HOUSE ON FIRE: ONE YEAR OLD TODAY!

It was pure coincidence that I launched "House On Fire" on St. Patrick's Day last year, but maybe the luck of the Irish is with this budding blog.

Why? Well, several reasons. I had no experience at all with blogs but I was tired of shaking my head and shouting at the walls of my apartment about the state of things. I wanted to have a voice and say what I really believe. Even a tiny voice. Fire it out into cyberspace like Timothy Leary's ashes being shot toward the heavens. And if anyone noted what I was saying, great!

As my first blog post on March 17, 2010, noted, I was finally compelled to start writing because my employer at the time, Harrah's Entertainment (now Caesars Entertainment, hmm), treated its employees with greater disdain and disregard than I've ever seen an employer do so in my four-decades as a working person. So I fired my little pea-shooter across their bow and gave them a minor pain in the butt. But it was the start of something.

Now, exactly one year later, "House On Fire" has over 80 followers who've signed on (a gradual process) and just three days ago topped 20,000 pageviews. Which makes me feel very lucky . A few months back, 20K was my target but it became increasingly unlikely. Things were sluggish around 17K. But then I found time to blog again and then vroooom... traffic shot up again.

There are so many things that come into play with Web traffic. In the case of this blog, it has a lot with what I decide to write about, what's going on in the news, and how hard I promote a piece by link dropping etc. But I am proud to note that the first 10,000 pageviews came in the first 8 months. It took only half that time to get the next 10,000. Who knows, maybe I'm on to something here.

But I'm not so concerned with the numbers as a "badge" as I am with what they represent, in terms of what I'm trying to do with this blog.

What I hope I'm onto is a decent Internet megaphone to get basic and important truths out to as many people as I can. Everyday things and big-picture things. Micro and Macro. Personal and societal. But all pertinent things that funnel down to the same primary goal: to lend a little more weight and force to fight for fundamental institutional change, and to thereby make the world a better place for all people.

So I want to thank every person who has looked at "House on Fire." Everyone who has read any of it; thought about any of it; commented. And above all, I want to sincerely thank those who have then taken action after reading something here -- talked to a friend, signed an online petition, called a politician's office, joined an activist group.

This is still a rather humble little blog, I know. Nevertheless, it's a blog that really wants to be for everyone. FOR everyone. You have helped grease the wheels for that long journey. You are the engine. YOU are the blog.

Thank you so very much. For caring. (And a special thanks to my fiancee Shelley, who was my first "follower" and has been my staunchest supporter.)

Never give up! And Happy St. Patrick's Day,
Adrian
IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG POST INTERESTING, you might like to take a look at IT ALL STARTED WITH A SPARK.