing environment are not something I share often but I have done so with increasing frequency since the coming of the Chinese plague. I am well behind in my posts regarding my activities in 2022, including the reading of my poem at Lichfield Cathedral. It was partly on the strength of that appearance, that I was nominated to participate in a BBC Radio 4 programme broadcast on the 5th of July 2023. This included the reading of my original poem ‘When this is over’ and a link to my poem can be found below.
My employer quite naturally chose to publicise these activities as much as could be done, while avoiding any unseemly saturation. I found myself in the rather peculiar position, of seeing my face on the internal Trust web and on TwXtter. Following the broadcast of the interview, I was even recognised by my voice while in the hospital library. It is a situation that I am not at all used to.
That was not the only time I was recognised in 2023 but it was the only time by voice alone. As I have often stated, I do not consider myself to be a name but I do accept that I am ‘known’ in some rather close circles. While out in the Peak District with friends on one very hot summer day, we stopped to talk to others enjoying the scenery. Two women had paused for a picnic near an ancient monument, situated in a fairly remote area of Derbyshire moorland. When introduced, I was recognised by one of them by my pseudonym ‘Chattering Magpie’ alone. This was a surprise to me but caused some amusement to my friends. Although my friends did observe, it is far more likely I will be recognised while visiting a henge-monument than a supermarket.
I was recognised a third time in the November of 2023 but this time it was by sight. I was at work and on the ward when recognised by a patient. He was looking at me quite intently during my administration of medication and eventually asked, ‘Do you have a Facebook page, do you wear a bush hat and carry a camera?’ It took me a second or two to assimilate his words, then it dawned on me, he had seen the banner picture of my Facebook page. The obvious answer to his questioning was of course, yes, yes and yes!
It transpired that he had read some of my concert reviews that I had posted to a Facebook group and then followed the links back to my page. I was naturally rather pleased with this momentary celebrity, it is a novelty and I hope it never becomes so common place that I should take it for granted. Later that week although not on the unit in uniform, I did visit the ward to see him prior to discharge. I was told later by another patient that my unplanned visit was much appreciated by the gentleman in question.
Another novelty that I experienced during 2023 was the receipt of fan-mail. I sometimes joke with my famous friends that they must receive dozens, if not hundreds of email enquiries and Facebook messages. I do not. For me fan-mail whether it is in the form of a card, an email or a message via social media, remains as much a novelty as being recognised. I received three such examples in 2023, which may not sound very much but for a relatively minor name as I, it is. Once again, I hope that the novelty remains fresh and exciting.
Presentations and lectures have never been my main area of activity, as I regard them as being an adjunct to my literary pursuits. The plague of the last few years has curtailed many public events but even without that awful occurrence, I recognise that public speaking remains a rarity for me. In 2022 I gave a very long talk exploring the Robin Hood mythos and that was filmed. On the strength of that very successful appearance, I was invited back to Nottingham to explore the subject of Witch-bottles. That presentation was also a great success and my opinion of the Nottingham Pagan community remains high. It is a community of intellect and friendliness, engagement with them is always a pleasure.
At the time of writing, I am already aware that I will have work appearing in print in a minimum of four publications during 2024. I am as we enter the New Year, in an unusually positive frame of mind. I am looking forward to the coming twelve months, with a far greater confidence than has been apparent in the previous post COVID years.
As stated above however, I have no intention of setting targets for 2024. I intend rather, to carry on as best I can, writing articles, posting reviews and blog posts. I hope that my hit count remains constant and may even increase, yet a decrease will not disappoint me unduly. I recognise that my in-print articles carry rather more prestige than any blog post and probably reach more people than I realise. If 2024 is as successful as 2023, I will be content.
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 