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Not everyone reads blogs the same way. Some visit their faves on a regular basis and skim the latest titles. Some subscribe to the RSS feed using Google Feedreader, Bloglines, or a dozen other feed readers. Some subscribe to feeds via email.

Whichever fits you best, you can now have it just the way you want it when you read CultureFeast.com. You won't get irritating bits of stories through our RSS feeds. You get whole stories AND the photos that make them memorable.

So whether you want to visit the site, or you like to have the latest news and posts sent to you, you'll get the best articles from the opinionated culture lovers you've enjoyed here over the years.

Oh, and before we forget: we'll be offering our RSS feed subscribers a special thank you very soon. Stay tuned for more details.

10. Style A to Zoe: A Fashion Book Review (176 pageviews)
Rachel Longo-Tosoian reviewed this extremely popular fashion book back in May, and it's still making the Top 10.

9. Movie Review: Evening (181 pageviews)
Ashleigh Holmes' movie review written back in April still draws lots of attention. Starting to think I should watch this one.

8. Five Classic Love Stories Everyone Should Read (212 pageviews)
Heather Johnson contributed this article in May. These are classics, people. Buy them and read them (or look for possible free versions via iPhone apps like Stanza).

7. Blackberry Bold Versus iPhone 2.0 (265 pageviews)
Jeff McCord has written some extremely popular posts on mobile phones and tech. This one has been big since June.

6. Keith Olbermann's Fall From Grace (279 pageviews)
Michael Callaway hit a few nerves with this one. People either love or hate Olbermann. He's the liberal version of Sean Hannity, I suppose.

5. Papaya Clothing Store (355 pageviews)
This topic isn't going away any time soon. As long as CultureFeast.com continues to rank well for Papaya Clothing, we'll continue to get tons of traffic for it.

4. Taylor Leaves Kidd Kraddick in the Morning (358 pageviews)
That's right. I wrote this article in November of last year. Nearly a year later, it still ranks among our top 4 monthly posts. In all fairness, all 358 readers weren't looking specifically for info on Taylor. This page happens to rank decently well in Google for Kidd Kraddick related terms.

3. Take the Test: Are You Liberal or Conservative? (441 pageviews)
Michael's ironic post has drawn a ton of traffic since it was first posted in April, and is seeing a resurgence recently. Could it be that more and more people are looking for answers? Maybe the lines of liberal and conservative aren't so clearly drawn. Or maybe our individual values borrow significantly from both parties.

2. Papaya Website Under Construction (651 pageviews)
Far and away the most popular article ever written on CultureFeast. I wrote this article a year and a half ago, back in April of 2007. People searching for Papaya Clothing see this result in the top 5 Google results and probably think it's a current event. It's not, folks! The Papaya site has been live for a year now! Not that we mind the traffic, of course.

1. Caylee and Casey Anthony Open Thread (1,052 pageviews)
This true story captivated the hearts of millions of Americans. We've received quite a few comments on this post. Read through and post your own thoughts. Aaron Phillips wrote this article in August, and it has been the most popularly viewed article ever since.

As you can see, there is no rhyme or reason to what people will enjoy. It is notable that no single post written in September ranked among the most popular, and Aaron's article on the Anthonys was the only post written in August that made the Top Ten.

I'm motivated to see some newer posts break through the Top Ten. Looks like I'll get my wish, based on our web analytics thus far in October. Stay tuned for October's Top Ten list in a few weeks.

Update

We have fixed the issue and you can now click the title of any post and continue reading the article in its entirity.

Thanks for your patience!

- Daniel

We know you'll love these products. There are only two logo variations right now, but we'll work on getting some more variety online as we go. Because hey, we want you to look good (while promoting our website). 

We're not really in it for the money. We just want to get the word out. Help us do that by proudly wearing your very own CultureFeast t-shirt or cap when you hit the town. And when people ask, "What the heck is Culture Feast?" You can smile, feel nice and superior, and tell them that it's only the coolest culture blog around. Hey! Tell them that even if it's NOT true! Good. Glad we agree. 

If you have any ideas of other ways we can promote CultureFeast to draw more readers, let us know. We're only human.... mostly. 

Do you enjoy the daily content here on CultureFeast.com? Are you willing to spend less than two minutes to help us grow? 

If you answered Yes to both questions, let me first say that I love you. Now that you feel all warm and squishy, please go to Technorati.com and click the pink heart that says "Favorite It." It will take you to a page where you have to sign up for a profile, which takes less than two minutes. Once you're done, make sure you've added CultureFeast.com as a favorite by clicking that pink heart here: http://www.technorati.com/blogs/www.culturefeast.com.

