It's Our 1st Birthday!!!

It was exactly one year ago today that I put up my first post Three States Plus One. It's difficult to believe that it has actually been a full year since I undertook this task. What's even more amazing is the fact that I am still doing this thing! The blog has changed in many ways since that day that seems like a lifetime ago. For one, the posts are a bit longer therefore allowing me to get more information to you the reader. I knew that would happen when I started the blog, as I was literally feeling my way through the process. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I take that back...I have written some stuff before, but that involved tens of thousands of radio and TV commercials, never a daily article about any chosen subject. Besides, radio and TV commercials are 30 and 60 seconds long requiring few words and, most of the time, just a few minutes of my time. Blogging, on the other hand, can take a few hours just to put one post together, depending on my mood, energy level, the state of my illnesses and whether or not Bailey the 4 Year Old is wound up like a cheap clock or taking a nap. Such is the life as the Head Honcho of the Next Big Blogging Empire.

I'd like to think that, as a blogger, I have grown in my writing and ability to make you a part of the experience I write about. I'll give myself an A- on that, as there is always room for improvement. The template of the blog has changed very little with the exception of the sidebar which gets a makeover every once in a while with new gadgets I find on the internet, but it's pretty much the same as it was on Day One. I am halfway in the mood to redesign the entire page, but that will take more effort that I am willing to put forth at this time...in the near future perhaps, but not now.

On May 24, 2010 all the stats for the blog read "zero". Let's take a look where they stand as of this writing:

• Page views - 24, 075 Total; 462.9 per week; 2006.25 per month; 65.9 per day
• Countries - We are now read in 98 countries around the with the USA, of course, leading the way with 5434 Unique Visitors followed by Canada, 325 and the UK, 192. Our newest country on the list is El Salvador. All told, we have accumulated 6712 Unique Visitors over the last twelve months. 
• States - Three States Plus One is read in all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C. Texas easily leads the way in total number of uniques with 1529, followed by Maine, 738 and California, 565.
• Number of Posts - 551

I don't want to bore you with a lot of numbers (and believe me, I could!), I just wanted you to get an idea of how far this blog has come. Despite the brilliant writing, biting humor and scathing satire, it's not my award-worthy writing that makes this thing click, it's you, the reader who are the bread and water, the sustenance if you will of Three States Plus One. I never in my wildest dreams thought that we'd reach such heights in such a short period of time.

I want to humbly thank you for sticking with me for the last year and I hope you'll hang in there with me for Year 2. Your support and acceptance of Three States Plus One has been nothing short of astonishing. I hope in some small way I have taught you something, provoked you to think or made you giggle out loud (or cursed like a sailor) during the past 12 months. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. God bless you and may God continue to bless America.

Adios,
Toby, Benevolent Blog Emporor, TexNetMaine Blogging Empire
threestatesplusone AT gmail DOT com

A Post Rapture Look Back in Time

Big Bend Sunset

Since we made it through The Rapture, I guess I am obligated to post something today. :) You know, a Rapture just ain't what it used it be. Back when I was a kid, we'd have a Rapture in the morning, then I'd walk five miles uphill to school in the morning, five miles uphill back home after school, then we'd have another Rapture to top off the day. It was brutal, I tell you. We must be importing our Raptures from China these days. Oh, well.....

• The Blizzard of 2010 - The day after Christmas was the beginning of what felt like The Rapture here in Maine. We got hammered with several feet of snow in a weather event that lasted for what seemed like forever. Look back with me at this amazing couple of days and marvel at the power of Mother Nature.
• Lens Master - Bob Zeller is to a camera like a duck is to water -  a Natural.. Check out this post and be shocked and awed. It's beautiful stuff. I promise.
• A Spitfire of a Colorado Woman - Four words: The. Unsinkable. Molly. Brown. Enough said.

A Blogging Note: I am loaded down with Doctor's appointments tomorrow, so I'll be back with new and exciting material for you on Tuesday, which will mark the First Anniversary of my first post on Three States Plus One. That will be a fun day, as we look back at my initial year in blogging and see what has changed about the blog and what has happened in over the past 365 days. There's a lot to talk about, so it'll be a few days celebration with some wonderful recollections and updates. Until then, adios, y'all!