Ten years go by so quickly, but believe it or not, this blog is now 10 years old! Officially, I started this blog on February 17, 2009. Now that is a big milestone to become proud of since not too many anime blogs last this long. With that, it’s time to reflect on some things and what I have in store for the future.
Believe it or not, I started this anime blog since I had a lot of free time in college, besides doing homework and going to class. While I started blogging about anime when I started a personal blog on a free web host, it eventually became a dedicated anime blog around middle of February.
Since I don’t have any way to pay for hosting, I had to resort to free hosting. This changed when I managed to get a credit card to spend the money I have saved. I used the money I have saved, some leftover money from my food allowance while in college to obtain hosting and a domain name. Throughout the years, I changed hosts a few times. Currently, I haven’t switch hosting providers for over five years.
Before I got back into anime in 2008, I focused mostly on Pokémon, especially the games and that is about it. During my freshman year in college, I discovered Suzumiya Haruka, Lucky Star, Kanon and Clannad, which rekindled my interest in anime that went dormant in the early 2000s for obvious reasons. The rest is history as I figure out what types of shows I enjoy and such. To date, I completed 151 different titles, which equates to 35 days of Anime.
While there are some ups and downs obviously with the challenges of blogging, it kept me busy through rough times. After finishing my Master’s Degree, the job search was the difficult part, especially applying for jobs in the Federal Government, which is a long process. I am unfortunately going through this process again. Hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel will come soon from the three interviews I did recently.
That said, I have learned a lot from blogging for ten years. Besides improving my writing skills, I learned how to customize my own WordPress theme with PHP and CSS along with some Linux system administration skills. Since 2012, my blog is hosted on a virtual private server after I dealt with issues with shared hosting. Since I was working on a Master’s Degree in Information Technology, I may as well get some hands-on experience.
So, what I have in store in the future? Once I have a steady income, I want to make some improvements on this blog. Most notably is the theme, which is vastly outdated and haven’t been touched since 2013. I need to remake the theme with the newest Genesis child theme.
In addition, I plan to commissioning a bunch of mascot images which will be used as header images. I wrote a biography on my side blog, but I haven’t touched it ever since I was busy. Once I have enough disposable income, I will eventually put the plan into action. Content wise, there is still a lot of stuff I want to cover. When I begin working again, I will have to adjust my posting schedule.
With that, I would like to thank my subscribers and followers who supported my blog throughout my ten-year tenure. Can I make it to twenty years? Only time can tell. ¶
10 years is amazing.
You’re absolutely right when you say that “not too many anime blogs last this long.”
Congratulations, and here’s to hoping for another 10 years!
Hopefully we can make it there, but as with life, it’s unpredictable,
Kinda late but congratulations! If you need some artists recommendations for the commissions, I’m here :p It’s not exactly easy, but commissioning is fun and I will always be willing to lend a helping hand if someone needs one for commissioning artworks.
Thanks.
I will. Still, I am quite curious how much it will cost. I am planning to save some money to do this in the future after I have some money saved up for it since I can imagine that it will be somewhat expensive.