… Hey, if Al Sharpton can do it, so can I.

It seems this time of the year that all I am seeing on television is Year End Recognition Shows. Now, it should be noted that starting in the spring of 2011, I basically shut off my TV and did not turn it back on.

Then, when my heart was broken at the end of last year, I not only didn’t watch TV, I geared back to the $14.99 Welcome Pack … including local channels, the Comedy Channel and MSNBC.

Works for me.

And I continued to not watch TV … none … until the Election this fall. Now I watch the occasional show here and there.

Which was how I came across the Revvie Awards from Reverend Al Sharpton. And I realized that anyone can have a year-end homage to Best Of stuff.

Enter The Hollys.

No, I don’t have an official statue or anything, since The Hollys are just a recognition of blog posts here … more or less … but I thought it would be fun to do anyway. So I begin … Just hum some appropriate awardy type theme music in the background.

MOST COMMENTS FOR A BLOG ENTRY

There was one blog entry which seemed to touch the hearts of many people this year. It was Some Days There Is No Happiness … Only Angels.

For those of you who did not read it, it was an homage to my dear friend Linda, her wonderful daughter and the loss, at birth, of her young granddaughter. There was a story to tell of hopes, dreams and heartbreak.

I was honored to tell it and humbled that it touched so many.

MOST LIKES FOR A BLOG ENTRY

Well, we had a tie in this category … between Mt. Rushmore … Reconfigured? and Am I Allowed …. It seems that you readers can appreciate both being punked and wanting to take the day off from writing.

In a close second we also had a tie between Is There A Happy Dance Specifically For Roofs? and Did I Steal His Soul? … both of which dealt with my journey from a river flowing in my front room to a new, Amish installed, metal roof on my house.

MOST HITS FOR A SINGLE BLOG ENTRY

There were several pages that had multiple hits from the kind folks in WordPress Land, but the page, far and away, that got the most hits was titled Home Page.

This is a bit frustrating because every page is called Home Page for one day.

Other than that, the next most popular blog entries were Some Days There Is No Happiness … Only Angels as mentioned above, A New Angel In Heaven … the Rest of the Story … the story of the funeral of the baby … and Roller Coaster Day? Well then ….

With all due respect to my readers, it seems that by hitting Roller Coaster Day? Well then … you might just enjoy seeing yours truly at less than my photogenic best. Suffice it to say, my Medusa-esque hair was in fine form that day.

MOST HITS ON A SITE PAGE

Which brings me to the Pages, as opposed to the Blog Posts. The Pages are across the top of every page here. And you hit them as well.

Leading in hits was … no surprise … —- Pictures of Holly —-. I guess people are curious what kind of person would be behind the verbiage you read.

MOST HITS ON A SINGLE DAY

Okay, I am the first to admit that getting just shy of two hundred hits in a day is not nearly up to the standards of the other blogs out here, but for me it was really special.

That was the day I published From Van Gogh to … Van Gogh, a picture montage more or less of the process of transforming my house … the bedroom in particular. I would like to say that it was because so many people were interested in my efforts.

In reality, it’s just because there were so very many pictures on the page.

MY FAVORITE BLOG ENTRY

Okay, I am out there looking … and I wish I could say there was one that made me laugh the most, or cry the most, or something. But there isn’t. But there are a few that I do enjoy reading now and then. Just for fun.

First is Santa Claus and His Monkey Mowed My Lawn, about the quirky man who was kind enough to help me with some yard work. He also takes his job as Santa very seriously … all year round.

There was The Stupidest Bird … Ever …, A What With My Coffee? … And He Ain’t Mickey …  and Improved Site … And A Bat which make me laugh every time I read them. How do these things happen to me?

And in some of the original blog entries there was I have a picnic … or not … and Serene? … Plus Orange and Green Toenails and My favorite thing to do is housecleaning …

And of course Erma Bombeck … really? in which I debunk the belief that my friends have that I am of Bombeck caliber.

What can I say? They are friends.

MOST CREATIVE BLOG ENTRY

One of the great things about doing this blog is the fact that there are no rules. None. So I am free to do whatever I want. Within reason of course.

And although I have written poems like Twas The Day Before Christmas … and a haiku … Haikus Have No Title, But Blog Entries Do … and a limerick … And Now … A Limerick … – my favorites are more like the ones that have a surprise ending. A twist, as it were.

Like I’m a Stalker … I’m a Stalker …  or even OK, I Confess … I Shot Him … . But my favorite was Q: When Is A Yard Sale Not A Yard Sale? about the yard sale we decided to have at My Friend Ann’s house.

COOLEST THING TO HAPPEN

Granted, there have been a lot of really cool things that have happened in the time I have been doing my blog. Not the least of which are the folks who read, the folks who follow, the folks who say they like it, and the folks who comment.

I have not won any blog type awards … neither did I think I would.

But the coolest thing … the thing that really surprised me … was when a Voice-over Artist from Australia asked if she could use one of my blog posts for her weekly podcast.

The blog entry was this one – A What With My Coffee? … And He Ain’t Mickey … It is one of my favorite ones as well. Another case of how do things like this happen to me?

And I wrote about the whole experience in the blog entry I’m A Podcast! I’m A Podcast …

MOST PROLIFIC COMMENTER

It still surprises me when somebody either reads my blog entries or likes my blog entries. But what really surprises me is when someone takes the time to make a comment on one of my blog posts.

There are two folks who have made the most comments on sites.

First is docricketts … whose name looks like it asks the question do crickets? … but in reality is referring to the literary character Doc Ricketts. I know him.

And the other is Cindy Knoke, a succesful and prolific blogger in her own right. I am flattered that she has commented as she has.

MOST OBSCURE LOCATION OF A READER

Now this may strike you as an odd category, but to be honest I had not ever heard of this place.

In my page entitled – Countries Viewing Holly – I try to list all the various countries that have viewed my site. Readers of the Happy Holly Project.

Even if it was by accident.

But earlier this year, there was a reader from an obscure island of off Africa … who was on a journey of his own. I have tried to find his name and link, but have been unsuccessful.

But the country … where he was on a journey for healing and growth … was Mauritius.

And that is the end of the awards for this year. I hope you have enjoyed my trip down memory lane here. I highly doubt that there will be a 2013 version of The Hollys since the Happy Holly Project is only a one year thing.

But then, you never know …