Four Years of Fun, Frolic and Occasional Fury

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.)

Comments

[narayan]

How I Met Ruchira
(narayanacharya)

see comments

Congratulations, Ruchira and Y'all

[Sukrita]

Hi Accidental Bloggers! Congratulations on completing 4 years. Here's wishing you many happy returns of the day...I have chipped in occasionally, if only to escape the temptation of engaging with the rather infectious enthusiasm and seriousness of the discussions... Wish I had more time!

[Usha]

Happy birthday Accidental Blogger! Four years is quite a blogging run. Four years of your energy, wit, and wisdom. Here's wishing you more years ahead. Keep fighting the good fight!

[kochuthresiamma p j]

I wanted to be the first to congratulate you. Looks like others have beaten me to it.
AB is a blog i visit regularly, though comment only occsionally.
I find it one of the most informative and classy blogs.
CONGRATULATIONS! keep it up.

[manoj]

Happy birthday ! Andrew is right, the tone of the blog is quite "reader friendly" and does not have needless pretension. Yet the stuff is by no means low- brow.

[The Truant Anna]

It's a hackneyed sentiment, but too true to avoid: there are too few fora in which to engage in reflective and measured debate with people from different walks of life. Accidental Blogger remains, after four years, my go-to (idealized) Greek forum or Viennese cafe, and I am profoundly grateful to the consistency and energy of co-bloggers and readers, who are no doubt at least as busy as I, for making that possible. Cheers all!

[Joe]

I like how I'm calling Dean an unrelenting curmudgeon in the same post in which he makes quasi-touchy-feely remarks about our virtual community.

[Ruchira]

Joe:

Dean will return tomorrow and I expect he will respond to your ironic observation.

But is Dean the only curmudgeon here? I thought you aspire to that sobriquet yourself. And let's not forget Narayan, our guest author.

[Namit]

Congratulations, accidental bloggers! You have built a great virtual community here. All the best for your next four year term!

[Aditya]

hey ma, happy 4th birthday to ab.

[narayan]

Curmudgeon is one of those words that is invariably misused (as forte is invariably mispronounced). I seldom use the word any more. If there is even one among the authors of this blog then Ruchira is setting the bar too low - unless I am being reprimanded for being a surl (that ought to be a word, no?).

Curmudgeon :
(Oxford American) - a bad-tempered or surly person
(Webster) - a surly, ill-mannered, bad-tempered person; cantankerous fellow

Cantankerous :
(Webster) - quarrelsome

[Dean C. Rowan]

Now fifty, my goal of being a curmudgeonly, cantankerous old fuddy-duddy, pardon the ageism, is in sight. As for the irony of an online crank emoting like a little schoolgirl, pardon the sexism, let's just say I have a soft shell, beneath which resides a crab. I go best with Prosecco or a hearty IPA.

Andrew: tomorrow night, the new Freight & Salvage, Han Bennink, Michael Moore, and Will Holshouser. I'll be there. This ought to be the next best thing to hearing the Clusone Trio.

[Abbas Raza]

Ruchira,

I tried to write a poem for the occasion (as I have for you once before!), but must perform domestic duties immediately for the sake of maintaining reasonable conjugal relations. So this Eminemish rap (I love the relentless, (heart)beat of Eminem's trimeter) will have to do (to be sung to the tune of his "The Way I Am"): (if you haven't heard the song, give it a try by clicking the link before this sentence!)

I can c
that u're 4
n I wish
u were more
cuz I like
what u do
it's like going
to the zoo
when u're young,
what I mean
is that you
are so keen
and I like
reading u
and the ones
on ur blog,
and I wish
u the best
of the west
and the east
for the feast
u provide
for the mind
and the heart,
u won't find
better stuff
anywhere,
if u do,
do write me
u know where
I am there,
yes, I'm here,
Italy
and sometimes
I am at
3QD.

But more seriously, AB is a great source of unusual ideas and unconventional takes on things, and I am a great fan of all of you, but especially of the lovely Ruchira. Congratulations, and all best wishes.

Abbas

[Ruchira]

This is most awesome - I hear from all co-bloggers, fellow bloggers whom I have met in the course of four years, my BIL, my SIL, my son and the bloggers' poet laureate, Abbas.

As for curmudgeon, Narayan, neither you nor Dean or Joe qualify to meet the dictionary standard of the word. But going by light hearted, every day exaggeration, we would like to crown one or all three of you our own resident-curmudgeon! I guess a better word would be a)passionate b)contrarian c) crusty - take your pick. And yes, funny. Otherwise, why would you all be Accidental Bloggers?

(Actually, being a woman I don't probably qualify strictly as a curmudgeon. But if anybody bothered to go back into the archives to dig out some of my early anti-Bush-Cheney-rightwing-nuts rants, I think I belong right up there with some of the angriest voices in the blogosphere!)

[Andrew]

Hey Dean -- that is an awesome show! I will see you there!

[Louise Gordon]

Happy birthday, accidental bloggers!