Happy Birthday To Me

Yesterday marked Damnit! Earth's second birthday. Why am I posting today about yesterday's historic event? Cause I forgot. Sue me.

It was two years ago yesterday that I became so extremely bored at work that I decided to write a blog. It wasn't a conscience effort, I stumbled across blogger as I was "working" and said to myself "I should write a blog, it would definitely cut a good hour out of my boring workday each day". And so Damnit! Earth was born. I try to post daily, I miss days here and there, but have mostly been able to keep up with that schedule. I enjoy writing Damnit! Earth. The blog gets a good amount of hits each day, even though most people don't comment. That's alright with me. If you're only stopping by to grab a quick laugh I'm happy with that.

I've watched the traffic of my blog steadily increase over the past two years. I average in the thousands of hits a day, mostly returning viewers which means that most of you out there enjoy the blog on a daily or weekly basis. Traffic usually triples when CNN or another "real news" source links my blog. That's usually when I get the occasional nasty comment which is always fun to debate. I get hits from all around the world, from the US to the UK, southeast Asia to Russia and back around to Canada and Mexico. I've been viewed in Israel and Iran, China and Taiwan, Malaysia and Denmark. I even get a steady viewership from Germany which is surprising to me because I was under the impression that German sense of humor died way before WWI. I thank each and every one of you for stopping by, whether you comment or just smile and move on. I hope we've shared a laugh or two.

I've learned many things while doing this blog. First off, I noticed that whenever you are un-PC, people find it discomforting. I'm not claiming to be the only blog out there that is politically incorrect and I surely don't experience the same type of "hate" a lot of those blogs experience which I chalk up to the comical view I take on certain things. Comedy is universally accepted. Some times.
I've also been fortunate enough to experience some personal views on some of the stories I've done. On a few occasions I've had people comment on stories that have hit close to home for them. I did two stories this year, one about a woman in a car accident who suffered an internal decapitation and another about a news helicopter crash while filming a live high-speed police chase, in which people who have close ties to the people involved have stopped by to comment on the story. I always appreciate this even though most times their view is negative on my commentary.

I've also learned that reading the news on a daily basis in order to write Damnit! Earth is fucking depressing. There have been more than a few moments in which I've felt a sense of hopelessness while writing the blog. It's hard to find comedy in the horrible things that happen on our planet everyday. The way we treat each other is appalling. When you really think about things, the human species still hasn't learned much from our past and we still have a long way to go. But I have faith. Very little, but faith nonetheless.

The Sunday Sign of Hope is the hardest thing I do on Damnit! Earth. Finding fucked up stories about the state of our planet and it's inhabitants is easy. It's even easier to make fun of these occurrences because how ridiculous they are in the first place. Most of these jokes write themselves. But finding one news article a week that could be considered a sign of hope for the future of our species is more difficult than anything else I've undertaken. It's not that I think good things don't happen, it's just that I don't think happiness sells. That's a sad statement for the future in itself when the happiness and hope of others isn't considered a valuable market.

I also want to take a moment and thank FBITC at Ramblings of an Unstable Mind and Kari over at I Struggle and Emerge (formerly My Piece of the Net) for being two of the first regulars here at Damnit! Earth. I always enjoy a comment from both of you. Thanks for your continued support. I also want to thank the anonymous visitors from Texas, Egypt, Italy, Colorado, and Boston that have stopped by almost every day for over a year. Hat tip to the people over at Jawa Report, Drudge, Rantburg and whoever keeps linking my blog on CNN. And thanks to you, all the readers who stop by now and then, for reading Damnit! Earth. I hope the blog makes you smile, think, or just forget for a moment all the bad shit that's going on right now out there.

The future of Damnit! Earth looks promising. I've toyed with the idea of creating a public e-mail account for those of you who may like to contact me personally without commenting on the blog. I've also thought about doing a sister blog more about my feelings on the ways of the world without the news articles so look for that somewhere down the line. I'd love for you to check that out if it interests you. I also plan on continuing Damnit! Earth and have no plans on stopping anytime soon so rest assured that if you enjoy what I post, I'll be here for some time more. Thanks again all.

Be good to one another.

Mad Man