One Year

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Today marks one year in the blogofascistopiasphere. I came for the movie passes and stayed for the pontificating--and so far, I've kept it up for a full year. That probably doesn't seem like much to those of you who aren't nearly as lazy as I am, but believe me--for me, it's damn near a miracle. Keep in mind that I tried this once before, and racked up a grand total of five posts before giving up. So, yeah, I'm patting myself on the back. (Which in this case will consist not only of this shamelessly self-congratulatory post, but also a weekend of retrospectives.)

In a lot of respects, the last year has been pretty lousy for me. Blogging is not one of those respects. Blogging has been one of the few bright spots in an otherwise moderately dismal twelve months. Yes, it's a chore sometimes...but when I set out to do this I was determined that it would be fun, and in that respect I have succeeded. (Bush and Cheney are still in office; Iraq is still a mess; there is no lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors; and cancer remains uncured. In those respects, I have failed miserably.)

And the main reason it has been fun (of course) is you, dear readers. This has been an opportunity to get to know a truly lovely bunch of people--commenters, contributors, other bloggers (including the BARBarians, the only bloggers I've yet encountered in meat space), friends. Thank you all for a most enjoyable time, and I look forward to more of it.

Thanks also to everyone who has ever linked here, and especially to Shakespeare's Sister, who goes out of her way to help and encourage bloggers who are starting out.

And thanks, of course, to contributors Nobody in Particular, Deborah, and Kvatch. Nobody in Particular is a regular poster here (but not as regular as we would all like); Deborah and Kvatch, with NiP, have been kind enough to post here when I was away; all of them are good friends, great people, and excellent writers.

I may be tinkering with the blog in the near future (exciting new features: Wednesday Fridge-Blogging! All-Request Saturdays!), but I will always strive to maintain the same level of...um...whatever.

[That's all, folks]