One Year Blogiversary

Happy Blogiversary to me. A year ago, I started this blog mainly to relieve my boredom while I was recovering from my broken arm. It sucked. I was sitting at home, gaining weight and in a lot of pain for about a month. Now it's all over. I have a cool scar now, but I miss my weekly gab sessions with my physical therapist.

I've enjoyed writing in my blog. I've written already about the reasons why I've liked blogging, so I won't rehash here. But I'm glad to have this blog. It gives me somewhere to vent on a regular basis. Otherwise, I probably would have become a crazy, bitter old man who talks to himself and has a pet parakeet. My blog has been a great sounding board and even serves as its own sort of therapy for me.

One of the unexpected benefits I've gotten from this blog is that I've become more outgoing, which when you think about it is kind of contradictory since blog writing is a solitary activity. I've made long distance friends, friends here in the city, gotten in touch with people who I haven't heard from since high school. But at least I have taken the next step and actually met some people instead of just keeping cyberspace penpals. This article in the NY Times chastises bloggers, among other people in today's Internet age, for keeping a virtual social network, rather than one based on actual human contact.

In essence, I blog because I think my simple life might be of interest to someone out there. And I like to re-read my old posts. It's nice to have a journal recording things that are important to you and also to hear other people's thoughts about them. I write about most major events in my life, which really aren't all that major in the grand scheme of things. But they come from me. I think that is probably what I am most happy about when I think about my blog. It sounds like me. It has subjects that I find interesting or would like to share, and most importantly it sounds as if you are having a conversation with me. My blog has come to reflect my voice pretty accurately.

I have three favorite blog posts. First is "Beware the Witch Is Here." I wrote that at a time last year, when I felt like I was really coming out of my shell more. I had just switched jobs and was starting to get in touch with old friends. I was rebuilding my life outside of work when before my entire life was work. It felt nice. I also really liked "The 60 Day Rule" because I thought it was a really well-written (if I do say so myself) post on how I was feeling at the time. Finally, my review of Live 8 was a comprehensive and thorough review with bits of my caustic humor added in.

I'm pretty proud of my blog just like every blog author should be proud of his writing. I only wish I had joined the bandwagon 3 years ago. I also enjoy hearing everyone's thoughts about whatever I've written. But sometimes I expect a bit too much. One time last year, I asked a friend if she had a favorite post. She replied, "Yeah, I really liked your one on Free Chapstick." Free Chapstick??? That was like a 2-line post and hardly one that I poured my heart in!

Oh well, as long as my readers are happy. And sometimes the posts with minimal thought but are just your first thoughts coming out of your head are the ones that get the most reaction.