Of everything I've done in the past two years of Mamalogues.com, I'm most proud of this distinction: #1 in a Google search for "nicknames for country grandpa's."
I HAVE ARRIVED.
I spent a good portion of yesterday all teary from the e-mails and
comments. I feel a bit like Lorne Michaels when he asked Rudy Giuliani
"Can we be funny?" on the 2001 season premiere of SNL. I watched the dramatization documentary, became infuriated and got all teary at the end again.
A new day. Another five years.
So I switched up the mast and changed some colors.
This month also marks the second anniversary of spilling my trials,
triumphs, and misadventures on this website. I blogged for a year prior
on a different Blogger site before changing things up, so three years
of blogging in total. The purpose of my blog has changed somewhat to
suit my needs over the past two years. I began blogging initially as a
way to keep writing after I left the office and came home to freelance
and care for Liam. Blogging kept me on the bicycle. It began to make me
money, which we needed, despite the women who wrote in after my SAHM
piece and insinuated that I must be rich to stay home HOW NICE FOR ME
that I'm rich. Being rich would erase some of life's problems, but no,
not rich! The money I make pays for our health insurance, Liam's asthma
meds, and other bills. She works hard for the money.
This month also marks a year since I had Mamalogues trademarked - as it's paying bills and such, I need to protect my bass.
Which is why I got a weensy bit angry when I discovered that some
yuppie Beverly Hills boutique was trying to pass off my site name as
their property and making cash off of it - which is why I made a call
to get all ghetto cease-and-desist-y on said yuppie
boutique after they ignored my previous polite requests to stop using
my name. And I was so polite! I'm normally very polite, very
straightforward, but so polite! However, I can get really, really white trash, BRING IT pushy.
I love sharing my experiences with you all and I've met some truly
awesome people through my website. I'm astounded at the number of old
friends that have found me through it. I'm astounded further by the
number of kindred spirits out there who read daily. So many of you
write in to share your own experiences, offer well-meaning advice; a
few of you regulars (Jen S., LeAnn, MN, Sarah W., others) send me links
to things you'd think I'd find interesting. Jen S. once sent me a photo
of a classic mulleted redneck (saving for a future post) that caused me
to choke on a gulp of orange juice. That so many of you take the time
out to drop me a line and put a name with one of the thousands who read
each week, that's pretty remarkable. I feel like I'm connecting. I
appreciate it.
Thanks. Warm fuzzies, AWWW.
Also thanks to Craig who helped beat my site design into submission. Last but not least, a MAMMOTH thanks to my host and friend, X (and his luuurvely wife, my friend Nicky), who lets me park my site on his server and totally bailed me out with the move to MT. I couldn't do what I do without him. And without you all, I'd just be droning on to nobody.
**ADDENDUM: LeAnn has informed me that I am also #1 in a Google search for Darth Vader is lots of awesome. I want that on my epitaph.
