DanielSonenberg.com

It's true dear friends and loyal readers, today marks the one year anniversary of this blog. And March 2007 is on pace to be the number 2 month of Argh-a-Blog in terms of web hits, behind the miraculous December 2006. I'm traveling and rushing and all that, but I thought I'd steer you towards some of my favorite posts over the last year - 18 to be exact. You can't go wrong with any of these. Don't see what you like? Well then vote for your favorites - I'm hoping year two will add some comments to the mix!

Chinatown musing
Munjoy delight
On the artistic life
First blog entry on running and me dad
Olive bar antics
A stop in New York City
NYC - Run with camera phone
Kite adventures with Ms. Alex
Two cuties
Summer in Maine
Flying to Rome
Playoffs in Portland
Farewell CBGB
October 31, 2006 - in memoriam
Joni Pilgrimage
The Oops fugue
Sundown
Yellow House?

Hello everyone, it's your webmaster here. And I'm happy to report that since I started keeping a modest eye on the traffic statistics at this site in late June, there has been a marked and steady increase (with only a slight bump off from August to September). In November I achieved almost 900 page loads, and this month we’re on pace to break 1000! The statistics are almost impossible to decipher – and although there are statistics for “unique visitors” they seem to be entirely inaccurate (the true number of actual unique visitors is lower than what’s shown here I think). But in general, there is no doubt that people have been turning out in greater numbers (lately I’ve been noticing between 40 and 75 page loads a day – though I have yet to break 100 even once).

Stash this in the “for what it’s worth” department. But consider yourselves appreciated. Thanks for coming – it’s good to have you. I’ll try to think of some clever, or at least not-entirely-idiotic things to say in the near future. Or maybe another fugue? Whatever it takes, friends. Whatever it takes.

You, dear readers of my blog, know that I have enough going on in my life, right? Not an abundance of leisure time on my hands generally, right? (I know I know, just like the rest of us, I'm not making a claim for being special here). So did I really need to develop a sudden and completely debilitating addiction to internet scrabble? I stayed up until 3am last night playing some guy from Michigan. I mostly lose, because I don't know words like qi and qat and nutria and rialto, or maybe I can't come up with them under the pressure of the clock. I need help... And hey, don't say I never did you any favors: click here, if you dare.

Turns out Lonelygirl is most definitely a hoax! Yay for them - had me fooled. I feel in no way betrayed.

Can you believe the word on the street now is that Lonelygirl15 is a fraud? A hoax, that is. I mean, she's clearly a 16 or 17 or 18 year old girl, so I don't think people think that part's fake, but the whole off-the-cuff spontaneous home-editing thing and the slowly emerging love story between Daniel and Bree - most people, including The New York Times, think it's not real, but rather the scripted deviousness of some corporate slime waiting to drop the boom. I really don't follow the argument, or know what that boom might be, but it's delightful to watch it all unfold. Here's the latest:

Heaven help me - I'm TOTALLY ADDICTED to lonelygirl15. Not just her brilliant videos, one of which I've embedded below, but all of the response videos that are popping up on YouTube. I'm just happy to be alive at this juncture of our technological evolution!

The first is a brand new one by Margery Niblock, an artist who lives right around the corner from us, and something of a beloved local celebrity. Her blog is chock full of info and pictures about life on Munjoy Hill, and she knows her stuff a lot better than some Johnny-Come-Latelies who shan't be mentioned here. Lots of great photos there, taken with her working digital camera (no jealousy here). And you can see more of her lovely woodcuts (like this one), and even buy some for yourself, at her cool ebay store.

The other is WATAT - or "What Adrienne Thinks About That," which contains the musings of Rochester-based children's librarian and author Adrienne Furness. I stumbled onto this when I somehow, perhaps desperately, found her entry entitled "How To Get People To Read Your Blog." You'll note that I've already followed some of her advice. But no posts on throwing up, just yet. I'm not sure what I have in common with a children's librarian, but her blogging speaks to my condition so I'm there.

We've done it friends! DanielSonenberg.com has finally leaped to the top! That is to say, when you google me, or when I ego-surf, this website has pride of place, at long last knocking out that "La Petite Zine" entry, which has been castigated to number 5 on the list. Three cheers!

Hey, ever wish that you could get to this blog without having to filter through the rest of my boring website?
Here's the permalink, if you will: http://www.usm.maine.edu/~dsonenberg/Blog/Blog.html.

I went to college w/ this guy! This little film is pure brilliance - have a look. I got the link from the great Muss My Hair blog.

No picture today friends - it's been raining and raining, and that doesn't really fit w/ my propaganda scheme (which is to get everyone in the world to move to Portland, Maine - I know, careful what you wish for.)

I want to alert you to two newish websites in which I've had a hand:

1) AlexSax.net - she's done it. It's up and running. Still beta and being worked over and amended etc., but there's a bunch more to see so go take a look. (for newbies to this venerable blog, Alex is my wife, and a fab-o artiste) (and here's a shout-out to the webmaster of Alex's site, Eric Forman - whose pic I haven't had a chance to post in this space, but just you wait).

[Edit of May 11 - it's back down and back in the shop. Stay tuned!]

2) SouthOxfordSix.org - A composers collective of which I am a founding member. And, it turns out, the webmaster - this is my second web-child - still very much in process. But have a look!