Look back on my first year of blogging

Categories: Wormie Says

Today marks the first year of my blogging. I posted my first post on a Friday, September 16 last year from my humble Dell x50v, more out of curiosity to see if I could blog from the Dell. Since then I had written over 170 blogs.

I am happy and proud to say that some of my blogs were highlighted either by the press or online blog watch. My articles on sportsmanship and why Malaysia should be proud of its sport achievements were featured on Global Voices. Another notable inclusion in Global Voices is the usage of Bahasa Rojak in Malaysia. My blog on the preservation of Fort Tanjong Katong was 'tomorrowed' by the Singapore online blog watcher, Tomorrow.sg. And recently, Newskini, a Malaysian blog watcher highlighted my blog on affirmative action in Malaysia.

On print, some of my blogs were also quoted. Among them, my thoughts on the infamous Tammy video and the Da Vinci controversies in Digital Life and the auditor's report on the NKF saga in Today newspaper.

Having unabashedly congratulated and blew my own horn, now for the more serious look back. Although my initial intention was to test the Dell handheld, the fun of writing has replaced my curiosity about the handheld. Couple with the highlights that I received, this had spurred me to write more. In the process, I actually manage to improve my vocabulary. Grammar however remains elusive to me. Because my blog is factual, in order to keep accuracy meant that I have to read more and wider, with the resultant improvement in my general knowledge.

The downside of blogging came when I added site counters. Site counter became a bane because when page views dropped, I felt pressurised to increase the page views. That had taken away the joy of writing. Thankfully after a period of reflections, I am happy to say that ratings no longer influence what and how often I write.

This first anniversary also gives me an excuse to change my template. Being not very creative, this template is still not quite my creation but an adaptation of a template by Douglas Bowman named the Harbour template available on the Blogger site. Hopefully by the next anniversary, I can create my own template.

Finally I would like to thank all those who had read, commented or linked to my blogs.