When I ask “who are y’all”, it is YOU I am asking. Not some other person who might be reading this a city or state or even country away from you..and not even that visiting neighbor who is reading this over your shoulder, but YOU!
You see…I kinda know who you are in a general sort of way. The software I use to maintain my websites tells me little about my readers. For example, I know that 86% of my readers use the Firefox browser. I know that my “average” reader is a 34 year old stay
Y'all are all over the place! Image via Wikipedia
at home mom, and from that I would guess that a lot of you are conservative middle America types. I know that about 68% of my readers are from the United States, 25% are from Canada, and the rest are mostly from the UK. I know that of the 2% that are from somewhere else there are two regular visitors from Russia and one…an American embassy worker’s wife, visits JuicyMaters from her current home in Saudi Arabia.
I would tell you that I even know what you are wearing and if you have combed your hair when visiting JuicyMaters, but first, that would be a lie, and second, it might run some of you off, or at least make you go get dressed…LOL.
So you see, I do know a little about you, but I don’t actually KNOW YOU…and I want to, I really, really do.
Why? For a couple of reasons.
First of all, I like to think of y’all as friends, or as close to friends as possible between a blogger and his readers. I like writing stuff that friends will want to read. I’d actually be a horrible novelist as any publisher would want tens or hundreds of thousands of copies of a book to be sold while I’d be happy if just my friends read it.
Second, besides being (hopefully) entertaining, I want JuicyMaters to be informative and useful, and for that to happen I have to know the folks who read this stuff so I can give them useful information they can use.
Knowing that most of you use the Firefox browser is cool…I use it most of the time myself and really like it…doesn’t help me know if you want me to slow down on my fattening recipes and publish more that are “healthy eating” oriented. Knowing you are a stay-at-home mom is nice…and I admire you…but it doesn’t tell me that you are interested in yurt living and want more information on whether you can REALLY erect a yurt kit with a couple of inexperienced friends in a long weekend. Knowing that more of you visit between 10pm and 11pm than any other hour of the day tells me that anything I plan to add to JuicyMaters needs to be posted before 10pm…but it doesn’t tell me if you homesteader types are more interested in garden information or how to milk a dairy goat.
So…here’s the deal. See that box at the bottom of this post?See it? The box labeled “Comments”? Please use it…please? Use it today to tell me who you are…who you really are. Are you an older fart like me who lives to make your Christmas presents in the kitchen, rather than fighting the WalMart crowd? Are you that “typical” JuicyMaters reader that Google Analytics says is the 34 year old stay-at-home mom…and you homeschool too? Are you an overwhelmed new homesteader wanting to know what to do first..and how?
Tell me.
And tell me what I’m doing right…that you like and want to see more of…and tell me what I’m doing wrong and want me to change.
My goal is for JuicyMaters to be entertaining…I like it when I make y’all laugh (especially when you tel me so in the comments), and I want JuicyMaters to be informative…showing you a great recipe or a neat tip on yurt erection that will save you time and effort that the yurt companies don’t have in their instruction books.
The only way this happens…keeping JuicyMaters funny, entertaining, and informative…is with your input, telling me who you are and what I can do to give you more of what you want, SO…use that comment box, on this visit to JuicyMaters and on your later visits too. Keep me straight, writing a great blog. Oh…and it’s not great because I’m an incarnation of Ernest Hemmingway…it’s great because of you folks…my friends.
PS: For long time regulars who miss the political section of JuicyMaters and who missed the announcement a few months ago…I split it off to it’s own blog so the folks who don’t always want politics in their face won’t see politics here. Go check it out at Common Sense Conversation.
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@ Bob:
LOL! Well you could always learn PHP, MySQL and Linux then and round out your skills haha. BTW, that is what I do myself. I spend a good portion of my time developing/modifying PHP code, debugging and modeling MySQL databases, and administering Linux systems. As much as I enjoy it, I would rather be at the yurt listenin to the yotes howl though..
Jeff C.
