Gor[b] 1 year anniversary
It occurs to me that it was a year ago this month that I began this foray into blogging. Every blogger I know marks such anniversaries with some sort of lame lookback or “clip show” of their highlights and lowlights - I’m not going to bore you with much of that, but I will pause a moment, then move on.
My first actual blog post came on June 18, 2006, on an anonymous test blog I created called Chairman Mayo. Not much came of it, though it did launch my uneasy fascination with gazillionaire chairman Mayo Shattuck III. (Congratulate him too, I see he followed my lead and got his own web domain too. Once I build a nuclear reactor, look after Bin Laden’s money and marry a cheerleader, we’ll be even.)
Chairman Mayo lasted exactly three posts, after which time I realized there was no point in trying to maintain anonymity, and I stepped into the light under my own name. My first real blog post was on July 11, 2006, a piddly entry called “Does every blog start with ‘Welcome to my blog?’”
There have been some interesting steps and missteps along the way: pissing off a Web 2.0 guru on day 10, switching to WordPress, co-authoring the CBC Blogging Manifesto, hammering out a few obits, spoofing my employer and blogging about toilets.
And here I am, exactly 200 posts later - better than a post every other day, which isn’t so bad, plus another 76 posts for Inside the CBC. Also (though you’d never know it thanks to Akismet spam filtering) some 20,936 spam entries aimed at my blog comments fields. Check the ratio on that: more than 10 bits of crap targetted at every one bit of crap I crank out.
Another number that I appreciate: 483 legit reader comments, more than two per entry. I want to thank everyone who took the time to say their bit - they’ll never admit it, but you have no idea how badly bloggers crave comments and feeback to justify their time expenditures. Thanks very much, and keep them coming.
Oh, and I still boast the tidy number of posts read by my wife: zero, and holding. That’s probably a good thing too.
Here’s to doubling all those numbers for next year, including the last one.
On that note, I’m hoping to pick up the pace a bit over the next few weeks. I’ve got a dozen ideas in draft form, and I’ll be reintroducing a number of regular features I created in the early days of this blog. I’m kicking that off with a week-long series called “CBC Signage of the Apocalypse.” Should be good fun. Thanks for reading!
Posted by: Paul Gorbould | 07-22-2007 | 11:07 PM
Posted in: Blogging
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What the hell is with your fascination with #’s? I can’t wait for a blog: “Physical contact by numbers - Sex edition” Let’s hope your wife’s blog perusal remains nil for that one!
Really enjoy your in-depth research into subjects, your creative ways, and your humour. Happy 1st year of gor[b], Paul!
(Like Tony Burman, hopefully 35yrs to look back on.)
Hard to believe it’s only been a year. Congratulations.
Unlike Jennifer I’m not going to wish you another happy 34. The prospect is too horrifying to contemplate.
Hey, Paul - Happy birthday, or whatever the proper salutation may be (I’m not too hip to this whole blog scene). I didn’t happen upon your blog until earlier this year, during a boring afternoon googling people at work, so I missed a lot of the early stuff. However, I have been a regular reader since then -you are always good for a laugh or a moment of introspection. Then again, you’ve been that way since we were shooting drunks outside the legion back in gradeschool (perhaps I shouldn’t have said that - but if Heather isn’t reading, then this probably won’t hurt you).
Anyway - keep up the good work.
Congrats, my blogging sensei!
You continue to annoy me for being a better writer than I am.
I’m just annoyed that it has taken me this long to get the whole hidden marxist angle in your blog name (it’s funny how something that’s been staring you in the face for ages completely fails to register). So when are you going to do the all Gorbachev all the time entry…talk to the man in the Sinister tower…I’m sure he’d be happy to help.
Thanks, everyone!
Jenn: I’m pretty sure numerically quantifying sex would be a bad idea for all parties.
Ouimet: It’s already too late for me to pull a Burman, and go out on top. I’m too far on the downward slope to stop now.
Jesus: Thanks for the kind words, and for making me a marked man by vengeful legion drunks.
Dan: You continue to annoy me by lying.
Grond: Seeing as how you’re staring me in the face, I wonder if I could integrate that baldy birthmark in my header?
Wow, I didn’t know your blog was only 3 months younger than mine. Congrats on making it to this milestone and beating the odds.
Hey Paul, Happy Blogiversary. I’m sorry I’ll be robbing you of hearing my giggles as I read your entries, but rest assured I’ll be giggling from France. Not only is this my favourite blog, but now it’s my inspiration as well. Thanks for such a fine introduction to the world of blogging.