One year ago to this day I published my first article for Unapologetic Nerd. This blog was a test. A test to see if I could publish an article every week for one year. So many blogs on the internet become inactive after only a few months of use. I resolved not to let that happen. And I’m happy to say that, beside a few minor exceptions, I was able to keep that promise! Today marks the 70th article of my year long blog.
The best part is how much this blog has grown since I first began. From April 7th to the 30th, 2014, I had less than a hundred views total. However, just last week on the 1st, I well exceeded that mark. I sympathize with a lot of bloggers out there who may get discouraged easily. Blogging is no easy task. Don’t expect instant and huge feedback. Even now, I’m still on the low end compared to a whole bunch of other blogs.
But I like to think it’s not about view count. I like to think that this blog has been an accumulation of me as a person, who I am and what I love and what I like to think about. I may write about what’s popular every now and then but I also like to write about obscure things that I’m a nerd about such as Columbo, Chrononauts, and Harry Turtledove even if they are my lowest viewed articles.
Honestly, the biggest reason why I started blogging was so I could become an intern at the national parks. The applications for them always have a section for electronic media experience, something that I’m woefully unacquainted with. But this past year, I became familiar with both blogging and podcasting. The results? It was a success! This blog, the podcast, my teaching, and much more have helped me become an intern at Fossil Butte National Monument this summer! Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it.
Now, will I continue writing? I like to think so. This website has slowly become less of a chore and more of who I am and what I do. I might take a break now and then to recharge or to make higher quality articles but I still have ideas and articles that I can still write. Even now, I have been forcing myself to write more thoughtful and thesis-like articles and less on reviews for video games or board games (even though they’re still fun to write).
However, my current thesis work has been challenging and time engaging and has forced me to move away from my blog. Again, I’m glad this anniversary has come up as I’m worried the quality of my articles has been lacking as of late. I want to make sure my thesis is of high quality even if it’s at the cost of my blog. Regardless, I will continue writing on here cause I love doing it and I love seeing other people read it even if I still get less than a hundred views a day, haha.
Without further ado, I want to list my favorite articles from the past year. These are articles that I think were written well, or a lot of people seemed to like or comment on, or even ones that seem to garner consistent readers. I aspire to continue to make quality articles like these and maybe even surpass them one day. Link’s in the description!
Digimon Our War Game: Dub vs. Sub and Summer Wars and Digimon: Our War Game are Both Great Films: Both of these articles were popular on the digimon subreddit and even one of my favorite podcasts ever, Podigious, commented how they liked my Sub vs. Dub article! That was definitely a highlight for my blog. They rank high on the viewership, got some great replies, and I honestly feel like I have given both articles some fair and comparative analysis. These articles are probably my favorite on my blog. Plus, it didn’t hurt that the source material these articles came from was great quality!
The Cartoon Network Renaissance: This is my highest viewed article without any subreddit influence. I really appreciate the layout of this article as it doesn’t start off with some exposition. That’s one problem I’ve been facing while writing articles, a boring introduction caked with exposition. But the exposition that is in there is well placed and continues smoothly. And I just like this article in general.
My Feelings on Over the Garden Wall (Spoilers): Another good article that has a great opening. I really poured my heart into this one. Also, a lot of my articles, admittedly, were written the night before and it certainly shows. Even though this article was also written the night before, it’s still pretty good! I like this one.
Nostalgia Filter Test: Jackie Chan Adventures: My first Nostalgia Filter Test article. It was fun rewatching Jackie Chan Adventures (except season 5…) and the show held up better than I expected it to. I also just like talking about Jackie Chan Adventures so any excuse to do so is a good excuse. I need to do another NFT in the future…I got one in mind but I’ll cross that bridge when I have the time to do so.
Why Turtle Science is Good Science: I mentioned before how science articles take a long time to write so I haven’t written that many of them unfortunately. They can also be convoluted or heavy if not written well. This one though, my first science article, is really slick and I got a lot of nice feedback on it. It’s really a great article I think.
He Died as He Lived: Karl Patterson Schmidt: The turtle article may be my favorite science article but this one still ranks up there. This article especially needed to be handled carefully since it does involve a death after all. I like to think I handled the circumstances surrounding Dr. Schmidt’s death well while still pointing out the irony of the situation. I also like how short and to the point it is. I also like how its featured on the first page of Google which is a nice bonus. I have another HDaHL article in mind but I won’t publish it until I know it’s ready.
Ancient Animals and their Fakemon: Stegosaurus: And finally, save one of the best for last. There have only been three AAatF on this blog. I wish there were more but these articles definitely take the longest to make. Mary has to draw the fakemon while I have to write an accurate, up-to-date article about the animal at hand. We’ve been kicking around with a few fakemon but they haven’t gotten off the ground yet.
Stegosaurus (and Steghost) is the best among the three as it’s nicely polished, well fleshed out, and the fakemon was nicely crafted. Everything about Stegosaurus I talked about affected Steghost in one form or another. I like how Mary interpreted Steghost and gave it a nice spooky vibe. Thagomize also remains one of my favorite fake-attacks ever, it’s so awesome and I wish it actually existed. Hell, Steghost is just so cool that I would train the hell out of it, haha. This article is definitely one of my favorites and I always like it when an article comes out so perfect (and if there’s an ancient animal you would like us to do then give a shout!).
Well, that’s it for my list. As for the future, well that’s still up in the air. I know I’ll be writing for a long time as I still have article ideas but when the internship happens, I might place the blog on hold or I might not. Really, I’m playing it by ear at this point. But for you, dear reader, I thank you for reading this and I hope you have a wonderful day!
The Unapologetic Nerd 