1000!

This is my 1000th blog post! Cue the music! Drop the confetti! Is this where someone hands me a big check?

No? Ok. It just felt like after writing 999 blog posts, I should observe this milestone.

Let's take a look back.

Very First Blog Post

Here is my very first blog post. I kept it simple. I tell new genealogy bloggers to do the same. There's no need to write a complex essay as your introduction into blogging. Just say hi.

Posts With Most Views

Jump Start Your Genealogy Blog: 52 Ideas, 52 Weeks. I'm not surprised by this. The post is optimized nicely in search engines and it's consistently a top traffic-getter week to week. Hopefully it helps people get started on their blogs, too.

Rejected Genealogy Conference Proposals. Based on the emails and phone calls I got (including one Very Important Genealogist who swore me to secrecy), many of you feel this satire isn't too far from the truth. Two Very Important Genealogists urged me to submit this as an actual conference session, but I don't know if it would play as well in front of a live audience.

If Genealogists Ran Hollywood. Sometimes I like to imagine what life would be like if genealogy was more mainstream.

Posts With Most Comments

A Comment on Comments. Turns out a lot of you have comments about blog comments.

If Genealogists Ran Hollywood. Lots of laughs...or you guys are just really polite.

Genealogy Videos: Family History in 3 Minutes. Fun to make videos, even more rewarding to help others learn to do the same.

Author Favorites

Looking for Sgt. Jones Part 1 and Part 2. Once you read these posts, you'll understand why they are memorable to me.

Call Me Ahab. A post about the thrill of the genealogical hunt and victory when you finally capture your white whale.

Edna Ferber, White Hats and My Family Tree. An example of a possible brush with literary fame.

Oklahoma Road Trip (parts 1-8). A chronicle of a memorable road trip in search of my roots.

Holiday of Horrors! Proof I'm not playing with a full deck. And judging by the comments, many of you aren't either.

1000 Thank Yous

I started writing this blog for myself, but along the way people started reading it. Some of those people commented. Many of those commenters became real-life friends I've met at conferences and out in the real world. To those pals I say "thank you for being a friend." Also, I'm sorry I put that Golden Girls song in your head.

To this day, I'm still surprised people read my blog. Thank you to each and every one of you: the regular readers, RSS subscribers, email receivers, and even the ones that visit once and never come back. I appreciate each and every comment. I also need to thank those that visit every single day and never leave a comment. Didn't think I'd notice, did ya? You're special, too. Drop me a line and introduce yourself. We're all genealogy friends here.

State of the Blog

So what's the plan for the next 1000 posts? The second verse is the same as the first: a little bit of everything. This is my genealogy coffee table. Now pull up a chair and let's chat some more about family trees...