One year down, an eternity to go

Can you believe it’s been a year?

Today is the one-year anniversary of Black Marks on Wood Pulp’s first post – though, to be exact, the site wasn’t called BMOWP yet. At that time, it was still known as “CDub @ driscocity.com” – a title that was simple, at best.

In honor of the one-year anniversary, BMOWP will be reverting back to the original design for the rest of the week. Revel in the retro-ness of it all. This is BMOWP before the books. Before the red background. Before the fancy gizmos and the myriad of links in the right column.

This is even a few months before I discovered the Ursula K LeGuin quote that I would borrow for a site name:

“The unread story is not a story; it is little black marks on wood pulp. The reader, reading it, makes it live: a live thing, a story.”

This is the quote that I thought best represented what I was trying to do – I can write all I want, but unless I make it public no one will know about it. It will continue to be just random words in a notebook until someone reads it.

In my total domination of the phrase, I’ve pushed the actual LeGuin quote down to #8 on the Google search of “Black Marks on Wood Pulp.” In fact, it only makes up two of the top 10 results, while BMOWP results and accompanying satellite results crowd everything else out.

My first post, of course, was titled The First Post. I managed to swear once and make reference to famed faux-messiah Bob Dobbs while succeeding at saying absolutely nothing at all:

Let the shitstorm begin.

Yes, I’m Corey. Why a blog? Because I get bored. Because I love bandwagons. Because, at heart, I’m a self-centered ego-driven monster, who loves to see his name in public, and, additionally, loves to have people comment on said name.

Seriously, though, I just like writing to myself.

You can learn about me more in the future, but for now, I’m simply “Corey” to you. And, since I’m at work, you can also consider me full of “slack.” Bob Dobbs taught me well.

Word.

And that’s how this damned site started.

Since then, I’ve been spouting off pretty consistently. Many of you have been reading since the beginning, or at least, since I pushed myself into the spotlight a few months later. You’ve witnessed one-sided mini-feuds with Radio Shack, my postal carrier, and Ron Artest. You’ve seen my top 100 CDs of all time (plus a few more as time dragged on) and a list of 100 things about me. You’ve heard numerous mentions of Reggie Miller, the Pacers, the Dolphins, and other random sports related tripe.

You’ve been next to me as I succeeded (the “What I’ve Been Reading” column, the Pocket Penguins 70th Anniversary Box Set), stumbled (writing for the Argus Leader) and dreamed (my own bookstore, the Encyclopædia Britannica). You’ve yawned as I’ve pointlessly blathered on about my own writing, and you’ve cursed me as I expressed my distaste for the Winter Olympics.

You’ve read word for word everything that happened to me mentally and emotionally during my grandfather’s sickness and death. You’ve been there to visualize my agonizing fight to come to terms with his passing away, and ultimately, my realization of what he meant to me, what I meant to him, and how we both have fit into each others lives over my short life.

So for this, the 268th post, I want to thank all of you. Without getting stupid and long winded and cheesy, I’d like to thank everyone who has become a regular reader. Truly, if I didn’t get the comments I do, I’d assume no one is listening to me and I’d have quit a long time ago.

Thanks to Todd Epp at South Dakota Watch for spreading the word about me every once in a while. Thanks to South Dakota Blog Watch Man (ex-blogger) for giving me my first blogosphere exposure at his old site. Thanks to PP at Dakota War College for including me on his aggregator and sending me lots of traffic over the past few months.

Thanks to Chris, my site host, for putting up with my constant questions and frequent changes – all work he didn’t need to do, and work for which he’s only been repaid with one spindle of blank DVDs. Thanks to Eric, Wick, and Roberta for being my most loyal commenters, but thanks to all who comment on a daily basis. Too bad you’re all wrong, unless of course you’re agreeing with me.

Thanks most of all to my wife, Kerrie, who has been a great support and a wonderful censor. I don’t know what’s good for me sometimes, and I’ll admit some of the more personal stuff I’ve attempted to put on the site could have gotten me in trouble. Kerrie righted my ship. She’s also hot, and you’re all jealous that she’s my wife.

With that, enjoy the retro-BMOWP for a few days.

And here’s to another year!