This is post number 1000 on Bridget of Arabia.
To celebrate, I'm making the 1000th post of my blog, be about my blog.
My first real post said, "Well, here goes. I'm still not convinced it won't be pretentious, but I'll give blogging from America a shot." Almost five years later, I'm still still not convinced it isn't pretentious.
The people who have been reading my blog the longest are Nancy (and by extension possibly Andrew), Crys, Matthew, and my family. I don't claim that they read every post all the time, but they have popped in to comment frequently enough over the years that I know they've read my blog continuously since its beginning at least to some degree. [Edited to add: I think Liz and Jen have been around for almost as long, and remember that I'm going by overt, commenting readers here, not lurkers who have been around since 2006, bless your hearts.]
My most famous post to the world at large (not regular readers) is this one about My Brother, the Extra (Twilight). Ten thousand hits in one day, man.
On an ongoing basis, this post about learning Arabic, this post about having my tonsils removed, and this post about the Woombie get consistently high levels of traffic.
To the best of my memory, I've only ever closed comments on one post: my review of Tom Zoellner's The Heartless Stone.
A very, very little-known secret is that I deleted a post on my blog once. I've only ever done it the one time, and it was almost a year after I'd posted it. The fact that I didn't delete it earlier was an oversight. Actually, the fact that I ever wrote and posted it at all was an oversight. That post was definitely one of my lowest moments, and it hurt somebody I care about. I can't believe she forgave me, and I am so lucky that we remain friends to this day. I know you are dying to know what post it was, but my lips are sealed. All I'll say about it is that it was posted sometime in 2007 and deleted in 2008. It was me being stupid and snarky and snotty.
Which brings me to another little-known fact, which is that I don't like a lot of my earlier blog posts. I think I was often stupid and snarky and snotty. It was hard to find the right tone in blogging at first, especially in the transition from blogging about living overseas to blogging about living in Arizona. I don't think I hit my stride until about 2008...if ever, right?
There's one post I've thought about writing every day for almost two years, in the form of a letter to someone. I never will, though. There are some things you just can't say.
There's another post that I did write, but haven't published. It's been sitting in my Drafts folder for 18 months. There's a chance this one will be published someday, though. I'll be sure to let you know when it happens.
Some of my favorite periods of blogging - times when I really felt like I wrote good stuff - include our summer in Middlebury, our summer in Provo, some of the fall of 2009, some of the spring of 2010, and the ten days I blogged from Syria in May and June 2010.
The halfway post (#500) is, happily, the thrilling conclusion of Flashback Friday: When Bridget Met Jeremy.
Sometimes it's a mystery to me why certain posts get a lot of comments and reaction, while others that I'm sure will be so interesting to everyone go by seemingly unheeded. I know comments aren't the same as readership and admiration, but if I had to name an - in my opinion - underappreciated post, it would be Let's talk versions. Seriously, once every few weeks, I'll think, "Remember that time when I wrote about every single period Austen movie that's ever been made, AND all three versions of Jane Eyre, in a pithy and witty manner, and nobody cared?" and then I go read it again and enjoy it all by my lonesome. Hmph.
A blog post that kept me up at night was this one about Tucson. I felt conflicted and attacked and misunderstood. However, writing this follow-up apology post was like therapy I never knew I needed, so it's all good.
My favorite blog moment was when Ken Jennings commented on my post about across vs. acrosst.
My favorite blog moment that translated into a real-life experience was when I got to meet Tom Zoellner.
Sometimes I think life will never be so exciting again.
Sadly, I don't think I've ever had anyone come up to me in public and say that they recognize me from my blog. I know this happens to people. Heck, I've even been on the other end of that situation...except I chickened out and didn't say anything to her (it was Miss Nemesis' sister).
For the record, I loved loved LOVED writing Flashback Fridays, even though they were almost always among the least-commented-on posts.
I wish I had screenshots of what my blog has looked like over the years...but I don't. I think I can remember some of the tag phrases after the title. For My Adventures in Tucson, it was "On being the Oregon-raised wife of a PhD student at the University of Arizona." My Adventures in Ithaca was "born & raised Out West. living Back East." Now (obviously), the tag is "It's a party in the UAE - the adventures of an American family of four in Sharjah." I don't remember the tags for My Adventures in Middlebury, My Adventures in Limbo, or My Adventures in Egypt.
A post that still makes me laugh any time I think of writing it is this one about a streaker at a pool in Tucson. Oh, mercy. Also, this one about hacking my way through the underbrush at almost 9 months pregnant. Also, this one about a late-night miscommunication. I'm not saying they're the funniest posts you'll ever read, even on this blog, but something about them never fails to make me laugh when I remember them.
A post that changed my life was this one, in which I discovered that I am an introvert. Seriously, it redefined the way I live.
Anyway, it's been a wild ride. Here's to the next 1000 posts!