Two Years Down The Road

So yours truly completes two years of blogging today. However, I feel like it's been much longer. Perhaps because it's become such a big part of my life, that it's something I enjoy very much. However, this time around I'm not going to write the usual "oh it's been two years, I never thought I'd come this far, you readers rock, thank you everyone" post. Instead, here are some of my favorite memories involving blogging.

• Discovering that I could actually write decently. I always was, and still am an avid reader, but writing was new to me. It feels good to know that you're at least fairly good at it.

• Discovering Kottu. It opened up a whole new world to me, and I got to know this interesting community that is the Sri Lankan Blogsphere. Unfortunately I can't read Tamil, but been reading both English and Sinhala blogs ever since. Interesting people, interesting ideas. Long live Kottu.

• The first comment I got. It was an Anonymous comment, probably a friend who felt obliged to write something just out of decency. Still it felt good. Actually, I remember the early days when I'd put up a post and waiting impatiently for the comments to appear. Was even looking at hits counter very frequently. Funny.

• The first big hit post. A personal experience prompted me to write it, and it got a lot of attention as well. Remember the little top post thingy that used to be on Kottu. This was also my first post that appeared there.

• Gradually getting to know a lot of bloggers through Kottu and making friends with some of them. To-date I haven't had the good fortune of meeting any of the bloggers, but have been in contact with some of them. It's kind of amazing how you know so much about these fellow bloggers, the peeks you get into their lives, despite not having met ever.

• Finding out that there are a lot of very good writers in Sri Lanka. Some of these guys (and girls) write way better than some of our published writers.

• Having some of my posts published in Sunday Leader Kottu Mag. It was awesome to see your first ever article int print, and a few others.

• The post that gets me the most hits to-date. Let me tell you, there is a bucket-load of people out there who want to know how to put a Facebook status message. And they all end up here.

• Finding out that the Blogger spell checker thinks that "bloggers" is an incorrect word while "blogger" is not.

• Knowing that there is a bunch of people, some of whom are great friends, some I know nothing of at all, who do read and enjoy what I write.

• Colors of Life which is my photoblog.

• Discovering that I could also write some fiction. They are disguised as incidents happened to me, but there are a few almost entirely fiction posts here. Go figure.

• Writing to a little different, if not international, audience in Island Cricket. Particularly this post got me a lot of responses most of which were along the lines of "you're a fool", "you idiot", "retard" and such. Some of our fans don't really know how to handle criticism. It's fun to piss off these guys though.

So, along with those memories and these posts which are some of my personal favorites, I leave you, my dear reader. Enjoy!

Stories about me and my slippers, and also about my favorite teacher reminds me the good old days back in Paradise which makes you feel nostalgic, but none more so than this. This also is about a friend from the good old past, a friend whom I have no idea when I'll see again, if ever. Then this and this are some funny stories from this Land of the Rising Sun, though at the time didn't all all looked that funny. Finally, I assume most of you guys know that I am a big cricket fan, so it won't fit if I didn't have a couple of posts about cricket to mention here. Fear not, I have them. This is how I did a translating job on behalf of Mahela, and this piece is about a very famous schoolmate of mine. But, out of them all, this piece about how we should uphold the spirit of cricket is my favorite, and perhaps the best as well.