What will that simple gesture do?
It will do more than you think. It will help us move up the ranks of Technorati's popularity system. That, in turn, will help more people find us and enjoy the same content you get every time you visit. It might even mean more quality content, when we add more weekly contributors to the writing staff. 

So show us some love, please! Vote for CultureFeast.com today.

The most noticeable missing component is the “crybaby factor.” The “crybaby factor” is what makes a blog go from informative or entertaining to somewhat annoying. There is nothing like a blog that starts out with, “Do you know what I really hate….” The only way those ever end is with the reading thinking, “what a crybaby” or “informative, but what is all the crying about?” So I am beginning the push for less informative and entertaining blogs from you all.

Another thing that we are missing is the heated exchange. Why do all of you have to be so damn nice and respectful? What is up with that? We’re all obviously MENSA quality thinkers here, so why isn’t there more intellectual dissing going on? I have notebooks of “your momma is so….” comebacks that are just sitting in a box gathering dust. Don’t make me drop a blog about why I would be totally cool with the United States just letting anybody immigrate into the country without consequences. I am more than ready to defend my position for the sake of argument.

And, why is it that we don’t get any postings about sports, sports teams, NASCAR, bacon, other pork products, which chicks are hot, American Idol, or flatulence?? I think we are only hurting ourselves when we consciously, or unconsciously, exclude these incredibly relevant topics from Culture Feast, or THE FEAST (as it’s commonly known on the streets).

By keeping Culture Feast operating at such a high level, it is highly probable that we might be pushing away that group of casual readers that just need a daily dose of marshmallow fluff. I think that we should be ashamed of ourselves for creating an accumulation of content that is too smart for its own good. I for one am contemplating taking the Vincent Van Gogh life path, complete with an earsectomy, and resigning to the fact that my work may never be truly appreciated in my lifetime. Now don’t feel you have to follow my lead. You’re welcome to choose your own roads in life, just as long as you don’t forget to pass by some trailer parks on the way.

So to all my Culture Feast brothers and sisters, this is a call to dumb it down a little, or in some cases a lot. We have a responsibility to keep delivering knowledge in small, bite-sized portions. Small bacon wrapped portions with a tangy mental dipping sauce. I am asking, no wait….demanding that I start seeing huge heaping gobs of marshmallow fluff smeared all over this site. Don’t make me have to resort to reading the blogs at perezhilton.com and foxnewschannel.com for puff pieces and only coming here for smart, well-crafted, thought provoking substance.

Nicholas Johnson

former professional daredevil

Why Poll the Readers?

Good question. The simple answer is: we want to know you. You are a solid 51% of our motivation for blogging, so we want to know what makes you tick. Not only is it informative for us, we think you'll like to know how other people think too. 

So check it out, vote your best answers, and we'll see how it goes. While I'm thinking of it, feel free to add a comment to this post with your suggestions for poll topics and questions. 

Keep it real. 

Papaya Clothing Stores
This topic has been the #1 driver of traffic in the history of CultureFeast. I saw an opportunity last year when Papaya's website had been "under construction" for six months. No one could find the nearest store without a functioning website, so we had Papaya shoppers from around the country post comments about the stores they knew of. The Papaya site is now live, yet we still get a LOT of traffic from Papaya fans.

97.1FM The Eagle Returns
The rock station everyone knows in DFW is back on the air after several years hiatus. Why they left the FM I do not know, but there are plenty of people searching for more info on the returning rock station. There's still a good-sized rock fan base here to necessitate a radio station. I'm still surprised they disappeared in the first place. Welcome back, Eagle. 

Taylor Glover Leaves Kidd Kraddick in the Morning
Who would have thought that Taylor was this popular? Well... me, for one. The third most popularly searched topic that led visitors to CultureFeast was the departure of Kidd Kraddick's spunky valley girl. The show has not recovered from her absence. It lacks the energy and spunk she brought to the show each day.

The Celebrity Apprentice
Apparently, people are so bored with the Writer's Strike that they find Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice to be worth investigating. I have nothing more to say about this show. I lost interest the moment I finished posting this article. 

Dolores O'Riordan
The former lead singer of The Cranberries is still big news, and apparently has yet to shed the trappings of Cranberries fame. Despite her quality debut solo album, Dolores is still known and appreciated most as the lead singer of The Cranberries. I've always been a huge fan of her voice. If you haven't heard her sing Ave Maria, go to iTunes and check it out. Every song involving her is worth hearing.

