One Down! – A birthday on doomsday

Moon Under Water is one year old! And on the same day that the world is due to end! Great!

Twelve months ago to this day the blog started with no real direction. It began as a series of meandering posts on various topics, with each post designed to respond to the last in some way. It has been a busy year, both in blog-world and real-world, and I just wanted to set aside a post to say thank you to all readers both regular and irregular (or “odd”).

To any who aren’t already aware, all past posts can be found in the archive things in the menu bar at the top of the page, and all new posts are released through Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and e-mail (if you follow the blog). I’d just like to round everything up with a quick top-three blog moments of 2012.

1. Getting Freshly Pressed

Incredibly, WordPress saw something worth shouting about in one of the most recent posts on the blog. Once Upon A Click was Freshly Pressed by the international blog-hosting site, meaning it was recommended as one of the top posts in the world for a day. It’s more or less the highest accolade that WordPress offered, and came completely out of the blue. The post also received a wonderfully complimentary article from Mike Achim of WordPress, which was heartwarming to say the least.

Once Upon A Click was an interesting post to write – in September my life spun into a new direction when I took on a Masters course in Interactive Digital Media in Dublin. This meant moving house, leaving work and taking on a whole new mass of information about things I really knew little about prior to this. As I was writing that post (and as I write this one) I was also hammering through numerous assignments and projects. This is also why posts have been so irregular lately – with overdue apologies to regular readers.

To receive the unexpected and intense attention that was lavished on the blog following being Freshly Pressed was an absolute thrill. To the seventy-or-so commenters and the 140-or-so people who took the time to read and “like” the post, I promise I will eventually get back to you all / have a look at all your blogs – it’s just a slow process.

2. Finalist at Blog Awards Ireland 2012

Little did I know that Moon Under Water would be nominated for an award at the Blog Awards Ireland 2012. In truth I could have nominated the blog myself, but also in truth I completely forgot to, so luckily for me someone else took the time to, and I am eternally grateful!

After making it onto the long-list of 103 blogs in the category of Best Arts/Culture blog (well done, by the way, to whoever managed to pick a category for this jumbled mess of consciousness that I call a blog) I more or less gave up on the awards, delighted that anyone had even taken the time to put in the nomination. Once the short-list was announced and MUW was still in the running, I was chuffed. I then proceeded to forget all about the awards, presuming that this was a high enough accolade and that I would get no further.

Weeks later I received an e-mail from a friend, notifying me that the blog had made the final six. I was (ahem!) over the moon! I received an invite to attend the awards ceremony (the first I was ever at) and had a fantastic night of meeting other lonely souls who type their lives away online. It was a treat. All the other finalists were excellent, and the magnificent Built Dublin, that made away with the prize, was a thoroughly deserved winner. That MUW had even made it into a final with such a high standard, after only seven months in existence, was a bizarre and wonderful gift.

3. Published

OK, so this one stretches outside of the realm of the blog, but 2012 also became the first year that I had an article published in one of those real-world printed paper things. You know the sort they used to have before blogging…Visual Artists Ireland, the go-to-guys for everything that matters about art in Ireland, commissioned me to do an article in their May/June newspaper. Since then I have had another commission offer, a requested article, and I am waiting on word about the publication of a rejigging of a past Moon Under Water post.

Besides all that, 2012 also featured my first visit to the States (for an art residency (and a sideline to New York)), a trip to Edinburgh, several trips round Ireland, a first climb of a couple of mountains, a first Arts Council of Ireland award, a week in a lighthouse, a tonne of exhibitions and gigs, and Sligo Rovers won the Irish Premier Division (WOOHOO!). If the Mayan robots from outer space don’t really come down and eat all our crops and steal all our babies today, then next year will have a lot to do to top this year.

Thanks again to all readers, conversationalists, commenters, and friends who serve as inspiration for the words on this blog. It has been a fun 12 months. As you were.