What I Learned From 2008 – Karen Hanrahan
[Note from the Proprietor: In case you're wondering what it's all about, well, we're smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you're welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]
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Guest post by Karen Hanrahan who writes over at Best of Mother Earth.
January – Twas the Diet After New Years and all through the house
February - Kiss and Tell my very worst kiss ever
March – Bread Company Sells Out this post got a lot of attention on and off blog - including an email from the former owner and his daughter the new companies marketing director
April - Gatorade or Pine Sol this alarming picture has one wonder…would your child notice?
May - Thank You SobCon08 heartfelt recap of a blogging conference that just blew me away
June - Facts and Statistics about Toxins this is a post that has been shared tremendously and was actually a fav of last year too!
July - Green Moms Take On Global Warming my very first participating post in a carnival – this group of amazing green savvy moms completely inspires me, we still carnival together and the group is growing!
August – Kudos to Mother Earth a shift in the universe had some pretty darn cool things happening, this was the launch of Mother Earth as a writer!
September – 1996 McDonalds Hamburger ever have a post go completely viral ? The details are just too wild not to share:
My share has to be the burger post. Not because I was brilliant to post it, but because of the way it showed me how VIRAL the internet can be…even if it was about a McD’s burger
This post on it’s first day was Stumbled, Dugg and landed in Reddit’s WTF section ending as the #4 post of the day. The other top posts that day were about Obama – me, my old hamburger and Obama!
Commenters had an absolute field day with it – much of it was negative -Â the devotion to a burger astounds me.
102,000 hits that day, a month later it reached over a half million hits in 195 countries. Currently there are over 1000 comments on that post blog, mostly icky pro-burger. Someone said that is called trolling? Troll comments still come in daily
Wired, Boing-Boing, Nat’l Post, Men’s Health and a whole host of others picked up on it; A Portuguese news magazine will air an additional interview later this week. I am told that a McDonalds rep declared me as nothing but an urban legend
I received calls from Berlin, the UK, Spain, and all over the US, and Canada. Thank goodness that the folks who called were much more kind than the ones who left comments.
My current daily traffic – a month later has quadrupled. How’s that for an organic non-monetized blog author?
* since this writing I have been interviewed by the  Portuguese news magazine Visoa ( this released with the November issue – circulation 100,000 ), and Men’s Health Magazine has purchased the McDonalds burger photo for their best and worst of 2008 issue( Jan/Feb)
October – Copper Compost Bucket folks seem to think I sell this thing! I’m not kidding!
November – Dear Car Thief – Part Two yup – my car was stolen from my driveway -Â the story gets better from here
December - I Am Thankful ever so much to be grateful for
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karen hanrahan | wellness educator and consultant | writer
nutrition ~ green clean ~ inch loss ~ anti-aging
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[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]
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5 responses so far
Middle Zone Musings is a comfortable place to stop, have a cup of coffee, swap a few stories and share practical ideas for the real world. I don't ask for much, just a bit of your brain every now and then. Have a seat, take a load off, and relax...
Hi Karen, Well selected! I read several of these and remember them fondly. The kissing story is funny – kind of makes you want to enter a convent.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Read Brad at Bob’s Today, Noon CST
Thank you dear Brad – oh my gosh the convent – that’s a riot!
Great collection Karen – your dear car thief had me laughing, and your pic of the compost bucket had me wanting one. Yes, you should sell them!
Joanna Youngs last blog post..What Did You Learn from 2008? Middle Zone Blogapalooza
I am so glad that I had you laughing Joanna – with a situation like that what else can one do?
Love the story on the kisser that ate your face!
Nice story of the viral McD’s burger!
Beautiful insight in the Gatorade or Pine Sol post.
J.D. Meiers last blog post..Improvement Frame