Today is a momentous occasion. I’m stunned and amazed that there’s no mention of it on the BBC, CBC or CNN. Maybe they’re going to run a special feature on tonight’s news instead.<\/p>\n
Yup, today marks one year since my first post<\/a>.<\/p>\n I started this blog while away on a conference. It’s an open secret that I wasn’t happy in my job at the time, since all the meaty writing assignments I’d been promised were few and far between and I was spending most of my time editing product inserts. Hardly the experience I was looking for in my long term goal of making a living by writing about science. Bored and frustrated, I started reading and commenting on various blogs – Pharyngula<\/a>, This Week in Evolution<\/a>, Genomicron<\/a>, ERV<\/a>; namely the ones with a fairly hard core scientific content. I loved those online conversations and realised I hadn’t lost my love of science.<\/p>\n So, on a flight down to LA, I had an epiphany. Why not start my own blog? I started scribbling in my notebook, and by the time we landed I had a rough draft of my first post. It’s perhaps not surprising that I chose to write about a purely academic pleasure – seeing my own papers cited in new publications.<\/p>\n There was lots of down time at the conference, and I set up my Blogger account and uploaded my first post from my hotel room. No response, as predicted. I made my way over to Pharyngula, left an on-topic comment, entered my shiny new URL into the relevant box, and some kind souls were nice enough to click through and leave me a comment.<\/p>\n I was hooked.<\/p>\n Without the comments, I don’t know how long I’d have kept writing. I see some blogs where the host never replies to the feedback their readers give, and I think, what’s the point? This is supposed to be a conversation, right? That’s why I do my best to reply to every comment. It sounds corny (not to mention pathetic and tragic), but the first thing I do when I switch on my computer every morning is to check my inbox for comments.<\/p>\n By the time I got back to Vancouver, I’d written several more posts, including my first “journal club” (which earned me my first link<\/a> – from Makita at Everything and More!). Within a month or two I was brave enough to give my URL to a couple of friends, and got some lovely supportive feedback. It sounds really bizarre, but I felt my brain kick up into a higher gear. I’d been idling for a while, so the feeling was very welcome. I actually felt smarter.<\/p>\n I can’t know for sure, but I think this blog helped me to get my current job<\/a>. I was torn about applying, mostly because it was advertised so close to my upcoming wedding and four week honeymoon, and if my brain had still been in neutral I might not have taken the excellent advice I got from my postdoctoral adviser (basically, you’re an idiot if you don’t apply, but in a nicer way). I even included the blog in my CV, under “science communication experience”, and at least one of the several people who interviewed me had a look.<\/p>\n Of course the irony is that once I started the new job, my itch to write about science in my spare time subsided, and it is no longer suitable for inclusion on a job application! Especially since I got noticed by someone at Nature<\/a> (and for those who’ve asked, no, they don’t give me any money!) and transferred all my scientific content over there<\/a>. Luckily, you all seem to enjoy the silliness.<\/p>\n So, happy blog day to me! Thank you so much for reading, for commenting, for linking, for writing your own blogs, for being part of a conversation. I really appreciate your input and I truly feel like part of a community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today is a momentous occasion. I’m stunned and amazed that there’s no mention of it on the BBC, CBC or CNN. Maybe they’re going to run a special feature on tonight’s news instead. Yup, today marks one year since my … Continue reading