Happy Blogday!

Hooray! You're Born And Then You Die is 1 year old today. I can't believe it's been a year since I did my very first posting. I'm also amazed that I've kept going this long. Today is posting number 145. That equates to an average of a posting every 3 days which I reckon is not bad at all.

In the last 12 months I've posted my thoughts on a huge variety of subjects including: football, trees, work, my wife, cars, poo, booze, relationships, the weather, my parents, lighthouses, being 40, Birmingham City, iPods, iMacs, flags, British barbeques, language, DIY, rozzers, the Simpsons, tennis, refrigeration, ballooning, the cat, mobile phones, shopping, Tony Blair, Greenland, fish & chips, dry cleaning, public transport, scissors, podcasting, zoos, holidays, burgers, pigeons, murder mystery, pears, Captain Pugwash, Citroen 2CV's, walking, false boobs, Hallowe'en, global warming, neck pain, Iceland, sheep, weddings, horses and carts, wee-wee, facelifts, computer games, nuclear testing, broadband, tinned fish, iTunes, Cricket, chestnuts, the ELF Cup, digital radio, car parking, being ill, food, arrogance, tiredness, plagiarism, movies Christmas and cheese.

Not bad eh? Mind you, one of the reasons I've kept YBATYD going is all the support I've had from my band of merry readers, especially those who give me feedback in emails and by posting comments. Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed. I really, really do appreciate your sterling efforts. If you haven't done so, do give the comments a read as there is some pure, golden wit to be found. Another thing you may like to try is the 'Lables' facility. Each posting is tagged with labels that connects posts with related content. I've tagged nearly every posting now so if you liked a posting on, say, gadgets or Greenland, then just click on the label under that posting and everything I've ever written on that subject will be presented to you in a flash. Go on, have a go.

Finally today, I'd like to say that YBATYD has been a real revelation to me. I never realised what a wonderful diary it would become. However, it's so much more than a diary because it contains the feedback and thoughts of people (some of whom I don't even know) who have actually read what I've written. I really like that because it's great to share your views with others and with a 'normal' diary you just don't get that outside input.

Well, as we teeter on the precipice of a new year, I hope you've all enjoyed reading YBATYD. I try to make it amusing, even funny on occasion, but tempered by realism. Heaven forefend that I should become a parody of myself. That would never do.

And so, dear readers, it's goodbye to 2006 and a Happy Birthday to YBATYD. See you next year!