Popular Blog Posts of 2023

I think there be bots afoot.

When I post a blog entry, it usually hums along and picks up a few viewers each hour, and gradually winds down in viewership as the days go by and new blog posts come along. In the course of a month, I used to see about 50 to 60 views for that blog post.

And then, every once and a while I'd see a couple of hundred views in a single hour. Usually, this number would happen in the middle of the night, while I slept, and would be a shock to me when I checked my stats in the morning, while I would be setting up a link to the post, to share on social media.

Sometimes, I'd see a thousand views in less than an hour.

Bots. It's got to be bots.

This year has been a tremendous one in the number of viewers to The Brown Knowser. For all of you real people who have supported by blog, I thank you warmly and deeply. You are the reason I keep going.

Whether real or artificial, there are some blog posts that have stood out as being more popular than others, and so once again, here are the list of the top 10 Brown Knowser posts of 2023. And because I don't know if the numbers are legit or not—they're in the hundreds of views, after all—this might very well be the last time that I post this list.

If you've seen these posts, perhaps you'd like to revisit them; if they're new to you, I hope you enjoy them.

10: Paddling Plaisance — this was a fun paddle and one of the fastest kayaking videos that I've put together. People on YouTube seem to like my kayaking videos so I'll continue to make them in the coming year.

9: Kitties in a Doorway — who doesn't like kittens?

8: World of Kayaking — it's a simple post, with just a single photo, and I love using the tiny-planet feature on my 360-degree cameras.

7: Me, The Grinch — I still don't know why this particular version of my annual blog post is so popular but I've cleaned it up and retitled it for 2023. If you haven't read that version, I suggest that you do. I don't plan to revise it anymore and Grinchy will be the defining post, going forward.

6: Lost and Found... and Lost Again — losing my smartphone isn't as scary as losing a child at an event but it's still stressful.

5: The Last Virtual Challenge — since I've stopped using The Conqueror app, I've also stopped getting on my spin bike. I may have to give myself a new challenge in 2024.

4: Back to Ruins — Wordless Wednesday is one of my most-enduring posts on my blog and I'm glad it's still popular. Thanks for supporting my pictures.

3: The Apple Doesn't Fall Far — drinking soju with my kid, especially when she discovered the Korean liquor on her own, warmed my heart. (Not that I'm encouraging drinking: please drink responsibly.)

2: If I Had 10 Million Dollars — the popularity of this post surprised me. And no, I still wouldn't move to Toronto.

1: Black and White and Red — this is also one of my favourite posts that I shared, but not for the writing. I really like the photo: it's one of my favourite of this year and you'll see it again in tomorrow's blog post.

So those are the most popular Brown Knowser blog posts of 2023. Have you read them before? What do you think? Was there a blog post that you saw this year that you liked but didn't make the list? Leave me a comment.

And again, I thank you for reading my blog posts and supporting my work. It really keeps me inspired to continue writing, to continue sharing photos and videos. Best wishes for a happy 2024.