(an important) Anniversary!

While this blog, and my attempts at writing things, is older than a year, WordPress was kind enough to remind me that as of today, it’s been a year since I registered with WordPress.

What that really means is that a year ago today, I started the process of migrating my blog from Blogger to WordPress. At the time I was looking for an alternative to Blogger, because I was having trouble achieving some of the thematic and functional goals I wanted my site to do with the Blogger engine.

I sought the advice from my friend from Alabama Leon Kennedy. Despite being an English major, he’s an excellent code monkey. He designs websites, does 3d modeling, he makes video games, photography, and every manner of artsy thing. All around, he’s my go to resource when an online Photoshop Tutorial doesn’t make sense, or I need advice on color theory, or when the mechanical parts of the internet are refusing to cooperate with me. 80% of the time he can fix my problem. The other 20% usually involves an evening of explaining to me why what I’m asking for is impossible and realigning my expectations with reality.

He’s the kind of guy who, when I said “Blogger’s lame, what’s a better alternative?” his answer wasn’t “Here’s a list of sites, figure it out.” He made me articulate what I wanted out of my new site and used his expertise and knowledge of the engines out there to recommend what he thought would work for me. And he was right. With the exception of a few paid-for plugins that I’d like to use, but haven’t been able to justify spending on, WordPress has never let me down. I’ve been able to get everything I’ve needed out of this site. Plus, having worked as a guy who worked to keep WordPress sites running professionally, he’s always useful for advice when I get stuck.

So first of all, I want to send a great big thank you to Leon, and encourage everyone to check out his portfolio. He’s not a sponsor, and I’m not promoting him for a kickback. Much of my ease of blogging has stemmed not just from the WordPress engine, but from Leon’s continued support and assistance; so I’m eternally grateful and can think of no better way to show my gratitude than with some publicity.

Something else that is extremely important to acknowledge is the catalyst for change that inspired the migration away from Blogger. I don’t have the largest viewership in the world. I’m no cult personality like KnyghtErrant or Shadiversity. I’m no paragon of scholarly authority like Tobias Capwell. I’m just a guy with a little vanity blog. But, the blog had become just popular enough that I felt an obligation to my viewership to produce quality content with a respectable home base. And that’s what makes this anniversary so special to me. It represent a turning point where I felt my efforts had worth and merit to people other than myself. I’ve written blogs before. But this is the first time I’ve written something that was undeniably appreciated by others, and not just friends and family that read it out of obligation.

So thank you. You, reading this post right now. I know how finite time is. I cannot express how honored I am that you shared some of your time with me, that you clicked a link and spent 10 minutes bouncing your eyeballs from word to word that I wrote instead of watching a cat attack someone’s ankles. You make this worthwhile, and really I couldn’t do it without you.

Thank you.