Friday, September 16, 2005

 

Has It Been A Year Already?


At my middle stepdaughter's school assembly today, I was reminded that Sept. 17th is Constitution Day -- a rarely-celebrated national holiday, but an important one. (I also said the Pledge of Allegiance, for the first time in years. It's an interesting experience to recite it as an adult, I must say.)

Of little interest to anyone but me (and both of my regular readers), Sept. 17th was also the day I started blogging, one year ago tomorrow.

It's been an interesting year!! I've learned a lot, and adjusted my technique here and there. For example, I had a hard time at first, trying to decide what on Earth to write about. But I made a decision, about four months ago, to try to write something, every day... and, with a few exceptions, I've kept to that.

Some things have not changed -- I decided from the beginning that this blog would rarely be about me, and never about my immediate family; that's not the kind of writing I want to do here. I've also striven to keep things within the limits of good taste and good manners -- as Julius "Dr. J" Irving once said, "I live my life trying to never appear to be a small man" -- and I think I've succeeded most of the time.

So here I am, 168 blog entries later, still enjoying myself and still finding that I have things I want to say. There are even people who enjoy reading what I write, which still catches me by surprise.

So thanks to my readers, first of all, regular or not. First and foremost, of course, to Galit, who helps and encourages me in hundreds of different ways; blogging is probably the least important of the many, many things I couldn't do without her. Thanks to Ilana for her "attaboy" e-mails, and for spreading the word. Thanks to Daniel T., who has the time to read what I write (and the grace not to ridicule me for it), and whose corrections are always insightful. Thanks to Yael and to Mr. Paquin, who insisted that my writing deserved a wider audience. Thanks to Aden -- who knew I had a fan in Jerusalem? -- who can claim to have enjoyed my writing longer than almost anyone else. And thanks to the many of you who have wandered over from Smash's Place (although I have to wonder: why are Jane and Rich the only ones who ever comment??). A special thanks to Lt. Cmdr. Smash himself, for enduring my endless droning comments at his blog... which was the main impetus to getting started here in the first place.

Thanks also to people who don't know me, and might never know me, but have had their impact on me in many important ways. Thanks to the incomparable Steven den Beste, whose writing inspired me and influenced me long before I thought of writing online myself; you're a giant, sir, and your influence continues to be felt, long after USS Clueless sailed beyond the sunset. Thanks to Bill Whittle; I, like thousands of others, still stop what I'm doing and take an hour off to read his latest, every time the word goes out that Bill's Written Another One.

And thanks in advance to any future readers, who may be wondering what I had to say back in September 2005. Take a look around you; you know a good many things that I wish I did! Thanks for taking the trouble to stop by.

Okay, enough self-indulgence; let's get back to important things.



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