Today is my sixth blogiversary. What have six years of blogging brought me?

• Friends from all over the country and the world
• Words of encouragement
• A million and one jokes
• Veterinary advice
• Post and podcast ideas
• Job possibilities
• Actual jobs

On April 22nd, 2001, I became a blogger with no real idea of what I was doing, or how long I’d be doing it or, in fact, why I was doing it. It just felt right for the time.

Six years ago, I had no idea that I’d have readers from all over the world. Six years ago, I had no idea that I’d come to know so much about Israel and the world Jewish population. Six years ago, I had no idea I’d be voting for George W. Bush in 2004. Six years ago, I had no idea how big a part of my life this blog would become, or the influence it would have on my own life.

I have friends all over the world who I’ve only met via our blogs. I have friends who have come to visit me from all over the world, and who I know I can visit if I’m ever in their part of the world. I have a hunch that I could travel to every state in the nation and not need to spend a dime in hotel fees. Bloggers and blog readers are an extremely generous group of people.

When things are going badly in my life, my readers help me through the tough times. I get words of encouragement from people I’ve never met, but whom I’ve come to know and like. I have a friend I met via my blog who gives me everything from tax advice to proofreading to free legal advice. (And she’s a damned good friend, too.) Blogging got me a free consult with a small animal specialist when my regular vet was screwing up my cat’s diagnosis. My readers gave me and advice and comfort from cat lovers all over the world (thanks to Lair Simon for alerting the world of catbloggers, whose number are legion), not to mention hits on the tipjar (thanks, Hugh, for your steadfast presence there every single month).

Need posting ideas? Just wait for them to flood in. Need help on a podcast? Put up a post asking for song clips and within minutes, you’ve got ‘em. Need help answering a question on almost any topic? Ditto. Need a coblogger or three? Advertise. I haven’t met half of my cobloggers yet. I hope to someday have me them all.

When I moved to Richmond from New Jersey, I knew a total of one person: a friend that I met pre-blogging days. But even before I came to Richmond, Larry G., a regular reader, had emailed me and told me to get in touch with him when I came south. He and his wife are now among my closest friends, and his children call me Aunt Meryl. Oh. And now Sarah has a blog, too.

I am currently working a contracting job in northern Virginia that I got through Janet and Chris, two friends I met through my blog. We’d exchanged emails for a long time and finally met about two years ago (and Oh. My. God. do they have the coolest collection of ST memorabilia I have ever seen in my life). They helped me find kosher stores in the northern VA area to supplement the lame choices in the Richmond area. But even better, Janet had me come to their workplace for a meet-and-greet with their boss. That turned into a job a few weeks later that shows every sign of becoming permanent. So yes, blogging got me a job.

One of the best things that happened during my recent job search was finding that my blog doesn’t seem to make a difference to my prospective employers (the ones that actually Google my name and find it, that is—I was shocked at how few really do). I was never forced to make a choice between my blog and my job. I suppose I could give blogging up if I really had to, but it would leave a great, gaping hole in my life for a long time.

I ran a BBS for seven years before it petered out (due to the ascension of UseNet, CompuServe, AOL, GEnie, and the other precursors of blogging). I’m not seeing signs of tiring of this blog yet. I am feeling liike it’s time to make some kind of change again, but hey—go reread my first post. Life is change.

Here’s to six more, and then six more, and then six more….

The previous blogiversary posts:
First anniversary post
Second anniversary post
Third anniversary post
Fourth anniversary post
Fifth anniversary post

First, I find this headline in the JPost:

Pope revises Vatican stance on ‘limbo’

And of course, it’s not about the Jamaican dance with the pole, which I’m sure you were all wondering. (If that were the case, the headline would be something like: “Pope says limbo is fun, not sin”.

Anyway, the limbo story is about how babies may not actually have to burn in eternal hellfire if they die before being baptized. (Once again, Me=Glad, Jewish.)

Pope Benedict XVI has reversed centuries of traditional Roman Catholic teaching on so-called limbo, approving a Vatican report released Friday that says there were “serious” grounds to hope that children who die without being baptized can go to heaven.

So phew, big sigh of relief for the babies, and then, I’m checking out the ABC newswire, and what do I find?

‘Antichrist’ Cancels Visit to Guatemala

Holy cow! Eternal damnation and the antichrist, all in one day!

An American religious leader who calls himself the “Antichrist” canceled a visit to Guatemala after the Central American country barred him as a security risk, saying he provokes conflict with Roman Catholics and evangelicals.

Puerto-Rican born Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda wears the number 666 tattooed on his arm and claims a following of 2 million people, most in Miami, where he lives, and Colombia. His Growing in Grace church holds a congress every year in different locations in the Americas.

Huh. And we all thought the antichrist was supposed to be Jewish. Guess not, huh? But this guy is one lame antichrist.

He had vowed to defy the ban but canceled Saturday and will instead address the gathering in a video teleconference, said the sect’s head pastor in Guatemala, Jorge Batres.

“We’re a church respectful of the law and we will have to wait until the judge gives us an injunction,” Batres said.

Respectful of the law? Did this guy not see “The Omen”? Did he never see “The Exorcist”? Man, does he not know his devil lore or what? Geez. (Sorry.) What kind of lame-o antichrist is he?

You don’t suppose—could he be—a phony?

De Jesus Miranda preaches that sin and the devil do not exist. In January, he declared that he and his followers were antichrists because their beliefs supersede those of Jesus Christ. The Bible describes the Antichrist as someone who will fill the world with wickedness but be conquered by a second coming of Christ.

Oooooooh. My bad.

Just a few weeks ago the media (and we too) has reported on a new remedy for poor service - the suicide bomber belt.

It seems that the lesson was learned fairly quickly in some consumer circles. And here we have a customer who has decided that police, being funded by taxpayer’s money, should be also included into the scope of the drive for better service. From Haaretz ticker tape:

16:09 Man wearing bomb demands return of confiscated car at Ramallah police station (AP)

Bravo!

Cross-posted on SimplyJews.