Seven Years Writing: Isak's Birthday

 

 

A rainy summer day at the office

One of the very first freelance article assignments I got was to write a short piece about literary blogs for Poets & Writers magazine. This was in the winter of 2004, and I'd only just discovered lit blogs: those smart and incisive spaces that brought forth a passionate new way of engaging with books. I read them while drinking tea, and with that curling kind of excitement in my belly. Pitching the article was an excuse to dig deeper. The editor gave me a yes, on spec. As I was a newbie journalist and did not know that "on spec" meant "write it, and we'll see if we like it," I happily reached out to my favorite book bloggers to ask about their work. As I scribbled down the words of Jessa Crispin at Bookslut, Ron Hogan at Beatrice, and a host of others, I knew that I wasn't simply writing an article: I was investigating how I might fit into this world.

I submitted the article and never heard from Poets & Writers again. I learned a couple things from this experience: first, don't write on spec. Second: I was bound for this world of online literary writing. In April 2006, in a workshop at the Women, Action & the Media conference in Boston, I made Isak.

Seven years later, I can scarcely articulate how revolutionary Isak has been in my life. It is an act of love: both what is given and what is received. This is my practice, the way yoga and meditation are practices -- at once verbs and nouns. This public space for reflection has propelled me to be a better writer and a more honest person. It has made my life happier, in a deep and textured way. I feel like I'm able to make meaningful contributions to the language of literary criticism. And, more and more, this has been a space where I've let myself move into the unsteady ground of vulnerability, experimenting with the literature of emotions, translating what is felt into what is written. Taking up this space with my personal life does, I think, cohere with the original mission of Isak -- to "celebrate tales and truth." And not just when it is easy.

You, gentle reader, are a huge part of my life. Thank you for being with me on this journey, for sharing with me your own stories. I love being in an act of co-creation with you.

 

The Story: What Happened On Isak This Year 

1. I wrote less. And you've noticed! I've gotten poked by some of you looking for a more consistent stream in this space. But while there has been some long pauses here, what I have written has been more substantive. (My list of favorite posts, below, grew this year.) I've come to trust the natural silences that texture this space, as opposed to the staccato nature of the super-short posts that punctuated Isak in its very early days. (For example.) I do want to be more attentive to bringing you more consistency, but I am not sorry for leaving behind the weird aggregating impulse that inflated the early days. Now, I'm more intent on saying something worthwhile.
   
   
2. Salon. More-than-usual reverb came to Isak, with Salon picking up some of my stories on, for example, Georgia O'Keeffe and The Caine Prize for African Writing.
   
   
3. Live Action Isak. Literary Detroit was created this winter, and while clearly that is separate from Isak, it comes from a common well. There is a reciprocity between these two projects that I'm excited to explore.
   
   
4. My e-newsletter celebrated its second year and, really, it's been a joy to have this way of connecting with you. I send about one newsletter every 6-8 weeks, highlighting writing I've done for Isak and magazines, as well as original content: an opening letter to you and a "source of joy." There has been a steady rise in subscribers: I get an average of eight new subscribers per month, and, in the entire life of the newsletter, only two have opted out. You can sign up for the newsletter here.
   
   
5. "Choose Books: A Gift Guide for People Who Care About Stories" emerged in its fourth edition: expanded, updated, revised, and available for free download. It bulked up to 82 pages, thirteen more than the previous edition, and it features many hundreds of thoughtful and eclectic book recommendations. It's broken down so that you can browse for books tailored for history buffs, activists, people going through hard times, mystery-lovers, politicos, children, wannabe cooks, and the like. Book profiles have a new "of an ilk" feature, in case what you see is close, but not quite, to what you're looking for. I also updated the top magazine gift subscriptions, and added a new feature on the best places to subscribe to books -- yes, book subscriptions! There is also a much-expanded feature on the best books to pair with the appropriate film adaptations, and a spotlight on great places for your literary donations. (To which I'd now add, ahem, Literary Detroit.) As always, I presented Choose Books to you freely, as my gift to you.
   
   
6. I offered a book giveaway to respondents of my annual reader survey. The winners are, in order, Jim Leckband, Irene Svete, and Peter Jameson. I'll be in touch with you three about getting your books to you. Also, a high-five to whoever it was (I have my suspicions) that entered using the very embarrassing address that served as my very first AOL account. The moniker was inspired by David Bowie. Seriously, you made me laugh out loud.
   
