Dirigonzo's Place is One Year Old!

"So with that in mind, I'm going to offer up my observations, opinions and comments about life in general. I'm doing this mostly for my own amusement and entertainment but if you would like to follow along, that's fine, and I welcome any contributions, criticisms or critiques you may want to add."

That's a quote from my very first post, "Why I'm Here". Now that a full year has elapsed since I wrote that, it seems like a good time to look back and see how faithful I have been to my "mission".

First, the numbers: I have produced a total of 66 posts so I haven't been what one might call very prolific, but quality over quantity is always a good policy so that's my rationale for averaging only a little more than one post per week. Surprisingly (to me at least) there have been more than 750 "page views" from a worldwide audience, including Canada (hello, neighbors to the north, and thank you), Germany, Russia and Singapore(!). More surprising, perhaps shocking, is that this blog has 4 "followers", none of whom are, as far as I can determine, related to me by blood or marriage. So a special thanks to each of them, and also to anybody who has taken the time to comment on the posts. I really do appreciate your interest and your participation - I don't understand it but I appreciate it.

Topics have been random and varied; one post might lead a reader to believe this is a political blog and the next may read more like the personal rants of a man who has nothing particular to say and way too much time to say it. Some posts are reminiscences, some discuss current events and one or two are just plain wishful thinking. One good thing about blogging, as compared to having actual conversation, is that I don't have to worry about my audience getting bored and yawning in my face or making a lame excuse to walk away; I can talk about whatever is on my mind and as long as it entertains me, no problem. If it happens to entertain someone else too, all the better.

So as we embark on year two you can expect the same unpredictability, inconsistency and weirdness - this is how my mind works. And since I know that there is an audience out there, no matter how small, I invite you to jump in with your own random thoughts. I try to acknowledge every comment and if you want to debate a point, well that's OK too. Unless you're rude or wilfully ignorant (i.e., have your own "facts") in which case I'll probably just delete you in the interest of maintaining my blood pressure at a reasonable level.

If anyone were to ask me how long I will keep blogging I would answer the way I answer almost every "how long will you..." question - I'll keep doing it as long as I'm having fun. It's been fun for a year - let's see what the "terrible twos" bring.