Wheat-dogg’s world

Reflections on the first year

A year ago this month, I decided to start a blog. My motivation was multi-faceted. I wanted to comment on science, especially physics and astronomy, but also other topics. I wanted a forum for the content that I never seem to able to work into my lectures and classes. And I wanted to write again. Ink is in my blood.

So, here I am, 12 months and more than 220 posts later. According to my Site Meter, I have had more than 4000 visits since mid-2006, when I installed it. Before I had to disable WPShortStat, it reported that I had had more than twice that many since January 2006. Someone, even if it’s only the Googlebot, must be reading me. I have risen slowly in the ecosystem of TTLB, so other blogs are actually linking to me. People leave comments.

So, while I am nowhere near the popularity of a PZ Myers, and while this blog has made me absolutely zero income, I have had some manner of success with it. I enjoy doing it, and wish I could devote more time to it. Writing is hard work — this I already knew — and it’s also time-consuming. How some of these bloggers manage to churn out so much copy each day amazes me.

In a way, this effort was a birthday present to myself. I started it just 10 days before my 50th birthday, and in a few short hours I will be starting another half-century on this Earth. With luck and perseverance, perhaps I’ll still be here blogging in ‘57. Wish me luck!