We all took the week from Christmas to New Years off. I’m not certain I’m refreshed — 2012 was a very tough year — but I did get a bunch of things done around the house. One thing I got to do was a lot of long form reading. I’d been saving a few articles for the end of the year. I read a lot. It’s one of my favorite things to do, actually, and consider it my primary hobby.

Probably the best article I read the entire week was about a man who was accused of killing his wife and sent to prison. There was lots of evidence at the time pointing away from him but those leads weren’t followed and the DA, aggressively pursuing higher office, railroaded him. Michael Morton spent 25 years in jail, finally freed thanks to The Innocence Project and advances in DNA technologies. The article from Texas Monthly called The Innocent Man is long — it’s split into two parts — but so amazingly compelling I couldn’t put it down. Fantastic writing, incredible story, and, luckily, justice in the end.

In 2012 I wrote 251 posts, bringing the total post count on eliainsider.com to 477. This is the first year I tried to write each work day as previously I wrote once per week. There were 261 weekdays. If you discount holidays and vacations I exceeded my goal, although there were some days I wrote more than once and some days I didn’t write at all.

Of those 251 posts, 11 were added to my favorites list bringing the total to 36. I find it interesting that I wrote 52% of the posts on the blog in 2012 but only added 30% more posts to the favorites column. Either my standards for high-quality topics and writing increased or I wasn’t as diligent as I used to be in marking favorites.

According to WordPress, my most read posts this year (not necessarily written this year) were:

1. My iPad 3 Wish: Writing Support
2. Developers Perspective: Strengths/Weaknesses of Mobile Platforms
3. Who’s Making Money in Mobile Apps?
4. Lessons Learned: One Month in the iPhone AppStore
5. Breaking Down Android Devices and OS Version [Survey Results]

My personal favorites, in start to end of year order, were:

• Single Box Theory Of Product Design
• Anxiety
• Live By The Platform, Die By The Platform
• The State of Civility
• The Small Things

Interesting that all of you seem to prefer my practical, mobile posts while I personally prefer my theoretical, humanities-oriented posts.

So we start 2013. Here’s hoping it’s better than 2012. Here’s hoping every new year is better than the one before.

Jason Cohen wrote a great post on newborns versus start-ups. It is beautifully written and wonderfully thought through. His love of his daughter comes through so clearly, and makes me think of my own daughters and the daunting task of raising them and raising Infinity Softworks at the same time. There are many comparisons between start-ups and babies. Jason points out a few:

For example, both spend the first two years of life actively trying to kill themselves. And you spent that time frantically running around doing everything possible to prevent that eventuality.

Both are a combination of your own creation and their own direction.

How much time do they take? All of it.

How much patience do they take? All of it.

But one thing both share is not only important, it’s one of those few things in life which alters your being in a way that can never be undone and forever changes who you are and how you view and interact with the world.

Both are a crucible.

I found myself agreeing with every word. Hope you’ll read the entire post.

From Xkcd.com:

It’s been over nine years for me.

Mark Suster wrote a great post last week on entrepreneurship:

Entrepreneurshit. It never ends. It’s not all glamor. It’s mostly not glamorous at all. It’s just something you have to do. Often because you’re unemployable. Your impertinence would get you fired in 2 days for telling your boss he’s a fuck wit.

It’s impossible to explain to those that don’t have the burning desire deep in their guts to make their own paths, even though Mark does about as good a job as anyone. The pain and suffering, the lack of sleep, the stress. Things don’t work out as expected, the wall in front grows bigger and wider, and yet here I go again, up and over, only to be confronted by another wall. It’s superhuman strength to do this day after day, week after week, and keep doing it. There’s no glamour in it. It’s just the way it is.