Milestones

Over the past 30 days, this blog has been visited by 103,216 people, with 618,017 pageviews, according to Google Analytics. Thanks so much for everyone who stops by on a daily basis to support nudism and naturism!

Stats for November 2009

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Full Disclosure

Today the FCC ruled that all bloggers must disclose whenever they receive payment or other compensation for publishing reviews of commercial products and entities.

Aside from a few links to Amazon.com in the early days of this blog, I receive absolutely nothing for any of my writings, and I accept no advertising. No compensation from nudist organizations, venues or publications. Nada. Not even a PayPal "tip" jar. I make my living elsewhere, this is a labor of love.

I made this decision a couple of years ago because I wanted to remain an independent voice. Everything I've written is solely my personal opinion. In four full years of blogging, I've never had to retract or delete anything I've written, only an occasional grammatical correction, or an update.

I've nearly packed it in a couple of times, but as Michael Corleone once said, "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in."

Thanks to all who visit every day, and to those who take the time to comment, a special appreciation for your valuable input.

The Nudist Blogosphere

On a public forum, Debbie Jungwirth, the Network Coordinator for The Naturist Society, had this to say about me: "I find the lack of naturist credentials and/or background information about the administrator of this blog a little disturbing."

Now "disturbing" is a word freely thrown around by the talking heads of the 24 hour news cycle in order to catch people's attention, and I want to assume that Debbie didn't mean that I'm causing her stress, worry or anxiety. Perhaps what she meant is that by remaining anonymous, my words here carry little or no credibility as far as she's concerned.

Either way, this is problematic. To so offhandedly dismiss the words of someone who has been blogging since 2005 in support of The Naturist Society and naturist principles shows a certain lack of understanding of the power of the blogosphere, and the sincerity of my efforts.

What are "naturist credentials"? In order to be taken seriously by the naturist elite, what sort of background does one need? I am a member of TNS, a donor to the NAC, I also belong to AANR, was a member of a local naturist club, and attend naturist resorts with my wife, all of which have been written about here over the past few years.

Remaining publicly anonymous is a personal choice by me on this blog, but I have published several nude photos of myself, another one appears at the top of this article. I can tell you that a couple of NAC board members know my identity, as do several other bloggers, and naturally the people I encounter at social events.

In her dismissal of me, Debbie Jungwirth also dismisses all other anonymous nudist and naturist bloggers. This is tragic, because it's the nudist bloggers who are writing the most erudite, timely, interesting and important articles on naturism today. Take for example The Academic Naturist, whose "Future Resort" series is unsurpassed for research and content. It should be must reading for all naturists.

The Emerging Nudist is the new kid on the block, but so far has put out some of the most impressive content I've read. His "Shock and Awe" series is ongoing and encourages activism as the means to achieve more successes in the naturist movement, specifically recommending following NAC alerts and actions.

I also like to think that this blog is an important link in the Internet chain of naturist and nudists.

The Naturist Society and the NAC do great work, and N Magazine is a first-class publication, but the organizations are behind the times when it comes to getting the word out on the Internet. The NAC blog is updated only when an alert is issued, and often too late. When I made a donation to the NAC, I never received an acknowledgement, or a promised newsletter subscription. TNS does not maintain any email newsletter or mailing list for members to keep them informed about upcoming events. The TNS MySpace blog was last updated on November 28, 2008, when Lee Baxandall passed away. Their Facebook page is better, but with only 319 members as of today, it's ineffective as a means to attract new people.

So, for what it's worth, I encourage The Naturist Society and the Naturist Action Committee to embrace, not dismiss, the blogosphere. We are your best friends, we work for free, and we are at it every day. Our only reward is from the thousands of people who read our posts and appreciate what we write. My blog has over 1700 pages, more content than the web sites for NAC, TNS and AANR combined.

Just yesterday I received the following email from a reader:

Seeing your personal nude photos over the years is amazing. We are close to the same age and like you, I often wonder where that boyish body I once had went! I remember as a teenager, all 150 pounds of me, going out into my backyard at night and removing my clothes just so I could feel free. I have had a naturist's heart ever since, and I can now be nude 24/7 at my home and in my yard, jacuzzi, and pool. I love it. Thanks for having such a wonderful blog! You are a very courageous man!

To say the least, this made my day, and gave me enough fuel for several weeks of blogging. To call bloggers disturbing, irrelevant or worse is not only myopic, it's unwise.

Another One Bites the Dust

There must be something going around, because there's some sort of plague attacking nudist bloggers and taking them down. Gymnophiliac, Being and Nakedness, thenudelife.com, Earth Friend Gen, Nothing to Dread, Pasco Naturally, Nudist Day and others have either disappeared altogether or have simply stopped updating. Now comes the sad news that The Academic Naturist is packing it in.

Say it ain't so! TAN is the best and brightest young voice in the nudist blogosphere. He just completed a highly detailed 7 part series on building the perfect naturist venue, and now he says he's walking away?

Yes, life does get in the way sometimes. I nearly walked away from this blog a year ago, but I came back. Over the last month I've been very busy, but I hung in there and kept the faith alive.

I hope this retreat wasn't triggered by his skeevy experience at the VVRC Winter Party, which he wrote about here. Apparently some swingers exhibited some "questionable" behavior which certainly left a bad impression, not only on Mr. Academic, but his date as well. If the girlfriend is turned off, it's all downhill from there.

Anyway, it's a sad day, and I hope that the promised part two of Doug's "suicide note" holds some hope for the future. This is a guy that I thought would go all the way, who would have been active on the Naturist Action Committee, fighting on the front lines for body freedom.

This is a time when nudism and naturism should be taking great strides forward. With the economy in shambles and governments looking for innovative ways to raise revenue, AANR and TNS should be fighting hard for more public lands to be set aside for nude recreation. Westmore Vermont just voted down a measure to spend $25,000 to ban nude bathing at Lake Willoughby, so it's logical to assume that there are many towns out there who would vote for nude bathing if it's proven that $25,000 could be raised by admission and parking fees.

But if people are walking away, if the Naturist Action Committee can only muster up one blog post so far this year, and if AANR just keeps publishing a bulletin which is merely an advertising vehicle for affiliated clubs, then the status quo will quickly turn to rapid decline. If you think the economy sank like a rock, just watch how quickly nudism is swallowed up by the adult industry. There are far more swingers in America than there are nudists, and I fear that soon the majority of nudists will also be swingers.

100,000 Page Views

According to Google Analytics, today this blog passed the 100,000 page views mark for July, a new milestone. Thanks so much to everyone who stops by every day!

Tags: nudism, naturism, nudist, nudists, naturist, naturists, nudity, nudes, bare, au naturel, nude, naked