Happy Birthday to Us!

--My Blog and me, that is. My __th birthday is today and Fuzzilicious Thinking's 2nd is either the 25th or the 28th (first post the 25th, official opening the 28th).


At first I didn't want to point out the Blogiversary because I felt like I'd had a rather bad year both personally and as a blogger. But when I went back and looked, I realized that despite the thread of un/under-employment that runs through this year, I'd forgotten some pretty good stuff. And maybe some of my newer readers will find this interesting.

So, here's a round-up of my second year as a blogger:

The year began with reports from the USO, which were a constant for the next six months---the Navy Chief, the "fat" Marine, the old general, stupid civilian tricks, a Marine in the making, the forgotten firearm, Christmas at the USO, and more. I miss the USO.

Soldier Ride made a big impression; it was amazing to finally be among the kinds of people I'd been working so hard to help without ever having met. I got a gift from a star, too.

August included a troll infestation, a visit to a VIP (always an adventure for Fuzzybear), and some writing I wasn't ashamed to claim. We also had some spirited discussions about men and women.

In September I had the honor of reviewing both The Blog of War (packed with writings from friends), and a book with special connections to Valour-IT: Blood Brothers by Michael Weisskopf. We said a sad goodbye to a very young Marine--a Valour-IT recipient we'd been following since July--and we remembered that awful day in 2001.

In October I discovered my inner sharpshooter, and we prepared for the 2nd Valour-IT fundraising competition.

November was consumed by the Valour-IT competition (an astonishing success, which increased the project's visibility), and the blog hit 50,000 visitors.

December marked Valour-IT's best media profile yet, and I had the tremendous opportunity to participate in a Combat Casualty Care summit that thrilled me with the possibilities. And two names from the past resurfaced.

In January we discovered macho men, and thus politics and media idiocy became a major topic here, including a certain jerk at the WaPo (who once again--this time tangentially--raised my profile).

In February the raised profile and media/political idiocy continued, resulting in two sets of bigwig links in two weeks. And while I blegged it on a lark, my readers apparently took the Milbloggie nomination much more seriously.

March marked a return to purer milblogging with a lot of not-too-shabby posts, and I made my first extended radio appearance.

In April we lost another Valour-IT recipient. Other than that, I didn't write much worth noting.

The MilBlog Conference and the Millbloggie were the highlight of May, of course. It also was the highpoint of the clash between online and offline life, marked by SpouseBUZZ in particular, and that contributed to my escapade of gate crashing. There was a lot of waiting, too.

June: did I mention waiting and collisions between on and off-line lives?

In July the waiting ended. Other than catching the AP at it again, most posts were just links (excellent links though they are).

Well, that's a year in Fuzzilicious Thinking. Kinda uneven from a blogging point, and rather sucky from a personal perspective. Hope you enjoyed what was good, and I'll try to do better next year.