A World Famous Plank

Sometimes when we are poking around on the computer investigating wonky things, ModernDomestic bursts into the room and starts begging for permission to use the computer for a few minutes and check her “stats.” She’s talking, of course, about the counter that keeps track of how many people have visited her blog. 

ModernDomestic is badly obsessed with this counter. Seeing a new high will send her into shrieking paroxysms of delight…but she’ll pout for hours over a slow day. Sometimes ModernDomestic will “check the stats” several times a day, or even hourly.

Our “stats” are a lot more modest than hers, because her posts are more frequent and of higher quality than ours…and also because our chosen subject matter is much more boring.  

We often tease her for “obsessing over the stats” but could it be that Wonk the Plank grumbles because we secretly resents how much higher her “stats” are? 

We say this all as mere preamble, reader, just to drive home how humble our little corner of the World Wide Web truly is. Even 20 views, which would send ModernDomestic into a prolonged sulk, is a remarkable achievement for Wonk the Plank. We toil along in our modest Planky way, but until this weekend, we had our doubts that anyone was consistently reading Wonk the Plank. 

You see, this weekend we visited New Jersey to attend the wedding of ModernDomestic’s uncle. It was the first time we were meeting many of ModernDomestic’s relatives…but it wasn’t the first time they were meeting Wonk the Plank. A sizable fraction of the Wonk the Plank readership, we discovered, consists entirely of ModernDomestic’s aunts. 

“Look who it is!” they would fuss happily when we walked into the room. “Wonk the Plank!” 

“Hey Wonk the Plank,” they would ask, “can you give me some advice on my 401(k)?”

We are delighted to learn about this unexpected niche audience. We are glad you are enjoying the blog, although a little concerned that you have learned Wonk the Plank’s secret real life identity.