YOU ARE HERE... What are you looking for? A little orientation may be in order.

Welcome to the Navasota Current. Feeling mired in tall grass? Let me guide you out of here.  This blog has now gotten over 90,000 page views. I have started a few other blogs to help specialize the info and make your searching easier. Basically, here are my blogs and the focus of each:


YOU ARE HERE:

russellcushman.blogspot.com, titled "the Navasota Current"

The Navasota Current is my "kitchen sink." It is mostly about the history, material culture, and lifestyle of Navasota, Texas and the surrounding area. There are over 500 articles about local heroes (like Ranger Frank Hamer) , tourism information, TEXANA (like Texas stoneware) scenic photography, and some poems, songs, inspirational messages and even some political or social commentaries. You see what I mean about kitchen sink... As subjects reach their own critical mass, I branch them off into their own blog.


Many folks discover this blog looking for info about my art, what I actually do to put bread on the table, (and they understandably do not want a speech or history lesson...)  so I created a blog just about my art and art related essays... I also write some things to help and inform young artists...

[link]  russellcushmanart.blogspot.com, titled "Russell Cushman: Texas Painter & Sculptor"



I recently created a blog as a pilot project for the local Bryan ABC television station and its focus is the current arts and entertainment scene in the Brazos Valley...

[link]  brazosvalleyarts.blogspot.com, titled "BrazoSphere"
And if things do not change, :(  "BrazoSphere" will probably be amalgamated with my old music blog called:


[link]  brazosvalleyblues.blogspot.com, titled "Blues Valley"
Blues Valley was created to celebrate the wonderful music heritage of this region. There are articles about local musicians, past and present, concerts, and my unpublished manuscript about the origins and progenitors of Brazos Valley Blues. I call it "The Light of Day." There is a TON of local history here, but it is not the kind anybody wants to read. It is the unwritten struggle of racial and cultural warfare that forged the blues. It is TOMBSTONE, OH BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU, and  ROOTS all rolled into one.


Having these separate blogs really helps me track data and understand my readership. It is my version of the process of Natural Selection... Here are some interesting facts I have gleaned from my blog data provided by Google...


This blog is a Texas Ranger cyber-station! The Navasota Current has evolved into a Texas Ranger Internet resource. With 88,000 pages turned in over 500 articles in the Navasota Current alone, I can say without hesitation that Texas Rangers are one of my most popular subjects.  Almost 6000 of those pages turned have been in Ranger articles. My article on Texas Ranger badges, written this past year has already pushed to the top blog ever, with around 2,800 pages viewed. Articles about Rangers in Navasota, especially Captain Frank Hamer,  have accumulated another 2500 pages turned.

This is also a Texas Stoneware crossroads. The most popular subject overall has to be Texas stoneware. My series about Texas stoneware, parts I, II, & III, which can be found as permanent pages on the right side of the blog, has had 3000,  3700, and 630 pages turned for a total of 7330 pages turned.

I love statistics! These stats prove Texans still care about their history and about Texas artifacts. Some of these articles experience hundreds of hits in a day. On the right, at the top you will find a listing in the green column of "MY FAVORITE FEATURES." Here is where you will find permanant articles on Texas stoneware, Texas Rangers, thematic collections, and a series on Joan of Arc.

In the blue column on the right are my TOP TEN blogs, that my readers have made popular... These are the things most of you enjoy or want to know...

BUT Blues... not so much. Sadly, my blues blog, "Blues Valley," which includes lots of blues history and my manuscript on Brazos Valley blues, is now one year old, but has not collectively attracted as much as even one of these popular articles in the Navasota Current. THAT is marketing research. And I have responded accordingly!

If Texas stoneware is a 10, and Texas Rangers are a 9, and blues in general is a 1, then I  have a "photo-funny" about cowboy churches which would rate as a 6! Incredibly, with1300 pages viewed!  Not bad for something goofy that could be terribly misinterpreted! You can view it over on the right > "Boss, he says..."

The biggest surprise has been an article on INDIANOLA, TEXAS, (near the bottom of the list in blue) which has had over 570 hits! What is going on down there!?  Still, it's Texas history.. . so you can guess what you will see more of in 2014!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!  And thanks for stopping by!