Today, July Fourth, is special for two reasons:
First, it's the 237th anniversary of the birth of our country as marked by the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I wonder what's in store for the 250th-anniversary celebration. It's only 13 years away; I'll be a ripe old 57 by then, probably unmarried and gnawing angrily on my own floppy breasts.
Second, it's the tenth anniversary of Big Hominid's Hairy Chasms! Yes, folks: I've been chugging away at this turd of a blog for ten goddamn years. It started off as something to do on July Fourth while I was in Seoul in 2003, sleepily banging away at a Net café keyboard on Korea University's blessedly clean and smoke-free campus. Since that time, I've enjoyed a decent stream of visitors; by 2008, I was receiving 350-400 unique visits per day. These days, my flow is more modest: about 120-150 unique visitors daily. On some days, I'll break the 200 mark for no apparent reason; on others, I'll write my heart out and get jack shit for my trouble. Not that I've ever tried to increase my readership: I know what it takes to create a popular blog, but I refuse to jump on that bandwagon.
Still, among all the possible ways of chronicling my inner and outer life, it's hard to beat blogging. It allows me to flex my writing muscles while also providing me the freedom to write as much or as little as I desire. I've tried to be a faithful writer, posting at least once per day, and I can only hope that my handful of readers has come away from this blog with a smile, a grimace, or some other strong emotional reaction. The last thing I want to be accused of is being bland.
The Hairy Chasms has been a great resource as well: my book Water from a Skull is largely composed of essays that first appeared on this blog. I've written enough movie reviews to put together a book, and I've written quite a bit on the ins and outs of teaching. I've slapped up enough poetry and 100 Below stories to warrant another humor compilation... the publishing possibilities are endless.
So—Happy Tenth Blogiversary to me. Here's to ten more years.
_
Happy Tenth, dude. Believe it or not, but I predate you by a few months (my tenth was on the 15th of March, although the day went uncelebrated). Of course, you have since far outstripped me in content... and probably in style as well.
ReplyDelete(When was that photo taken, by the way?)
Congrats on ten years of blogging! I reckon I've been around for 8 or so of those. What I look for in a blog is a unique perspective and that's what you most certainly provide.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I'm 57. When you get here it won't seem so old. And ripe comes in all ages.
Good luck with your 4th of July feast!
Charles,
ReplyDeleteThe pic was done up in 2008 while I was still at Sookdae. Tom and I stood out in a sunlit hallway on the third floor of our building, and I got Tom to pose with a PVC pipe as if he were following through on a Jedi-style beheading stroke. Tom then took a pic of me bending forward as if just beheaded, then he took a separate shot of my head at a different angle (better to give the impression of the head tumbling through the air).
The rest was all Photoshop: I added the bloody-but-cauterized neck stump, the smoke effects (a combination of Gaussian and motion blur), the lightsaber effects (on which I've had a good bit of practice), and the Star Wars-style city background (can no longer remember where I found that cityscape). Tom provided the goofy expression. That pic had God-knows-how-many layers before I finally flattened it all into one layer.
John,
Yes, but you're married, and I bet you're not gnawing on your floppy breasts.
Charles,
ReplyDeleteBelated congrats on your tenth as well. I need to go back into your archives and find your very first post.
K,
ReplyDeleteI only asked about the photo because Tom seems to have had a lot more hair back then, and of a different color, too! (Finally got together with the offending Jedi last night at Reilly's by the way. A good time was had by all, although I think things might have gotten a little out of hand when we started playing with his elbow skin.)
Ten years, eh? Good on ya - may you continue to blog as long as you enjoy doing so, which I hope is a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteCharles,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear that you got together at last with my balding friend.
Elisson,
Many thanks, and the same wishes back to you.
sorry for beheading you. My bad!
ReplyDeleteWhat are friends for, Tom?
ReplyDelete