Today is the fourth anniversary of my first post at The Glittering Eye. Over the last year there have been a few developments here that I have found very gratifying. First, the discourse in the comments section has become significantly more lively and bids fair to continue. That was one of my fondest hopes when I started the blog and it’s beginning to be realized. Thanks for that to my small coterie of frequent commenters, Andy, Mark, Icepick, Jeff, Michael, PD. You, too, Lounsbury. I value your contributions.
Second, my traffic has doubled over the last year. Although it’s still small compared to that of the silverbacks in the blogosphere, it’s already more than I ever dreamed it would be. Thanks, all ye who pass by.
I continue to thank my primary blogospheric patrons—Dean Esmay, James Joyner, Joe Gandelman, the members of The Watcher’s Council, and my closest blogospheric allies, Callimachus, Marc Schulman (whom I believe is working on a book), Sideways Mencken, Mark Safranski and the rest of you. You know who you are.
If someone had asked me before I started the blog what my all-time most-viewed posts would be I would never in a million years have guessed they would be The Four Types of Dog Vomit (an oldie that made the rounds on dog-oriented listservs years ago) and How to Poach a Chicken Breast. Between the two of them they’ve probably garnered more hits than all of the rest of my posts put together.
The posts of which I’m proudest are probably
- Anthems, my first post to get any real attention
- Learning from History: the relief and rebuilding of New Orleans, which I wrote shortly after the Hurricane Katrina disaster
- The Influence of Immigrants on American Political Thought
Thanks all. See you around the water cooler. It’s a really good method for poaching chicken breasts, by the way.
My third blogiversary post
My second blogiversary post
My first post
Congratulations, Dave. Even though I have largely ceased commenting, yours is a blog always on my daily reading list. You are one of the gentlemen of the blogosphere, always firmly and intelligently stating your opinions and welcoming thoughtful discussion.
But I fear that you have missed the boat. More traffic would come your way if you would only combine dog vomit and chicken breasts. You could be the Andrew Zimmern of the ‘net.
Best,
Daniel
Congrats Dave! Your blog continues to be an oasis of sanity in a sea of hyperbole.
Congratulations!
Hearty congratulations Dave ! You’re the most dangerously reasonable guy in this section of the blogosphere!
Well said, zen- dangerously reasonable. LOL. For what it’s worth, Dave, your views are always influential. Some of my strongly held foreign policy (Iran in particular) and health care views have been altered because of your thoughtful and compelling writings. It’s appreciated.
Add my congratulations to those of the others.
Yes, you have influenced my thinking, particularly on Iraq. The bad news is that that point of view precipitated my reviewing our relationship with our temple; subsequently we dropped our affiliation.
I’m still waiting for you to write something stupid. It’s been five years and nothing so far.
Congratulations, Dave!
May your blog traffic always increase!
Better late to the party than never. [Besides, I brought the beer.] Congratulations!