*****This post actually has nothing to do with anything negative involving Fourteenth Street or the bull shit going on there. It is nothing more than a sociological experiment . I have led you astray to prove a point. You have already clicked on it and can't take it back, so you may as well just participate. The following is a listing of the hits recorded for each post since I began this project. They are listed from the most popular down, as well as showing the number of readers for each. All negative post involving bull shit are in red, all Island posts are in black. I assumed that by titling this post what I titled it, you were more likely to click on it based on the number below. Yea, I'm twisted like that............................
"Welcome to the Jungle" - 16,790
"Dumb Ass on a Log" - 13,110
"I'm Being Called Out a lot these Days" 12,700
"Seriously?.....Fourteenth Street Lacks Soul" 12,228
"The Minus Days and Week 1" 12,160
"Editorial II: Where the hell am I going..." 12,060
"The Fourteenth Street Hate Club" 11,860
"Final Words on Last Weeks Flood Post" 11,770
"Week II: All about the Whitewater" 11,660
"Week Four: RVA History" 9,167
The numbers decline dramatically from here and are all over the place. After tracking this for the last three months, one thing is certain. I am heartbroken and disappointed in humanity. I have written a total of 23 posts, and 6 have been negative. All six are on the list above.........WHAT THE FUCK PEOPLE!!!!!!! This is a blunt, in your face perspective of what the public is attracted to. I am not being critical. I know it is like a car accident. You just can't turn away, although you know you don't want to see it. What bugs me is that no one really cares if I live on an island or not. I built my audience based on all the bull shit. A friend of mine told me that he was sick and tired of going out and hearing the paddling crew bitch non stop about what I write. He said he always asked them the same question....."Why the hell are you reading it?" He said most people never really gave an answer. They just kind of changed the course of the conversation. I know there are plenty of people who love reading about The Island, which I plan to continue to write. But it appears the driving force of the blog comes from either the haters, or the people who love drama. Fact is, most of those people would probably deny that they do read it, like the ones who are reading this post now.
The second thing that I am finding sickening is the consistency in which the top posts are receiving hits. The numbers at the bottom of the list are all over the place. Week Five only received 1700 hits, and that is one of my favorite weeks. It is about paddling Reedy Creek, and has the only video on the entire blog. The point is, people are consistently following the bull shit story, but are not following The Island story. It's a following of bull shit.............which really sucks.
Third, now that I started the Bull Shit story, I have to finish it, and worst of all, the numbers are getting worse. Keep in mind, that a lot of those posts that are at the top have only been on the blog for a week or so. That is scary. So I am going to make a promise to the public that I made to a friend as well. I am going to vomit all the bull shit out of my system by the end of August. The story of "The Fourteenth Street Whore", "The Fat Bastard of Fourteenth Street", "The Teacher"........he is probably going to get off if he stays quiet, and finally, the most important story and the one I fear writing........the story of Marcelle, and more importantly the story about me, and what I did, because I can assure you, if you think I hate on others, wait until I unload on myself. (That just didn't come out right)
Anyway, I want everyone at Fourteenth Street to know one thing..........I'm tired. I'm tired of the fight, and I am tired of being disappointed. Don't get me wrong........this is not me backing down or giving in. I WILL finish what I started. But I don't like it, and I never did. I'm just too stubborn to give in and the way I see it, I have come this far, so I might as well finish what I started.
With that being said, I will address what happened on Saturday at the takeout later on this week. Once again, I am in need of explaining myself, but I will say right now..........I fucked up Saturday, and paid for my mistake. Do me a favor, if you are reading this and you haven't read some of the posts about The Island, go do it. The project is really cool and deserves the attention it could be getting. Thanks everyone. Pray for rain this week........See ya on the rivah. PEACE
HERE IS A NICELY ADDED RANT....................................
Additionally, the choice to read what you read and make an opinion on whatever you have a problem with is exactly that...........a choice. It is a choice that you have the freedom to make, just like the choices I make on how to portray our paddling community. I have used blunt, honest, no bull shit facts to explain certain situations, and I have no regrets about the topics I chose to write about or the information contained in them, nor will I regret anything I write in the future. I can't help it if you decide to read a post and then become upset with the viewpoint. And more importantly, I certainly will not take blame for you then clicking and reading the next post, knowing you will probably disagree with that as well. Am I using the kayaking community as an example of social inequalities in our society?......yes. Do I think they are an accurate population to represent a larger social group?..........hell no!! We are whitewater kayakers. We are all fucking crazy, and the better at boating we become, the crazier we all are. We love to run waterfalls, style giant rapids, and video ourselves doing it. We all have MASSIVE egos, and every year the egos, the skill levels, and the number of boaters all grow larger. It is about as far away from a social norm as you can possibly get.........................which is what makes it so damn fun sometimes. So to all the haters out there. Do me a favor and lighten the hell up........................it's not that bad. And remember, it's YOUR choice whether you decide to read it. PEACE
