Categories: Blogging

On November 16, 2005, I published my first post on this blog. In doing so, I would embark on a journey that would, unbeknownst to me, forever change my life. Now, one year and 211 posts later, here I am. Blogging has now become my favourite and most time consuming hobby. It has given many things: a presence on the internet, new friends (and a few enemies), a few items from abroad (a journal and a postcard), an actual interest in the news, and a sense of accomplishment, as my blog has become more successful faster than I ever thought it would. I have loyal readers, a decent page rank (5), honourable mentions on other blogs, been awarded by some reputable blog reviewers, been asked to write articles, rank in the Technorati Top 50,000, among others.

I have experienced just about all the experiences a typical blogger should have. The trolls, the comment and email spam, the raging discussion about that one controversial post, the porn hits, the blogger block, the link requests, the feeling that no one really cares, etc. All that’s left now is for someone to blatantly rip-off my material. But as I celebrate my success, I realize there is still more work left to be done. My syndication and email subscriptions could use some boosting. And though my email subscription numbers are reasonable (as far as email subscriptions go), my syndication stats are woefully low. They’re in the single digits, and a low single digit at that. And it irritates me when I see dead splogs with double digit subscribers.

I would also like to win a big award like the Bloggies. That would give my blog the ultimate rep. And my dreams are to gain enough readership to use the blog exchanges less (or perhaps even completely!), to rise further in the Technorati ranks and to make some ACTUAL money from Adsense. Ok enough. This is starting to look like a Christmas wishlist, and being as broke as I am, I don’t want a reminder. I don’t know what the future holds, but I know this, I’ll keep posting as long as you keep reading.

To my loyal readers, thank you from the bottom of my heart for sticking with me thus far. I couldn’t have reached this milestone without you. Well, yeah I could have, but it wouldn’t have been as fun. To my supporters, thank you for assisting me in my blogging endeavours. To my NEW fans, sit back and enjoy the ride (and post comments occasionally of course). You know what? I’m feeling generous. So I will give away 200 Blogmad credits, roughly one for every time I’ve posted. I know what you’re thinking. “There’s a catch.” Oh, silly. Of course there is! Refer people to this blog. Tell them to leave a comment here, naming the site where they were referred from. The most referred site wins. It’s that easy.