And because I can, here are some topical runner ups worth mentioning:

Penelope Trunk Interview and also mentioned here and here.
Little Ball of Hate (Jennifer Engle)
Kidd Kraddick mentioned several times, including here and here.
Dale Hansen
Randy Galloway
 

One of the biggest complaints I've heard over the past two years has been that posting here has been sporadic. No one will keep your RSS feed in their feed reader if they don't get regularly updated content. That's going to change. CultureFeast is going to produce content every day of the week.

The second most common complaint has been theme... mainly, people wonder what ours is. The point of adding a few new bloggers into the mix is to give each one the opportunity to focus on a category. Some team members will still roam the open topic plains, but most will be known for one or two subjects tops, and those topics will be released on the same day of each week. That way you will know what days are best to visit based on your interests. 

I'm still looking at people, so contact me (daniel-at-culturefeast.com)or leave a comment if you'd like to contribute weekly. If we get seven weekly bloggers, we'll grow to 14 people so you can get culture topics twice daily. 

How does it work?

It's simple. Go to the Gravatar website, and click signup in the top right corner. You'll create a user profile and upload a pic of yourself. You can add as many email addresses as you want to your profile, and give yourself a different photo per email or use the same for each. The point is, once you've set it up, you can go to any blog that has gravatar enhanced comments and just make sure you enter the same email address you used for your gravatar account. 

That way, you can be seen AND heard (or read, however that works)! Sound good? If you have any questions, post a comment here and ask. We want to see your shining happy faces and it only takes maybe 3 minutes to set up if you already have a photo ready, so just do it. 

We are in the process of messing around with the style you see right now. I'm hoping to add a logo in the near future, so if you do killer logos and you'd be interested in submitting one for full credit and promotion on this website, feel free to contact me. Contact info is available here, or you can submit a comment.

I like the sidebar and body of this style, but I'd like a total redesign of the header. I'm working on it, slowly and surely.

Update:

As you can see, the last design lasted a whopping six days. Something about the girlie reddish pink post titles and anchor text that just didn't fly.

Go figure. My wife is telling me that the design before that with the revolving photos was a winner, and she mourns the loss of it as much as she could mourn anything blog related (i.e., not much). I would agree except for the flaws in the sidebar which I am not tech savvy enough to fix and a few other issues. I understand that it can get boring looking at the same stupid header all the time. I'll consider a return of header images... just not yet.

I reprimanded myself this evening when I realized that I no longer enjoyed blogging. I contribute to four blogs and one article column, and I am sick and tired of fitting into the mold of SEO / copywriter / PR consultant. Each of those jobs can be rewarding to the right person, but that person is not me... at least, not right now.

Yes, I will continue to offer those services to those in need. But there's more to me than marketing. Way before I knew anything about marketing, I wanted to write books. I wanted to tell stories and I wanted to share life experiences. Ideally, I would find a market in young, curious adults who have more questions than answers. No, I don't pretend to offer all the solutions to life's problems, but perhaps I could share some wisdom that would make other people's lives easier and less confusing.

The problem with writing from the heart is that people read what you write. It's much like journaling, only without the privacy. That means that in the midst of my professional pursuits, those snoopy clients, employers, etc. may very well track me down online and read these words and reconsider working with me based on my publicized opinions and views.

Hence the spineless underpinnings of the blogosphere. Those intensely popular and utterly shallow industry blogs. Okay, I'm being a bit harsh, but only because I have no respect for an industry that promotes lives without political, ethical, spiritual, or moral beliefs. Everyone is so nice, they have no personality. We're all a bunch of identity-less bloggers who have sold out to become well known.

Well, you can have it. I'd rather be uncommon. I'd rather be true to myself than to make millions as the how-to guy.

8,842 unique visits

12,161 pageviews

1.38 pages per visit

8,167 visitors from search engines

471 visitors from direct URL entry

204 visitors from referring sites

Traffic is up yet again. Good news. The only thing that's not so great is the amount of traffic from referring sites. This means that we need more inbound links.

Whether you're interested in advertising or not, here's the skinny:

Traffic is way up. The site saw 3,766 visitors and 5,505 page views in the past 18 days (April 13th to April 30th). May 1st saw 245 visitors in one day. That's small beans to megastars like Copyblogger and Problogger, but it's good news for us.

Posting has been slow lately, due to busy schedules. I'm even more amazed at our traffic since we're currently getting more new content daily from Papaya Clothing Company fans' comments than actual blog posts.

I have a list of topics to cover in the near future, so keep checkin' in and drop us a note whenever you can.

Oh, and I want to recognize Sarah Kuglin. She's been a friend for ten years, and she's one of the first to create a MyBlogLog account. The rest of you need to get off your duffs and setup your profiles. Since most of my friends are technology illiterate, one of my next posts may be a list of communities and websites everyone should join.... Yeah... that's a good idea.