Ben East

I’ll end 2017 on a high note. A mighty effort in the last weeks of December pushed my page views for the year over 6,000. That’s nothing compared to the many blogs who get 6,000 views in a month, a week, a day, but it was my goal for 2017.

A sincere Thank You to those who took the time to pass by once or twice or more over the past year!

Readers were most interested in my diversions on the landing page and the profile, for 1800 combined. The top five other posts for 2017:

I’d Rather Be Writing (or maybe talking about it) — 154
Introducing a video talk for the American Foreign Service Association about my first novel, Two Pumps for the Body Man.

Diplomatic Casualties — 143
A reflection on the morning in 2004 when five heavily armed terrorists stormed our compound in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Brothers — 110
My youngest son writes a letter to his brother away at a sleepover.

Buckle Up! — 108
Recounting my family’s close call with an oncoming airplane on Rte. 50 toward Annapolis.

The Polyglot Archipelago — 97
A reflection on the richness and diversity of language and culture in Mumbai.

I was surprised to see that my 2014 book review, Shattered Glass—The Story of a Marine Embassy Guard, took 93 hits, and pleased to see the announcement of my son’s book launch came in at 71. I put up 108 posts this year, including this one. They were viewed across 111 countries (U.S., U.K., India, Canada, and Macedonia in the top five).

Once again, a big thank you to my followers and those who dropped by to read. I look forward to bringing reflections toward a new goal for 2018, and hope you’ll stay with me.

Happy New Year!