Monday, September 15, 2008

Happy Birthday, To My Blog... 1 Year, Over 29,000 readers from 106 countries!!!

Sept 15, 2008

It was a year ago today that I welcomed you all to this blog adventure.

And what a year it's been...


Over 29,000 different readers have stopped by to check out all the cool things going on here!

The Books! (213 books so far, to which your reviews are added daily...)

The Great bits of hidden GLBTQ history and fabulous quotes and poems (52 entries under "Bitchin' Queer Quotes and Poems")

My quirky thoughts on culture and GLBTQ teens, from American Idol to the Bejing Olympic Closet (41 of them, under "Lee's Musings")

There have been surveys you've answered ("What Do You Think"),

dilemmas you helped me resolve (my anguish over the middle-school library GLBTQ book donation),

and celebrations we've thrown together on love and poetry.


Most of all, we've been growing - all of us - into a global community.



And when I say "global" - I mean it!

You, my wonderful readers, my fellow community members, came from all over - from all the locals marked in red on this map!



"I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?"
has been visited by people in 106 countries!



(How cool is that map? This blog is way better traveled than I am!)


While big numbers are fun, and lots of countries are cool, maybe best of all is that I've gotten some great comments from my visitors:

that knowing these books are out there, and learning about all this cool queer history, and reading my musings, and doing the surveys... that having "I'm Here. I'm Queer. What the Hell do I Read?" as a presence in the world is having an impact, and making a difference, an important difference, in the life of one person.


Things like:



It's terrific. I can't even imagine how my life would be different if there had been resources like that available to me in high school, and your book list is fabulous.


I've been reading your blog for a while now and really hate the effect it's had on my wallet (no, really, I find more new titles here than just about anywhere else).


I just wanted to say thank you for making this site available to teens. I am straight, but I have friends who are gay. I think anyone can relate to stories about people of a different sexual preference because we all deal with things that we want to hide. I have recommended this site to many friends and I will continue to do so.


I love your blog

And one person at a time is how we'll change the world for the better!


Thank you to each one of you - knowing this is important to you as well makes me feel awesome.


So, to celebrate my blog turning 1, I've a week of gifts for you.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride of year #2. 'Cause


I'm Here.

I'm Queer.

And there's a Hell of a lot of great things in store for us all...


Namaste,

Lee


ps- Click here to go to this awesome site and create your own visited map of The World

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats and happy blogoversary, Lee! Here's hoping for many more informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking years ahead...

Charlotte said...

Happy Birthday! And congratulations on a job well done and worth doing!

Becky said...

Happy blogiversary!

Anonymous said...

Congrats! Woooooooooohooooooo!

Saints and Spinners said...

Happy Blogoversary, Lee! Congratulations on your wide readership.

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday! Thank you for showing great resources for teachers who also think you can change the world one child (or one book) at a time(althoug not all the books are available in my country)...

Good job!

Ane

Cheryl said...

Happy blogoversary, Lee. You put good things out there.

Rita said...

Splendid, splendid!!!!!! I feel what your commenters are saying. I feel like I've gone on this journey with you, not just b/c I know you and have been reading your blog, but because I've read so many more cool books thanks to you. This blog has contributed to the fiber of my being.