Today Accidental Blogger enters its fifth year. For the past four years my co-bloggers and I have shared our thoughts with each other and our readers, doing our bit to add to the cacophony of the blogosphere, whether or not anyone was listening. On the past three anniversaries, I reported on the health of the blog and some of the more interesting moments that we encountered on our way. This year I will let my co-bloggers weigh in on what they think of being Accidental Bloggers. Also, instead of posting one of my own paintings, I am attaching a festive image associated with the Indian festival of Diwali which was celebrated last Saturday. It is interesting and heartening to note that despite the multiple voices that have been added since its inception, the character of this blog remains true to what I had envisioned when I first launched it as a solo effort in October, 2005. Thanks to my co-bloggers and our readers for staying with A.B. over the years.
The authors' comments appear in the order that they were sent to me.
Joe:
It's hard to believe that A.B. has been around for four years. In that time, lots of things have changed: I went from being an aspiring law student to a lawyer. Anna and Andrew got married. Barack Obama replaced George W. Bush. And yet, how does the saying go? The more things change, the more they stay the same? So it will no doubt be comforting to my co-bloggers and our readers that, for example, Dean remains, self-describedly, an unrelenting curmudgeon. Or, take the recent balloon-boy incident. Among other things, I have been complaining about the media and their news creation/reporting since I started blogging. As Ezra nicely sums it up: "it certainly served as a perfect metaphor for cable news: America spent hours riveted by a powerful and gripping story that turned out to be totally meaningless, and will have no significant impact on anybody's lives going forward."
Sujatha:
We all love to tell our stories and anecdotes, wax profoundly and eloquently, or indulge in occasional silliness. We are thoughtful, mordant, indignant, pedantic, satirical, political, conspiratorial, as the mood takes us. We are the bloggers at Accidental Blogger, and are having a blast blogging and discussing here. Happy Blogversary!
Dean:
A lot of discussion concerning A.B. over the years has taken place "under the radar," via email between the authors, usually with Ruchira at the hub of the network. We get caught up in a topic, have at it among ourselves, and then–oops, sorta accidentally–we end up publishing the proceedings as a post and comments. I seem to remember that this is how I met Ruchira, by introducing myself individually via email, but in fact it could have been the reverse. I might have posted a comment or two in response to one of her posts, and then heard from her later via email. This situation continues. I'll often vent to her directly, and then she'll remind me to "Comment, please." Of course, I've never actually met her, nor any of the other authors, except Anna and Andrew, who coincidentally moved to the area not two years ago. I never thought much of Howard Rheingold's touchy-feely notion of a virtual community, but there is something both comforting and perplexing about the familiarity that grows among remotely dispersed people who talk to each other occasionally using digital telecommunications. It goes without saying that A.B., the blog, couldn't exist without all the wires, silicon chips, tubes (pneumatic and vacuum), and protocols that are the 'net. Friendships or acquaintances with Ruchira, Sujatha, Joe, somebody who goes by D, another who goes by M, Narayan, or the folks who regularly comment could have arisen without any of that, but likely would not have done so.
D:
Hullo all, and it's lovely to be accidentally blogging, interacting with such excellent co-bloggers and commenters. A big huzzah then for our gracious host. And it's a privilege to have an audience for my rants, of which I promise more in the future.
Andrew:
I really value A.B. as a place where people from around the country can gather to talk about current events without the excessive snark or knowingness of a lot of the political blogs. And as a jazzhead, I appreciate its free-form nature, i.e., the opportunity to bounce ideas about musicians off of the various co-authors. Lastly, I first fell in love with Ruchira's writing from her eviscerations of Thomas Friedman — though she generally keeps her tone level, it's still a pleasure to see her let it rip every once in a while.
( Editor's note: "D" is our newest author who came on board in the past year . So far five authors have sent me their thoughts. If and when I hear from Anna and Narayan, I will publish their comments as updates. Or perhaps we will hear from them in the comments section.)
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