Tuesday at work: Email from Michelle.
Congratulations! You have been Freshly Pressed.
Ode to the Blogosphere will be posted
in 1-2 days.
Stay focused on clients…
Wednesday: Doing email.
Notification of moderation.
James posts a comment.
Hmmm – never met James before.
Light goes on.
Check the FP page.
IT’S THERE!
Art and all.
Histogram jumps.
143 views in first hour.
Comments to moderate.
Comments to answer.
Aside: Fortunately,
I am out of the office today.
My day off.
Otherwise, people would think
I had disappeared.
Note to self: If it ever happens again,
and you’re supposed to be working,
call in sick.
Cut back to Wednesday: Eat breakfast.
Reply to comments.
Eat lunch.
Reply to comments.
Workout for an hour.
Reply to comments.
Cook and eat dinner.
Reply to comments.
Go to bed.
Actually sleep.
Thursday: Things have slowed down.
Answer a few comments.
Go to work.
Ski jump histogram
returns to normal when
announcement ends at 4:00.
It marched over 32 hours,
from top left to bottom right
and then off.
Amazing stats.
Over 1100 Hits,
195 Comments,
175 Likes,
4 Reblogs,
50 New Followers
from around the Globe.
People liked the poem.
It spoke to them
of their own experiences.
Why they blog,
what they’ve learned.
That feels good.
A magical mystery ride.
Thanks to WordPress.
And I would have never
written a poem,
Had I not started my blog.
If you’ve ever been Freshly Pressed, has it changed your blogging experience? If you haven’t been Freshly Pressed, is it something you aspire to? Do you check out Freshly Pressed to find new blogs? Why?
Love,
Cathy
LargeSelf 
Congrats again! It’s how I found you. 🙂
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imaflowerchild,
Thanks! It was such a wild ride, I wanted to share a poem about it. And I’m looking forward to hearing more of your adventures, too!
Cathy
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Congratulations!! So well-deserved! I was pretty busy after I was Freshly Pressed – and it was a lot of fun. My readership increased too – though I don’t think I draw a very big crowd, it’s a wonderful circle..
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Thanks, Mimi! It is such a wonderful circle, isn’t it? I still laugh about your Entomology distinction! You never what is going to speak to people. And that post was so fun! Hugs, Cathy
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Amazon
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🙂
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That was supposed to be amazing… My girls are pulling at me from every direction lol. Congrats again
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I thought that’s what you probably meant. Auto-correct can also be that little gremlin that you don’t realize what happened until after you’ve hit “send.” LOL! Thank, Boomie.
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Someday, I would like to be Freshly Pressed…but I would have to deal with the all the comments and stuff! Oh dear. That would be tough if I were busy.
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Ace,
I was lucky in that I happened to be off from work that day. Although, I guess people would understand and just wait for replies when I got home.
Cathy
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I am severely jealous of you – but congrats anyway–and I was already following you before!
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I know! I found myself feeling that way when some of the people I follow got FP’d. Then there was all the fun and tomfoolery (Hmm, never used that word before) at Le Clown’s site about FP.
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The first time this happened to me was when WordPress used to have their FP people on the page when you logged out. I didn’t get an email informing me of this beforehand — the first time. I just began hearing ding after ding after ding alerting me I had a comment, then checked the page and there I was! I had 10,000 views and that blog has over 800 comments! It was great and flattering and I do go check the WP Freshly-Pressed page. I’ve found some great blogs there. I don’t remember how I found you, Cathy but I’m so glad I did.
And you so deserved your FP’d. :).
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Brigitte,
Thank you! It really was a surprise. Wow! 10,000 hits and 800 comments! That is truly amazing. It must have been a real surprise when you didn’t get any warning. I think I first learned of your blog when you got that first FP. And then later, discovered you on Weeb’s and Le Clown’s sites. I, too, am so glad we found each other here. I so look forward to your posts and savor each one.
Cathy
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When I got FP’ed I was not given a warning. The night before I had imbibed heavily, so heavily I slept through my alarm so I called in sick at work. While massively hung over, I logged onto my WP account and saw this avalanche of hits and comments. It took me a while to figure out what had happened. I gained many new subscribers and a few I’ve gotten to know well in life; one, who also resides in NYC, is even a close personal friend in The Real World. Imagine that. It was a good day to not go into the office, but it does make you sober quickly. I’m glad you got a shout out because it is so validating and your posts are consistent.
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V,
Realizing you’d been FP”ed could certainly sober you up in a hurry. But I can also imagine worse ways to do so. It would be a pretty big surprise to discover all those hits without knowing it was coming. And what a great side benefit to gain a close friend in the process. Thanks for the compliment. Yes, it is validating and I’m glad to have had the experience.
Cathy
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Some Freshly Pressed posts are brilliant. I’m impressed (like yours, of course!). They are my cups of tea. I follow my new found love through Freshly Pressed. I love Freshly Pressed.
However, some Freshly Pressed posts are totalling depressing. They can be extremely boring, or even, very badly written. They seemed to have been randomly picked by someone who had had too much to drink.
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Hi Janet,
Thanks! I have also found some favorite blogs on Freshly Pressed. Maybe the FP folks are looking for variety? 🙂
Cathy
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You are awesome. I’m sure it won’t be the last time! : )
Congrats!
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Thanks, Crystal. So are you!
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I tend to find blogs through the tag surfer, especially Healing- a weird mix of Evangelical and New Age- and LGBT, my lot, facing my concerns. I rather fancy being FP’d, and rather hope that the pickers have, er, not come across my blog yet and seen its total brilliance.
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Clare,
Yes, I have found some of my favorite blog in the WP search Engines and on the reader. I also like to check out people’s blogs from the comments sections of posts that I like. Yes, I hope the FP folks see your blog and it’s total brilliance soon. It is brilliant, BTW.
Cathy
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Ooh! Appreciation! Thank you, I am defo coming here again.
(“Defo” I got from my niece, and I think it Brill.)
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Congrats again on being Freshly Pressed, Cathy! It is quite an accomplishment and you really earned it! When I was FP’d back on April 4th, WordPress wasn’t yet notifying people by email that they were going to be featured. I had just had a baby on March 31 and wasn’t getting any rest at all. We had her first appointment at the pediatrician that morning at 9AM, and my husband and I were both in a complete stupor. When we got back home, I checked my email and there were about 400 messages! I couldn’t believe it, so I checked the WordPress homepage and there was my post. The first day it got over 9,000 hits and the second day it got over 3,000. It was overwhelming for me because I always answer my comments and I didn’t know how I would handle them all. Somehow, though, I managed to answer most of them. Between the new baby and the post, it was one of the proudest weeks of my life.
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Wow, Emily! That’s a great story. I can’t even imagine how overwhelming that must have been. A new baby and 12,000 hits. I guess since you weren’t getting any sleep anyway, you could answer a few comments every few minutes. Congrats on your FP. Did you write about that in your blog? And I’ll go check out your link.
Best,
Cathy
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Congratulations Cathy! I was away last week and totally missed this, but I am so happy that you were FP’ed! You deserve it!
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Thanks, RG. I feel like I’m in very good company!
Cathy
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I haven’t been Freshly Pressed yet, and it is definitely something to which I aspire. I check out the FP page every day because I love reading lots of different styles and types of blogs and, while I usually look for blogs about specific topics, I have found many of my favourites on Freshly Pressed.
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Hi Beth,
Yes, I’m the same way. I look for specific topics, but I do check out Freshly Pressed often. I like to see their picks and I have found that many speak to me. Thanks for the comment and for stopping by.
Cathy
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