A Year in the Life

Today is the First Blogiversary of Pho's Akron Pages. One year ago today I decided, without much thought of where it would lead, to jump into this blogging thing. Unlike Jill, this wasn’t an adjunct to a vocation. Unlike Scott, I wasn’t inspired by a specific event.

More than anything else, it was a way to exercise my brain after two years of full-time child care punctuated by occasional volunteer work. More than one stay-at-home dad has gone this way before. One famously catalogued every bottle and diaper change. Consider yourselves lucky; this could have been so much worse.

I can be as grandiose as the next guy, but I never expected this blog to be where it is. People – and by that I mean people with jobs and responsibilities and, in some cases, really great blogs – meet me and tell me how good this is. One thing that hasn’t changed over a year’s time; I still have to restrain myself from answering, “Really?”

So, a year ago I wrote a post (edited in deference to recent events) introducing nonexistent readers to something called “Pho’s Norka Pages.” For a while no one in my real life even knew about the blog. For a long while after that, the readership was literally a half-dozen people from SCPD and my brother. Then this happened which led to that and pretty soon a steady stream of people come by to see what I – unemployed lawyer/full-time dad/armchair kvetch that I am – have to say.

I’ve taken time off for some family vacations, a minor surgery (minor, right!) and a couple of bouts with the flu. Still, you keep coming back.

I have ideas as to where it may go, but rather than make bold promises, I’d prefer to blog after things happen. For now, this is mostly about thanks. Thanks to the first bloggers who noticed – particularly George and Bill. Thanks to everyone who was doing this before me and helped give this blog its shape. Thanks to everyone now doing this blogging thing for your dedication -- and your links. Thanks to the MTB crew, to the burgeoning Akron blogosphere. Thanks to Redhorse and keng and MaryBad – bloggers who are also in my real life on a regular basis.

Thanks to the candidates, party officials and media folks who kept an open mind, talked to bloggers and gave us something to write about. Thanks to the other candidates, party officials and media folks who act like they might get a progressive rash from coming too close and give us even more to write about.

And thanks mostly to my readers. Thanks for putting up with the occasionally spotty posting. Thanks for trudging through windy posts about policy arcana. Thanks for your comments and your emails. Thanks for the ideas, arguments, criticisms, complements. You keep me going and keep me sharp.

It’s been a hell of a year. Let's do the numbers.

Posts: 413
Most Posts in One Day: 6 (November 11)
Longest period without posting: 10 days (Dec. 23 to Jan 2)
Hits (as of midnight and since October 10, 2005): 28,215
Page Views (ditto): 47,363
Most hits in a day: 447 (May 3, 2006)
First Comment: July 6, 2005 (netroots doyen Tim Tagaris, no less)
Most Comments on a post: 48 (a kick-the-hornet’s-nest post-Hackett post)
Current Technorati Rank: 36,231
Current TTLB Ecosystem Rank: 8805
MSM Mentions: 4 (one LMJ, 3 ABJ)