   
7. Wonderful partners and friends have continued to support Isak, especially Amy H., who saves me from my most egregious copyediting errors, and Chris M., who supplies so many tips on things strange and surprising in the book world. I am buoyed most of all by the connection with readers, some of whom I had the opportunity to meet in person this year, and many of you who send me comments, stories, rebuttals, and other fascinating things.
   
   You honor me, each one of you.
   
   
   
   

Sitting at the millstone at the home of this site's namesake

And now for my annual data geek-out. All this information pertains to the period between April 11, 2012 and April 10, 2013. Most percentages are rounded.

Content:

Total unique posts, including this one: 3540
Number of unique posts in the past year: 179 (compared to 333 in 2011-2012 and 432 in 2010-2011) 
Yearly average of unique posts: 506
Daily average of unique posts: 1.4
Average time viewing a page: 2.5 minutes
Total number of videos: 30
Number of new videos in the last year: 3
Most common post categories: Book Reviews, Culture, Detroit Stories, Literary Life, Media, Poetry, Politics
More occasional post categories: Africa, Creative Nonviolence, Ecological, Health, Interviews, Isak, Poverty & Economic Justice, Prisons & People, Science, Spirituality. No new categories were added in the last year.

 

Visitors:

Origin of visitors: 182 nations and territories (seven more than in 2011-2012).
Nation of origin of visitors: The top six positions are identical to what they were in the previous year. Then things get riotous...

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. India
5. Australia
6. Japan
7. France (up six slots this year)
8. The Philippines (up three slots this year)
9. Germany (up a lot; did not make the Top 20 last year)
10. Brazil (up four slots)
11. Turkey (up seven slots)
12. Italy (up a lot; did not make Top 22 last year)
13. The Netherlands (up two slots)
14. Mexico (up eight slots)
15. Pakistan (up a lot; returning to Top 20 after it did not make the Top 20 last year)
16. Spain (up three slots)
17. South Africa (down one slot this year)
18. Sweden (up three slots, returning to Top 20 after falling out of the Top 22 last year)
19. New Zealand (down two slots)
20. Ireland (returning to Top 20)
21. Indonesia (did not make the Top 22 last year)
22. Poland (did not make the Top 22 last year)
23. Russia (down three slots)
24. South Korea
25. China (down eighteen slots)

I'm interested in the rise of France, Germany, Turkey, Italy, and Pakistan this year, as well as the plummeting of China. Kenya dropped out of the listing -- it came in at #27 -- which is understandable because the Kenya-related content has diminished here. But I'm not sure how to account for the other changes.

Nations that had exactly one resident visit Isak in the past year: Bermuda, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Cuba, French Guiana, Laos, Marshall Islands, Burma/Myanmar, New Caledonia, Somalia, Tajikistan, St. Vincent and the Grenadines

City of origin of visitors: The top three have been amazingly consistent.

1. New York City
2. Detroit
3. Chicago
4. Los Angeles (up one slot from last year)
5. Washington, D.C. (down one slot)
6. London
7. Ann Arbor
8. Bethesda, Maryland (did not crack Top 22 last year)
9. Houston (up nine slots from last year)
10. San Francisco (down three slots)
11. Seattle (up three slots)
12. Philadelphia (up nine slots)
13. Naha
14. Sydney (up two slots)
15. Boston (up seven slots)
16. Toronto (down four slots)
17. Wayne (area outside Detroit) (up two slots)
18. Minneapolis (returning to Top 20; did not crack Top 22 last year)
19. Portland, Oregon (up one from last year)
20. Melbourne (did not crack Top 22 last year)
21. Dallas (did not crack Top 22 last year)
22. Atlanta (returning to Top 20; did not crack Top 22 last year)
23. Austin (down eight slots)
24. San Diego
25. Denver

 In total, Isak visitors came from 7,037 cities in the last year, 393 fewer than the year before. Nairobi dropped out of the top twenty, as did Putian (China), Bethlehem, and Austin. While I'm casting a bigger net here by listing the top twenty-five cities, I'm intrigued to see the sharp rise of Bethesda, Houston, Dallas, Melbourne, and Philadelphia. I also noticed that the penetration of Detroit has gone much deeper, while Chicago readers have lessened their hold. Of the twenty-five cities with Isak readers, five are international and twenty are American.

