I started blogging here exactly 7 years ago this week. It was a place to sharpen my writing skills and a chance to test various SEO practices and web development techniques. In the beginning, the number of daily unique visitors was often less than ten, and I knew them all in "the real world".
Seven years and 9525 entries later, I'm still writing for the fun of it. I choose topics based on what's of interest to me, as I sharpen my writing, web development and SEO skills to determine what can be applied on the commercial front. I'm still writing for my brothers, my buddies and myself. The only thing that's significantly changed is the number of visitors this blog gets.
This is a blog. This is my blog. I'm not trying to break news, I'm not trying to be CNN or TMZ or The Toronto Star, I'm just trying to write about stuff I dig, things of interest to me and things I think should be shared.
Earlier today, I wrote about a shake-up with the EZ Rock morning show. Of course I wrote about the dismissal of Rick Hodge and Kim Stockwood. You could have bet the farm on it. After all, I've always loved radio, I wrote about Rick Hodge leaving CHUM-FM, about Humble getting a new gig at EZ Rock and it's the only morning show I've sat in on. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb if I didn't address this developing story.
So I did what I've done 9524 times before. My fingers hit the keyboard and I reported what I knew to be true. Then, because it's my blog, I threw down some personal opinions about it all. And yes, that included a less than flattering story about Rick Hodge. This isn't something I do lightly, I managed to not tell the story for 18 months, but this morning I felt like sharing it. So I did.
Rather quickly, my email filled up with angry emails and comments. It was as if I had attacked the Pope. I came back from lunch, read one negative email after another, and quickly realized it simply wasn't worth it. This is my hobby, I had shared a little story about the subject of the news story I was writing about, and suddenly I was under attack. That prompted me to do something I haven't done in 9525 entries over 7 years. I deleted the story about Rick Hodge.
Rick, if you're reading this, I got your note but you didn't provide an email address for me to write you back. I'm happy to write you if you give me an email address. To everyone else, nothing I wrote this morning was based on anyone's opinion but my own. I just threw down some thoughts about a local DJ based solely on one morning I spent in the EZ Rock studio.
That's what I do here. You're welcome to read it... or not. This is a blog. This is my blog. Nothing more...
