{"id":1023,"date":"2011-07-15T13:50:56","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T11:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.katebailward.com\/drivinglikeamaniac\/?p=1023"},"modified":"2011-07-15T18:55:27","modified_gmt":"2011-07-15T16:55:27","slug":"my-7-posts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.katebailward.com\/drivinglikeamaniac\/2011\/07\/my-7-posts\/","title":{"rendered":"My 7 Posts"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a meme doing the rounds at the moment, thanks to Tripbase<\/a> – you may well have seen versions of it on other blogs. In a nutshell, bloggers are nominated to talk about 7 of their posts, and then to nominate 5 other bloggers to do the same. I\u2019ve thoroughly enjoyed reading other people\u2019s archive posts, so when the lovely Koan Girl at A Totally Impractical Guide to Shanghai <\/a>nominated me to take part, I started rifling through my archives, and here follow the results. I hope you enjoy them.<\/p>\n

1. My most beautiful post<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A lot of other people have answered this question with posts containing amazing photography and images. Me, I\u2019m no great shakes as a photographer. I enjoy it, but words are more my thing. Beauty is therefore not so much in the eye as the *mind* of the beholder here. A picture paints a thousand words, they say. Well, that probably explains why I write long posts. I\u2019ve chosen this one for the images that it conjures of a moment of peace and happiness. Much though humans might try to wreck the landscape around them, nature always seems to win out in the end.
\nCountry Roads, Take Me Home<\/a><\/p>\n

2. My most popular post<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

There are two contenders for this title. First, the post that has garnered the most hits. It\u2019s an observational post about a day on the beach and was featured in Michelle at Bleeding Espresso<\/a>\u2019s Gita Italiana<\/a> last year, at which point my viewing stats went crazy. Thanks, Michelle!
\nWhen I Was Two, I Was Nearly New<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The second post is the one that has gained the most comments. This, again, is thanks to a little help from other people; this time, Lara and Terence at Gran Tourismo<\/a>. Last year they were running monthly competitions, themed differently for each month, and I entered this post into one of them, to explain just some of the many reasons why I\u2019ve fallen in love with train travel here in Italy.
\nDaydream in Blue<\/a><\/p>\n

3. My most controversial post<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not usually one for stirring up controversy. This blog is far more observational than confrontational, so this was a difficult category to fill. However, I finally went for one in which I have a bit of a bitch about how rubbish the food is in Paris. I then go and ruin my stance by waxing lyrical about a fabulous bistro that I found there. Ha.
\nBon App\u00e9tit<\/a><\/p>\n

4. My most helpful post<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Again, this was a difficult category to fill. This is a personal blog, and I don\u2019t generally write in order to be helpful. However, I did remember this one about speed dating<\/a>, which does offer advice of a sort. Not the kind of advice that you should take all that seriously, granted, but I DO THESE THINGS SO YOU DON\u2019T HAVE TO, OKAY?!<\/p>\n

5. A post whose success surprised me<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This post was written at a time when I was feeling quite bitter about life and love here in Calabria and was rather different from my usual way of writing. The vignette style and the content seemed to hit a nerve with a few people, however, and I got lots of comments both on the blog and on my Facebook page.
\nLove in the South of Calabria<\/a><\/p>\n

6. A post that didn\u2019t get the attention it deserved<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a double whammy. I visited Florence over Easter in 2010 and wrote a pair of posts about the experience which didn\u2019t seem to get much interest, which disappointed me, given how much there is crammed into them. I talk about architecture and monuments and train travel and food and and and – oh, just read them, OK? G\u2019wan – you know you want to \u2026
\nNight Train to Florence
\n<\/a>Cake and Steak<\/a><\/p>\n

7. The post that I am most proud of<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a very recent one, and was one that I wrote consciously trying to take myself out of the equation. Observation is what I love to do, but far too often when I then write about it I find that it\u2019s become all about ME ME ME. This post, on the other hand, is all about others and I love it for that.
\nPet Sounds<\/a><\/p>\n

So now to the nominations. I\u2019m pretty sure none of you have done this already, but if you have then I apologise – it\u2019s getting hard to keep track of who has and who hasn\u2019t.
\nTorre at The Fearful Adventurer<\/a>
\nJaxies at I Am a Feeder<\/a>
\nRoxanne at Stories of Conflict and Love<\/a>
\nCarrie at Some Birds are Like That<\/a>
\nAngela at Chasing the Unexpected<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo credits:<\/p>\n

Kate Bailward
\nAthena_Vina<\/a> on Flickr
\nTiemen Rapati<\/a> on Flickr
\nMalingering<\/a>\u00a0on Flickr<\/p>\n

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