Cities with exactly one Isak visitor (selected): Wabash, Cave City, Hazard, Opelousas, East Longmeadow, Cabin Johns, Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Halethorpe, Sabattus, Nashik, Ciudad Guzman, Kaohsiun City

 Languages: Isak was read in 124 different languages over the last year, one more than in 2011-2012. The top three were national variations on English, followed by, in descending order, French, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Turkish, and Russian. The high number of people who read this site in Chinese in the previous year don't visit the site so much anymore. Either that, or they learned Russian.

 

Traffic:

Links: 175 sites link to Isak (19 fewer than in 2011-2012) 
Average pages viewed per visit: 1.23 (slightly higher than last year)
Most common traffic sources: Search traffic (64%, up about 11% compared to last year); referring sites (22%, down about 8%), direct traffic (15%, down about 3%), and campaigns (.15%, a new source of visitors this year)
Specifically, the most common traffic sources are: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Bing, Typepad, The Huffington Post, Salon, Ask.com, my e-newsletter
 
Top queries used in search browsers that find Isak: It appears that I am quite popular with those who have English papers to write, especially when the subject is William Styron's first book. I noticed the radical spike on the Styron post earlier in the year, when it was announced that it will be adapted into a film.

1. lie down in darkness
2. lie down in darkness summary
3. "lucille clifton"
4. the color purple book review
5. isak
6. hurricane katrina
7. let the great world spin review
8. rodney king today
9. on the subway poem
10. let the great world spin characters
11. isak blog anna clark
12. jean michel basquiet
13. lie down in darkness book
14. lie down in darkness synopsis
15. lie down in darkness william styron
16. frida kahlo paintings
17. modigliani
18. no country for old men book review
19. poems on trees
20. basquiet
21. william styron lie down in darkness
22. apartheid
23. lie down in darkness styron
24. lie down in darkness plot
25. isak blog book

Most popular posts: Setting aside the homepage, here are the most popular posts for Isak readers:

1. Book Review: William Styron's Lie Down in Darkness (This is not a surprise, given the search queries. However, this post did rank #4 last year.)
2. Review: The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
3. Frida Kahlo, Resting in Peace
4. So You Want to Apply for a Fulbright
5. Review: All God's Children by Fox Butterfield
6. Book Review: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
7. Only Four Years Ago?
8. Book Review: No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy
9. Poem: "On the Subway"
10. Jean-Michel Basquiat: Catharsis (1983)

Seven readers: In the spirit of Isak's 7th birthday, here are a few posts that received exactly seven visitors in 2011-2012:

•   My 2006 review of Janna Levin's A Madmen Dreams of Turing Machines
•  "James Baldwin Reports From Occupied Territory"
•  A poem by Maurice Manning called "Blasphemy."
• A 2011 post called "Taking Space: A Risk."
• A bouquet of brief book reviews.
• Jane Kenyon's poem, "Not Writing." 
  
  

Most popular day to visit Isak in the last year: Thursday, August 2, 2012
What did I post that day?: Actually, nothing. But I did publish a nice long "literary and media indulgences" the day before, which people seemed to like, and the site was riding the wave of traffic that came from my Grantland article, timed to the Olympics, on the startling story of the global sports boycott of South Africa.
The least popular day to visit Isak in 2010-2011: Saturday, December 23, 2012. Guess you all had stuff to do that day, or something.

 

Selected Feedback from This Year's Reader Survey:  

How long have we been blog friends? Most of you (42%) have read Isak for 1-3 years. Newcomers come in second place (27%) and long-timers (4-6 years) in third (24%). A handful of you -- 6% -- have been with me since the beginning.

More than half of you first found your way here through a link in a blog or news source, but a healthy 27% were referred by a friend, and about 11% connected through social media. I met 8% of you through a live event, like a workshop. One of you found me through the bio of my old job. Among the other referrals you cited:

• I know you. 
• This one Anna Clark broad
• Laura Thomas-- Tutorial professor at U of M RC
• Review on Goodreads
• Coworker sent me the Ty Cobb article in Grantland
  
  

What are your reading habits? Among the other sites you read regularly are...