Jeff…LOL…there ARE 3 other categories besides Yurt Yak here at JuicyMaters, ya know. Gardening stuff is in Family Homesteading…though it’s not got as much info as I would like. I tend to spend most of my time on JuicyMaters adding posts to Yurt Yak and Eureka Moments. I also have several other blogs to keep up, as well as my web design and web video tutorial stuff…
I have too much free time…I need more to do…LOL.
Bob
@ Bob:
Definitely plan on checking this site out more.. I have caught a few of your videos when I was doing my yurt research. I should clarify that my yurt is not my home. This piece of property I have, has been handed down since my great grandfather and it was recently handed down to me. All these years we never had a camp there, even though we have hunted and fished it for over 100 years now. I decided to put an end to that, so the yurt seemed the least intrusive structure in such a pristine spot.
What I really need to find here too is some mater advice lol.. My seeds this year have all sprouted, and then most of them died right off.. I have no idea what I did wrong. Looks like I will be taking a trip to the local greenhouse this year to get my plants. The site is JuicyMaters, so I am hoping you might have a bit of advice on my tomato woes.
Jeff C.
LOL…yes, I did!
I’m not as remote, though people who have seen “Deliverance” would think otherwise……I’m about 30 miles or so from where the movie was based and shot. We don’t REALLY have to pipe in sunshine here.
Glad you are enjoying your yurt…keep us posted, especially on your quest for insurance.
Bob
42, living in upstate NY in the Adirondacks with my wife and 4 kids. We just put up a 30′ yurt and are getting it all squared away. Just waiting on the wood stove! It is still cold up here lol.. A relative of mine is selling a furnished home of hers and she is waiting for the tenants to vacate. Once they are out, I will get my pick of the furniture, much of which will go to the yurt.
It is a very remote location, no electricity or cell available, so you are roughing it. Getting the solar panels installed this week for a little power, but mostly just for lights. Working in IT, I love the fact that it is so far from technology.
Anyway, you asked!
Jeff C.
Hi Margaret…glad you stopped by.
The radiant floor is not good…it is GREAT! Besides the insulation I did a little tweaking on the system itself…mainly getting the delta temp right…and my gas usage went down dramatically. I have one more thing to do that will make it even better, and that is good underpinning. My yurt is 4 feet off the ground at the front door and 8 feet off the ground out the back. My current underpinning amounts to tyvek. I hate doing things twice so I’m staying with the tyvek as I save my pennies to do the underpinning with stacked rock. The day THAT is complete will be a happy day around the JuicyMaters homestead.
Bob
I’m 58, live in WA state with my husband, mother of 4 grown kids, using Safari and sometimes Google Chrome. We’re interested in downsizing to a yurt, so I’m checking you out to see what you have to say about it. I’m especially interested in how the radiant floor heating is going now that you’ve fixed up the insulation issues.
Margaret Fivash
I am a 34 year old single lady and I use Chrome browser… Through this blog site, you will find friends along the way. And hope we can be friends. Happy New Year!
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Bettina143
What state is that?
Bob
This is my first visit, while searching for “yurts”. I was wondering if there were any yurt owners in my state of residence.
ha1ku
Hi Bob,
I think I really like your blog but that Google got it wrong – shock. I am a 65 year old Momma , still working (at home) very interested in the homesteader lifestyle which I think brings us and the earth closer together. I think your column is witty and humorous. I am from SC so the accent is appreciated, as well. And, you can be touchy feely if you want!
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Ann
Man I thought I was doing better than 34 year old stay at home mom. I guess they don’t have a category for 37 year old parental disappointment stay at home dads. Stupid Google. I even use their browser almost exclusively! I have to send some strongly worded emails….
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Justin Matthews
Bob,
So Google thinks I’m a stay at home mom who uses Firefox? Maybe Google isn’t so smart after all. That’s the trouble with you young whippersnappers. You trust all this new vooddoo cloud stuff and rely on virtual relationships. The world has gone mad I tell you when even a good old boy from Georgia goes touchy feely on you. If you are lucky, you will get your head straight by the time you grow up.
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ralph@retirement lifestyle