Summer Bylines

Well, I haven’t done a writing roundup since June, and that one was incomplete. Sometimes when you’re busy writing, it’s hard to keep track of what has actually published. Here are the things I wrote for publication in July and August (and sometimes earlier) that I haven’t featured here yet. I hope you find something to enjoy.

Early Summer Articles

In May, ParentMap published my list of Quirky Landmarks in Seattle. I also broke character a bit, and wrote an article on hiking when I tested out the new Trailhead Direct shuttle service.

In June, I shifted from quirky to magnificent with a list of Local Wonders. Technically, I can’t list “copywriting” on my resume. But anyone who has read my write ups of the Golden Teddy awards can see that I have the skills. This year, I wrote up both the Food and Dining category and the Shopping and Services category.

July Articles

Also about kids, but not for ParentMap, I wrote about the kid-founded nonprofit Kids Saving Rainforest. Other environmental stories in July:

• the difference between vog and smog,
• native plants that are pretty enough for the garden,
• the relative environmental impacts of contraceptive measures
• sustainability ideas from a net-zero home
• I turned my rage at the neighbor’s leaf blower into a story on the impacts of gas-powered tools in the garden
• problematic souvenirs
• environmental rankings of popular clothing brands
• opportunities for citizen science
• actions you can take to help endangered tigers

Late Summer Articles

Lots got published in July, but less got written. So there aren’t as many things to list for August.

On the environmental front, Earth911 published:

• Grasscycling
• Growing Trees Not Gangs – environmentally service organizations for teens
• I analyzed the cost of bike lanes
• Solar water heating
• Nativars

I had a few things in ParentMap towards the end of summer, too:

• I wrote about the Cornish Preparatory Dance program
• Options for discounted admission to Woodland Park Zoo
• This article on talking about immigration to kids might be the most important thing I’ve written all year
• but this one about why we should make kids care about art is close to my heart
• I made a list of nonprofits founded by kids

I also got to write about the Pickathon Music Festival for Three Imaginary Girls.

Blog Stats

Between keeping up with paid work and trying to give my kids an interesting summer, blog analytics totally went by the wayside. Looking back, traffic was pretty steady in June and July with a slight dip in August. I think August is generally a slow month (at least other bloggers I follow say their blog traffic drops) so I’m counting a slight dip as a win.

Unscientifically combining July and August, the most popular posts were:

Little Mortal Jump: At first I was confused about why this review of a ballet I saw in April was in the top three most-viewed posts in both July and August. But then I noticed that in July, I had more page views from France than any other country outside the U.S. Pacific Northwest Ballet performed in Paris this summer, and I’m going to take a wild guess that Little Mortal Jump was on the program. Apparently the French loved it as much as I did.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon: Also in April, I went to the dollar cinema to watch a film made on a live performance of an all-female theater production of the Sailor Moon story. The blog post had average performance when I published it, but it was among the top three viewed in July and August. The movie was called Le Mouvement Final. I’m guessing that French balletomanes noticed the French title and clicked through after reading about Little Mortal Jump. Viva la France!

Should You See Porgy & Bess?: I wasn’t sure about Seattle Opera’s first program of the 2018-2019 season. A Gershwin opera? But I liked it and ended up writing two posts about it. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who had doubts, because this post about whether to go got a lot more traffic than the post reviewing the production.

Early Thursday at Pickathon: Pickathon was the only music festival I attended this summer, and I wrote about it for Three Imaginary Girls (see above) and for Earth911, and mentioned it more than once here on this site. This post that talks about the benefits of showing up early was the most popular (so far) of the blog posts.

The Looney Tunes World of Marriage of Figaro: I don’t know why this review of an opera I watched in 2016 was so popular in August. I don’t even remember linking to it….

Search Terms

Search terms are always fun. Most people find my blog through links on Twitter, or Facebook, or from author profile on Earth911. But some of them are looking for something, and google (or another search engine) suggest a post I have written. Here are some of the best from this summer:

Turandit metal: They spelled the opera wrong, but I guess I’m the only one who has written about the heavy metal character of Turandot.

skallagrims burial mound: Ask and ye shall receive. Also, can we be friends?

desiree stone doll maker: Desiree makes dolls, and videos. But she doesn’t blog, so when people look for her, they find me.

fidelity by DH Lawrence: Have I ever written about DH Lawrence? Ah yes, I once tried to memorize his poem Fidelity.

francesco demuro traviata naked: I saw Francesco Demura in La Boheme and in Rigoletto, two of my favorite operas. (Me and everyone else, right?) His tenor has an emotional quality that moves me in a way few tenors can. I haven’t seen him in La Traviata and I don’t remember a nude scene in the opera. But if there is …. Oh my.