Poll: Favorite Cathedrals Tenor?

Because I decided to go to bed last night instead of writing a long post for today… let’s do a poll! Who’s your favorite Cathedrals tenor? I hope nobody minds, I left out Roger Horne and Kurt Young because they were barely with the group for any length of time. (If perchance one of them is your favorite, feel free to comment as much!)

New Year’s Poll: Who’s Reading?

Each new year, I’m planning to take some kind of poll regarding who’s reading and (hopefully) enjoying this blog. Last year I actually did a couple polls like this and got helpful results. However, I’ve gained some readers since then. At the end of last year I wrote what I consider to be my best piece, the story of Steve McQueen’s conversion to Christianity. This ended up being by far my most popular post thanks to some very kind referrals. For the past few months this piece has consistently been one of my most-viewed pages, and I get new people pinging back to it almost every week. Through its circulation, I’ve gained some new official followers, and though I can’t be sure how many new regular readers I picked up, I must have picked up at least a few.

As I’ve said before, I blog about what interests me, and even though this blog is called Southern Gospel Yankee, there are a lot of topics I cover. For this reason, I sometimes worry that I might be losing the attention of that core group of readers who first came here just to read about southern gospel music. For those faithful readers who fall in that group, I still want to serve you, and I hope you’re not bored to tears yet!

So here’s a new poll for a new year. To re-state my first category slightly, it’s for people who are more or less bored by anything I write that doesn’t have a southern gospel focus. If that describes you, don’t be shy about clicking this option! I want to know the truth.

All of your feedback is greatly appreciated and helpful. I need to take some time to focus on a difficult math course this week, so I may just leave this at the top of the blog for a few days:

Quick Poll: What Browser Do You Use?

I’m in the process of transferring computers and have noticed that Chrome can be more flexible than Firefox. For example, I discovered the website Tubechop while using the computer with Chrome and successfully snipped a video clip. When I switched back to the computer with Firefox, it wouldn’t work with the site or play the clip. I’d like to make use of this site in the future for sharing video, so it made me wonder if other Firefox users would have the same problem.

So, here’s a little poll. What browser are you currently using most frequently?

Favorite Gold City Tenors and Leads: The Poll

Well, with the popularity of my Gold City post today, I decided to turn it into an official poll. Here are two polls for you guys to cast your votes in. Go for it:

Poll: Who’s Reading This Blog?

This past week, I set two new records for blog views per day. Obviously it was because of NQC and the fact that I was providing regular reports. While it would be cool if I could continue keeping up that rate of hits, I fear I’ll have to wait before I get that kind of activity again. So far though, I’ve maintained an average consistently higher than what I had before. So it may be that I picked up some new readers.

With all that in mind, I thought now might be a good time to do something I’ve wanted to do for a while: Take a poll to see if I can get a rough idea of how many of the people who read this blog are southern gospel artists, people in the industry, and simply fans. You don’t have to be a regular follower to take part in the poll—if you’re reading this because you like southern gospel, that’s all that’s required. I haven’t decided how long to leave it open—perhaps until I get a sample I’m happy with. Meanwhile, pick the description that best fits you:

A Tale of Two Songs: The Poll

I’m going to give my readers a small quiz today. I’ll quote snippets from two songs, both of which some of you may recognize (in which case you already know the answer, so this doesn’t apply to you). Given the fact that my readers are (I presume) predominantly southern gospel fans, I figured it was a fair bet that at least a good portion of you won’t recognize either song. However, even if you only recognize one (which is plausible), you can still take the poll. Just don’t take it if you recognize both, because that would skew the results.

Here are the snippets. First, three snippets from song one:

I see you
My light in darkness breathing hope of new life
Now I live through you and you through me

[...]

Your life shines the way into paradise
So I offer my life as a sacrifice
I live through your love

[...]

Now I give my hope to you
I surrender

Now, three snippets from song two:

I’m home when I am here with you
Ruined by your grace, enamored by your gaze
I can’t resist the tenderness of you

[...]

I never have to search again
There’s a deep desire that’s burning like a fire
To know you as my closest friend

[...]

I’m deep in love with you…

Okay. Now, here is the question for those of you who recognize one or none of the songs quoted: Without looking anything up, would you guess that these are both secular songs, that they are both Christian songs, or that one of them is secular and the other Christian? And if the latter, which is which? Take the poll:

Tomorrow I will close the poll, reveal the answer, and discuss. So be sure to get your vote in today!

[Update @4:15 PM: It seems like either a LOT of my readers recognize both songs, or they're just not bothering to vote. I'd like to shoot for 50 by tomorrow, so make your choice! -- YGG]