PROJECT 365: One month in, the words are flowing and eyes are reading

The calendar turned while I was sleeping.

January became February and when I woke up I was 1/12^th done with the most daunting literary project I’ve ever undertaken in my life.

Project 365 started out as 365 Days of Me. Then it became the 365 Project. A few days in it changed to Project 365, more out of a simple accidental flipping of the words, to be honest.

But it has stuck.

Here are some interesting statistics for you:

In January of 2019, The October Weekend had 1,073 pageviews. That is up from December (189), November (217) and October (529).

So that’s a good thing.

It’s the most I’ve had since December of 2017 when I had 2,208 pageviews—1,972 of which were created from a post about the death of one of my best friends in life, Danny Carroll. (You can click here to read that one again, if you’d like. I loved Danny and he deserves it).

In December of 2016, I had 3,551 pageviews—3,108 of which came from the death of a Will Fulford, a former athlete I once covered back in the day. (You can click here to read that one, if you’d like).

They say death sells, but I like to think I’m writing nice little tributes to people who touched my life in some way or another.

For the record, 2016 was my best year for Pageviews with 10,147.

That’s what I’m shooting for now. To break that record, I suppose.

I need something to keep me going.

I’ve found over the last 31 days, banging out a post a day for 365 days isn’t easy.

There are two people I want to publicly thank as a new month begins.

Rob Adams of WGCH Radio and Robcasting Radio and the Exit 55 Blog. (Photo blatantly stolen from his Facebook page)

The first is Rob Adams, who I had half-jokingly challenged to join me in this Project 365 undertaking and he surprisingly accepted.

Like me, Rob is a member of the media scene down here in lower Connecticut. He is the sports director for WGCH Radio in Greenwich, has a Robcasting Radio internet broadcasting web site, and has his own blog called “Exit 55.”

I can only think of one bad thing to say about Rob—he’s a Yankees fan—but he’s a good guy and I’m proud to be in this blog soup with him. Write on, my friend.

How can somebody not like Christina Trani and her husband, Luigi, who embrace the fact there is no crying in baseball. (Photo blatantly stolen from her Facebook page).

The second is Christina Trani, wife of Luigi, mother of Jake, Ryan and Analise, and perhaps The October Weekend’s new No. 1 fan.

When I publish a new Project 365 post, she is usually the first person to like it, give it a heart, or slap a comment on it. On my busy days, she will text me to remind me she is waiting for that day’s latest post. She is my Annie Wilkes, I suppose … well, in the good way.

I can only think of one bad thing to say about Christina—she’s a Yankees fan—but she’s a good person and I’m proud to have family in my life. Read on, my friend.

(I also just realized I’m surrounded by Yankee fans, so I’ll be seeking professional help in the near future).

One last note: I only share these posts on Facebook for “my friends.” I’m always OK if they share with strangers on their Facebook feed. But I’ve never shared via Twitter, where I have 1,486 followers. I’m still not sure if I want to, but I’ve thought about it. Facebook is far more personal than Twitter, which is always so often filled with negativity and hatred—things I don’t deal with that much anymore.

You know what? In that one sentence I’ve decided I will not share via Twitter. I’ll keep things the status quo for the entire run of the project.

So, February.

Twenty-eight days, which should be an easy month to get through, right? (So glad it’s not a leap year).

Come March 1, I’ll be one-sixth of the way through Project 365 and the momentum will really be going forward.

So, thanks for being here.

Thanks for coming back.

See you tomorrow.