• Other blogs linked to at A Commonplace Blog
• EmilyBooks, NYT, Washington Post, New Yorker, bookslut, pigtailsflying
• FiveBooks, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Rod Dreher (The American Conservative),Noahpinion, The Shin Guardian, Dirty Tackle, The Browser, The Urbanophile, Marginal Revolution, The Billfold, Lexington's Notebook (The Economist), Asymmetrical Information (Megan McArdle), Front Porch Republic
• Arts&Letters; The Millions; Page-Turner
• Salon, NYT, LAT, Guardian, LA Review of Books, Arts & Letters Daily, local news outlets
• I read a variety of sites: Longreads, as well as several children's lit and illustration blogs.
• Feministing, MotherJones, Slate, Colorlines, NPR, NYTimes, Bitch, The Nation
• Deadspin, The Big Lead, McCovey Chronicles, Biblioklept
• Rebels at Work
• Almost exclusively vegan food blogs
• a shameful number of food blogs, the gawker conglomerate, and anything with pretty pictures or good feminist content.
• The Dish, Ta Nehisi Coates, Sweet Juniper, other Detroit blogs
• too many
• none really

Top reasons you visit Isak: (respondents could choose multiple reasons)

• I discover interesting things -- a magazine, website, or writer I didn't know about before (76%, compared to 52.8% last year)
• I like reading about books and literary culture (73%, compared to 72.2% last year)
• I like the "voice" or point-of-view (58%, compared to 50% last year)
• I'm just curious what Anna is up to (42%, compared to 63.9% last year)
• I like the eclectic mix of news and original analysis (43%, compared to 47.4% last year)
• I'm interested in Detroit and Detroiters (43.%, compared to being one of the least common reasons to visit last year)

Least common reasons to visit Isak: "I like the bent towards translated literature" and "I like reading about journalism and media."

Among other reasons for visiting Isak:

• "I'm glad you use the word 'eclectic' because that's why I like Isak the most."
• "It's the most consistently intelligent, entertaining blog I follow. I stumbled on it in a serendipitous moment."
• "I like the format! It is both digestible and pithy"
• "I like to see what a freelance writer/journalist can accomplish."

Feedback on Isak's book reviews: (respondents could choose multiple reasons)

• Because of the reviews, I've picked up books I wouldn't have read otherwise. (46%, compared to 55.3% last year)
• I like getting a distinct and interesting perspective on the review books (43%, compared to 47.4% last year)
• I don't read many of the reviews. (27%, compared to 7.9% last year) 
• I read the reviews regularly (21%)
• The review are fine, but there should be more of them (12%)
• I only read the reviews if it's about a book I've read myself (9%)
• I wish the reviews covered more classic and older books (9%)

        Other opinions about Isak's book reviews:

• "Anna—I live vicariously through you because I'm aging rapidly and not up to date on ANYTHING literary and interesting these days. So I like all the book reviews because, through them, I can recall my younger self and remember how great it felt reading and loving to read new stuff. {Now back to work at my crummy 9-5 job}"

Posts you like best: (respondents could choose multiple options)

• The more personal essays (73%, compared to 66.7% last year)
• Literary & Media Indulgences, the round-up of links (73%, compared to 52.8% last year)
• Book Reviews (52%)
• Short posts that highlight interesting articles from around the web (46%)
• Speaking, featuring a quote or excerpt from a writer (40%)

Other opinions on your favorite Isak content:

• "Detroit-related posts Sports-related posts"
• "You have an AWESOME taste in poetry. I always love the poems you choose. So in that way I would add "Spiritual Posts"...?"
• "I truly love Literary & Media Indulgences"
• "I first saw Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's TED talk, "The Danger of Having a Single Story" on ISAK. I showed it to my English Lit class to address stereotypes. Terrific response!"
• "Detroit-related"
• "I gotta say: I love the poetry entries the best, but I also LOVE the eclectic mix of things. And that's the only reason I read Isak. It's unpredictable...it's curious...and it takes chances, hoping the reader follows. And I follow with glee and joy."

What you think about "Choose Books": Most of you said you "loved it" and that you really valued that it is available for free. (Notably, far more of you value it being free than said that you "loved it" -- which I find very funny.) The downloadable PDF seems to work for most of you. 17% of you said that you used "Choose Books" to pick out a book for someone else, or for yourself. So: I guess this is going all right, though it leads me to think about how, as I work on the fifth edition later this year, I may hit the point of diminishing returns. There may be more to do with "Choose Books" than simply expand and update it. I'll incubate some ideas.

