SIX things you didn’t know about Random Acts

Today is the SIX year anniversary of Random Acts of Writing + Art! That’s SIX years of essays, poems, photographs and artwork. SIX years of this online conversation between you and me, sharing our interests here in this rich, diverse, and creative space. How cool is all of that?

In celebration, I thought I would offer up SIX things you might not know about Random Acts. Ready?

ONE

Random Acts of Writing is followed by more than 900 people around the world, including my high school English teacher who reminded me, early on, that it was important to keep my writing universal so more people could understand and appreciate it.

TWO

Alice in Wonderland makes frequent stops at this blog, as do Henry David Thoreau, Emily Dickinson, and my Dad. But it was Gene Kelly who starred in the opening number back in 2010.

THREE

Random Acts of Writing is a fifth generation creative effort that has its roots in the 1980s zine culture. The Latest News was its first incarnation, which I published from 1989 – 1996. It was included in the book Notes from Underground: Zines and the Politics of Alternative Culture by Stephen Duncombe.

FOUR

It turns out, I am an internet research geek. Many of the posts you read on Random Acts of Writing are infused with details from Google Books, Wiki Art, the Library of Congress, Wikipedia, Bible Hub, and Quote Investigator. I recently spent four totally nerdy hours on Google Patents and had to stop because my mouse hand cramped up.

FIVE

The intention of Random Acts of Writing has shape-shifted over the years, but its most-talked-about topics include creativity, books, nature, spirituality, and poetry. All of that writing – close to 1,000 posts – led to the publication of LOOK UP! Musings on the Nature of Mindfulness in 2014, and is currently feeding my next book, Evidence of Flossing and Mechanisms of Man, due out in 2017.

SIX

In total, there have been more than 11,000 visits to Random Acts of Writing and 60,333 distinct views since 2010. According to WordPress, most folks prefer to read it on Sunday at 12:00pm. Perhaps over coffee and donuts? Actually, in a past life, I made donuts for a living, but that’s a story best told some other day.

Today is a day to celebrate! And to say thank you…for all of your support over the past SIX years — for your Comments, your Likes, and your Thumbs Up. It has been a blessing to share this journey and this ongoing conversation with you.

With Love,