It was one year ago today that I posted my first blog entry. At the time I wasn't sure I'd find enough to keep the blog going for a month, let alone a year. The main impetus for writing the blog was to give my family a place where they could find out what was happening with us. In fact, it was a year ago this week that Hurricane Rita was bearing down on this part of the world.
There were some things I planned to do that I never got around to. I intended to do a semi-regular "whats living in the CD player" feature, but i didn't get past about three or four of those. I guess it's because I figured few people would want to read about the music I was listening to, particularly if it wasn't fairly new stuff. There are topics that hit me as important at the time but slipped away as the moment was lost. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not...
What surprised me is how political the blog got. I guess that unless you try hard some amount of politics will slip in to pretty much any blog.
The biggest shift in the blog is that I actually do have people reading it! That's... just odd! I don't think of myself as particularly enlightening or amusing, yet people keep coming back to the blog. Well, several of you do! And it affects the way I write it. For one thing, instead of skippiing tonight's entry — because I'm tired and I've spent the evening working on a rewrite of the Ouachita Parish Food Bank database and then helped Logan get through another chapter in Lego Star Wars II — I'm writing a lame "birthday" entry because my "readers" demand content!
Probably the most rewarding part of the blog is when I receive e-mail from strangers thanking me for a particular entry. This happened with my Medicare Part D prescription entry and the post about the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.
The most surreal point was getting "hate mail" because I was peeved at CVS pharmacy. That was just... odd. (For the record, I still haven't set foot in that store since the March incident.)
So, thanks for reading, and thanks for your comments, even those of you who are twisted and warped... I am, of course, talking about my "regular readers". I'll try not to be too boring... at least not until next year's "birthday" post.
4 Good Years
7 years ago
10 comments:
Speaking as one of the twisted, allow me to congratulate you on your anniversary. DI is a regular feature of my day, part of the ongoing effort to avoid doing any actual work at work.
Personally, I like the political content, especially in the context you provide. Louisiana seems a very strange place to me, more so when I read your blog.
~L~ You should try living here....
Speaking as one of the twisted, allow me to congratulate you on your anniversary.
Thank you!
Personally, I like the political content, especially in the context you provide. Louisiana seems a very strange place to me, more so when I read your blog.
What Alana said!
You like the political content, and we've had a lot of good discussions on the historical stuff. However, I've also had people ask for personal items. So, I'm trying to please everyone. As a result, even though my first post this month was September 6, I've done 18 entries this month so far, not including comments. I was averaging around 15 a month at one point.
If y'all can't have quality, you'll at least get quantity!
If y'all can't have quality, you'll at least get quantity!
"Y'all"? My ghod, the chap's gone native.
The quantity thing is one of the reasons I don't blog myself. There's a tyranny invoked by the idea that other people are reading, and that they are waiting for something new (I know, I know: I'm horribly guilty of this.) I value the small amount of down-time I actually have, and I'm not (at this moment) prepared to sacrifice it, just as I'm unwilling to write a blog that's too sloppy or careless to be worth reading.
And that's the other reason I don't blog, of course. Most of the blogs I've encountered have intellectual value the way marshmallow Fluff has nutritional value. (Brief aside: have you see the commercials that try to portray Nutella as a healthy food?) I don't want to be one of those people.
You're not one of them, of course. But I don't have your youth and energy...
Oh, and by the way, Alana, I sometimes try to think about living in Louisiana. I usually end up with a brain-pain and have to revive myself with hot baths and bourbon.
No disrespect intended. I'm just sayin', is all.
Are there any readers of this blog who are actually from Louisiana? I grew up 120 miles from the place and it seems strange to me. For the record, Allan hasn't gone native. He sticks out even more when he trys to say things like "ya'll." Heck, the guy even seems to type with a (Scottish)Canadian accent. Congratulations on making the year, Allan. Oh, and congratulations on your blog making the year, too. Cheers.
But I don't have your youth and energy...
That's pretty scary, Michael, given how tired I feel in the evenings!
Are there any readers of this blog who are actually from Louisiana?
James Masters reads my blog. He posted a couple of comments, most recently on my Guy Gabaldon post. He's from Louisiana and grew up in Monroe. However, he now lives in Florida. I don't think anyone from Louisiana who is still living here reads the blog. Alana grew up in Louisiana, but as she's fond of pointing out when Louisiana does something particularly stupid, she was born in Texas.
For the record, Allan hasn't gone native. He sticks out even more when he trys to say things like "ya'll."
And, ironically, I sound stupid when I say "eh". I'm a man without a home country or a culture! *S* (Hmmm... did I just say I was uncultured?)
Congratulations on making the year, Allan. Oh, and ongratulations on your blog making the year, too. Cheers.
With friends like these, I don't need enemas...
No disrespect intended. I'm just sayin', is all.
We need to get you and Lorna down here at some point. I think the locals would bust a gut if we did a repeat of our "how to speak Southern" bit from our first Gettysburg trip.
Michael, that's the same kind of sensation I get when I try to imagine living in the GWN. Snow in pictures is way cool, but...shoveling? ~shudders~
I won't dignify the remarks on Canada Boy going native except to recall the time I heard him utter the words "fixin' to". I giggled for days.
And yes, you and Lorna need to make the trip south. I thought of Lorna on my way to Lake Charles last week every time I saw a roadside boudin stand.
Post a Comment