What else you had to say about "Choose Books":

•  "I marked a number of books for my own reading later."
• "I saw it but didn't get around to using it."
• "It might be more accessible to people when they're actually in a store choosing a gift if they could access it on a smartphone, so having it link to a page on your site might be helpful."
• "I only saw the third edition. Did not peruse the fourth."

 What needs to change on Isak:

• "More frequent posts!"
• "More baseball"
• "You are doing a great job. Keep it up."
• "More poetry! More resources for English/History teachers! Perhaps some guest posts?"
• "I'd like to see more reviews and not just on contemporary fiction but reviews on old classics. And more link roundups please."
• "Do you have a list somewhere of independent book stores? I would love to find one in the Washington DC area but never know where to start!"
• "More coverage of social (in)justice in Detroit. And more coverage of the general modern literary scene. Perhaps some interviews with up-and-coming authors (if possible!) or Detroit authors."
• "ISAK is so good I cannot think of anything I would change."
• "Is there a way to subscribe to certain segments? If so, I'd do that."
• "The site itself can be a bit hard to navigate and there are times I want to go back and read something again but it is difficult to find."
• "Design"
• "by the way, the mailto html function on your blog is garbage ... I had to view the source code just to get your email. because my browser doesnt have a default email client (because nobody's does, because its not 1995). I bet you don't get many emails that way do you? I mean business looks like its good for you these days so no worries. But If you used php or even just listed your email behind a captcha to catch non-humans, you might drum up some more contacts. ... if you have a lot of old friends who don't have facebook or twitter but might want to get in touch with you it might be a lot more convenient for you. or them... I like to look out for those people. Nobody else does."
• "Wish the website design was more dynamic, more Detroit-centric, perhaps. Christ, you live in the New Center area. Take some pics in that area and use it as your wallpaper. Right now, the site's design looks like someone's old apartment, and I'm sitting on the sofa, drinking my Diet Coke, wishing she would change the wallpaper." (Editor's note: the last part of this comment made me laugh and laugh ... love it!)

 

Additional Selected Narrative Feedback: 

• "hello. i love your site. it's intelligent and often touching. thank you."
• "(Wave hello) Also, I'm feeling good about the Tigers this year"
• "I'm surprise to not found more comments on your posts. Why?"
• ":) I forward your blog to a lot of my friends who are "social media" people. They really appreciate how well written it is."
• "Wishing you a joyous spring!"
• "Reading this site makes me miss Detroit even more. All of your stuff is interesting, but the sports writing (Ty Cobb, Brandon Inge) is really excellent. A friend and I took a pilgrimage to Ty Cobb's house when I was in town last summer, had a little chat with Willie Horton's friend, then had dinner at Woodbridge Pub before the Tigers game."
• "I am a senior creative writing student in the RC and U of M. ... I have really enjoyed reading your blog, anonymously, for the past few months. I hope to have the sustained dedication and curiosity to keep up such a blog after entering the post-grad world as a writer! All best, and keep blogging!!
• "I love your work!"
• "Keep rolling."
• "I love you!"
• "Hello and thank you for sharing your love of books and writing as well as your insightful observations. I appreciate the work you put into Isak."
• "If my answer to #8 seemed harsh, I hope you don't get the wrong idea. I love your website. It's my only honest connection to the literary world these days...of which you are a bright voice inside."
• "(Hi, Anna!) Isak is a great stopping point for me. That is, I tend to save up posts until I have some time to sit with them and not rush through - a testament to your thoughtfulness and to a mind I enjoy keeping company with."
• "I really appreciated the thank you note for my contribution. I am keeping it; it's that special."
  
