I never thought I would make it this far, but exactly 365 days ago, at 4:14 am on May 16, 2002, I started this weblog. I wrote then that I wouldn’t be surprised if this lasted 5 days, which was how long my previous attempt at blogging had lasted.
I don’t really know why I started this, somehow in some convoluted fashion I read the term “blog” somewhere and clicked further to find out what this hopelessly horrid-sounding term could represent. The next thing I knew (it literally was only 2 or 3 days later) I was downloading Movable Type and posting my first entries. (For a brief and incomplete list of who inspired me, see my “parent blogs” on the left of this Blogtree page).
I never go back and look at those entries now, I find them embarrassing in the extreme, written as I flailed about trying to find this blog’s raison d’être. Politics was an easy target — and for some un-explained reason, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict — and you’d be hard-pressed to find anything remotely related to what this blog has evolved into, in those moments that I allow myself to think this blog actually has some sort of definable raison d’être. Certainly I could have been in Timbuk 2 for all the writing I did about Japan at that time. For some reason, it just didn’t feel appropriate or “right.” How things have changed. Now, I feel it would be inappropriate or wrong if I didn’t talk about Japan (some of the time, that is). I have a few people to thank for that, mainly Kiyo (where forth hath thou gone, my friend?) and M. I came close to giving up the ghost more than once, and for perservering I have my loyal readers to thank, for their comments and emails, and their visits, even when a month went by without a post.
My clock says 4:13 so it’s time to put this stake into the virtual ground, and get started on the next year. I hope you’ll stick around and see how this goes. I personally have no idea, and frankly I’d have it no other way.
Happy Anniversary 🙂
Happy Birthday Hmmn!
Hi Kurt,
Congratulations on the one-year milestone. It’s been great to watch your work evolve over the ten months or so that I’ve been visiting — you really seem to have found your “voice” during that time. Looking forward to the next year (no pressure!).
keep it up kurt. your blog has the perfect combination of content related to place, personal and wider culture. there’s a nice balance of text and photography. and the blog’s design makes reading a pleasure.
Congratulations, Kurt!
Your post reminds me that my own blog will be a year old later this month–but I’ve still got a long way to go before I figure out its raison d’être…I’m still out in Timbuk 2, prattling about politics. 😉
Nice one, bro. Just started reading regularly and have really been enjoying it. I’ve been doing mine for almost two years now but it’s nowhere near as nice as this, both design and content wise. I bow down. Keep it up! 😀
Kurt, congrats!
I hit a year as well in two weeks or so.
I can’t say how valuable it has been to me to be a part of the little community we have here. It’s been a good year, may the next one treat us well.
Best regards,
-J
Wow! I can’t believe it’s been only a year. You’re such an institution among Japanese bloggers. If I remember correctly, I found you through Jeremy at antipixel and got hooked on your topic about manhole covers.
An aside: yeah, where is Kiyo?
Wow, congratulations!
Hey Kurt, Love your site. If I could only have one as nice as yours!
Dave
thanks everyone for the well-wishes and complements. S. Patrick — of course I didn’t mean to imply that politics couldn’t be one’s raison d’etre 🙂 and M, great memory. you’re right, i remember now that your first comment was on the manholes.