  

Personal favorite posts of the last year:

"You Are a Home to Me" (4.7.13)
"A Boston Story" (3.5.13)
"It's Hard To Be A Writer If You Love The World" (2.27.13)
"Public Libraries and the Conscience of Community Living" (2.19.13)
"The Only Powerhouse Football Program That Quit it All" (1.17.12)

"What It Takes to Mentor Rainer Maria Rilke" (1.7.13)
"'Indeterminable'" (12.15.12)
"Book Review: A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge" (11.23.12)
"This Just Seen: 'Searching for Sugar Man" (11.11.12)
"Voting Day, 2012" (11.6.12)

"'like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes'" (10.30.12)
Virginia Woolf's Rules for Biography (10.27.12)
Ralph Waldo Emerson on John Brown's Holy War to End Slavery (9.16.12)
Vermeer and Balance (9.2.12)
Beginning Again: James Baldwin in Istanbul (8.27.12)

Why Writers Are Not Philosophers (8.23.12)
Nazik al-Malaika Writes Freely (8.23.12)
"Let my heart's clear-struck keys sing": The Elegy of Rainer Maria Rilke (8.12.12)
Isak Interview #16: Nora Mandray (7.23.12)
The Urban Paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe (7.20.12)

Taking Student Journalism Seriously: Univ. of Michigan Newspaper Sued for Defamation (7.11.12)
The Scottish Language Controversy (7.2.12)
A Strange Thing in a Sealed Envelope (7.1.12)
Practicing My Byline (6.29.12)
Untranslatable Words (6.28.12)

Book Review: Finder: Voice by Carla Speed McNeil (6.26.12)
Poem for Maria Rose (6.20.12)
Alice Walker Refuses Hebrew Translation of The Color Purple (6.19.12)
On UVA and the Risk of Humanities at Public Universities (6.19.12)
Rodney King, Rodney King, Rodney King (6.17.12)

A Reading List for When Summer Breaks Open (6.16.12)
"Seated Figure, 13th Century" (6.9.12)
And Then There Was This One Kid... (5.24.12)
Book Review: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. (4.23.11)
How Not To Write a Column on Environmentalism. (4.14.12)

 

 My Ask:

I love making Isak. I believe in it. I believe in creating space for "tales and truth." There is purpose in tangling with stories with ferocity and humor and constancy -- and without larding ideas with irony and snark. While giving the site a great deal of time and my own money, I've kept my commitment to keep Isak ad-free.

If you find Isak at all worthwhile, please consider donating to support it. Even a small amount goes a long way, believe me. And to earn your trust and support heartens me beyond words.

 

 

My Other Ask:

 

join the mailing list

* indicates required

Email Address *

First Name

Last Name

  

What's Next:

• Design. I get it: the design on this site is in desperate need of an overhaul. The last time I did anything to it was back in 2009, and the base functionality leaves lots of things to be desired. You, and I, can look forward to a transformation later this year that will, besides pretty-ing things up, will also improve the navigability and flow of the site.
• Collected. I want to cull from Isak writing that can be collected into ebook. I'm still simmering with this about what direction feels right -- should it be thematic, based on, say, my commentary on translation? a collection of book reviews? -- but one way or another, this is going to happen. It will keep alive the writing here that still resonates, and vivify it with a new context and thoughtful juxtapositions. It will also give me a new way of preserving the writing I do on Isak; a fear of mine is that something will happen beyond my control, and the past seven years will vanish with a click.
• Writing. Even though I am joyfully giving more attention to other creative projects, and I'm not particularly bothered by the flow of writing on Isak mirroring my own instincts to be articulate and to be silent, I do want to make a commitment to amp up the content here. Expect more consistent posting: not daily, necessarily, but regularly -- for example, a weekly rhythm to the "literary & media indulgences."

Related:

• Now We Are Six: Happy Birthday, Isak!
• Five Years Fierce: Happy Birthday, Isak!
• World, Anew: Happy Fourth Birthday, Isak!
• A Weekend in Boston; or, Happy Third Birthday, Isak!
• Back to Boston
• Debut

Comments

[Nina Misuraca Ignaczak]

So glad I found you found through the bio of your old job :)

LOVE the idea of distilling into a book. DO IT.

You are an inspiration!

[Jim Johnson]

Anna, We've not met. But I drop by periodically and admire your undertaking here immensely. I also admire your loyalty to Detroit. I teach at UM summers and like the city a lot - in many ways I grieve for the city but your periodic celebrations always change my view. In any case, this is a great blog. I've been keeping one myself for just a bit longer (since 9/05) and it has kept me going in many ways. In any case, congratulations of the anniversary. Yours is one of my favorite blogs - smart, insightful, and often very funny. Keep at it.