My best friend on this planet celebrates a birthday today, and though I’ll refrain from telling you how old she is, I can’t resist the temptation to remind her once more that she is one month older than I am, and she always will be.
Much love from your favorite Austin boy, Sherry Ann.
In all the overwhelming madness of my day from hell yesterday — it sure was Monday, Mark — I completely allowed the Buzz’s second anniversary slip right past me. As I’ve recounted several times before, this blog hit cyberspace two years ago yesterday with a whimper and a writer’s promise to his patient webmaster that I would give him at least ten entries before growing tired of this endeavor and moving on. (I still love you, Mike!)
This endeavor, instead, has both comprised and documented the most fun I’ve ever had: right this second, you’re reading Brandon’s Buzz post number 385, and — if the statistics provided to me by Google are to be believed — you’re among the 12,000 absolute unique people from around the world that have visited this site at least once since it opened for business. I’m told that no fewer than six people from every state in the union (plus the District of Columbia!) have visited this site — apparently, I’m most popular in Texas, California, and New York, while the good folks of Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska have been most reticent to catch this particular wave — in addition to the residents of 116 other nations across the globe who have also spent some time here. In total, this evolving series of rambling thoughts has been accessed some 36,000 times over the past twenty-four months, and to those of you who have made this blog a daily stop on your online journey, all I can say is a very sincere thank you. I hope you’re never disappointed by anything you may find here, and I hope you will all keep comin’ on back for more Buzz.
Just caught a glimpse of a calendar and realized that today would have been my dad’s 57th birthday. Still miss you like crazy, man, every single day, but I hope that you’re well, wherever you are. And also, that the deer aren’t being too shifty.
She has been my best friend on the planet from the minute we met nearly twenty years (!) ago, and in the time I’ve known her, she has evolved from a smart, precocious teenager into a stunningly beautiful, hilarious, brilliant woman, not to mention a great mother of two terrific boys.
I love you to pieces, Sherry Ann. Happy birthday, my darling. (And don’t you ever forget: no matter how many of these we celebrate, you’ll always be older than me.)
He is the kindest, most intelligent, most thoughtful and amazing man — and, considering some of the fun that gets poked toward him on this very website, he’s one hell of a great sport — and today, exactly three decades after his arrival on this planet, we celebrate.
Happy thirtieth birthday, A. I love you.
Believe it or not, today — April 19, 2009 — marks the first full year of the Buzz’s existence.
Twelve months ago, after several years of begging and hounding, my great computer-savvy pal Mike — whose knowledge of HTML literally knows no bounds — finally talked me into taking the plunge and starting a blog. I was dubious at the beginning that I would be able to come up with enough interesting musings to last more than a couple of weeks, but Mike worked so hard setting all this greatness up that I couldn’t not give it a real shot. When the Buzz finally went live on April 19, 2008, Mike made me vow an output of no fewer than ten posts in exchange for all his toil and trouble. (I also offered to buy him dinner, which I’m embarrassed to say I have yet to make good on.)
And here we are, 365 days, 239 posts (counting this one, natch), 11,820 pageviews, 307 reader comments, 1134 tags, 42 record store reports, a gaggle of great new online pals, a passel of pissed-off Claymates, and one hell of a kick-ass radio show (if I do say so myself!) down the road, and I’m pleased to say that what began as a silly experiment exactly one year ago has succeeded far beyond my wildest imaginings, and I appreciate any and all of you who have come along for the crazy ride.
As always, profound thanks go to Mike, the brilliant architect of this blog who, even one year on, never fails to leap into action whenever I come up with some widget or format tweak or idea I’d like to implement on a sleepless night (and who, more importantly, never fails to do so with good humor). You’re an angel, Mike, and you’re one hundred percent of the reason this site looks as fabulous as it does. Thanks also to A, the love of my life, whose generous way of hanging on his deranged boyfriend’s every written word (even when said boyfriend is annoying him by dividing his attention between watching Hyacinth and writing said words) is nothing short of uplifting. (Would that these words will always command your rapt attention, sir.) And to the sensational Sherry Ann, the best friend a guy could ever have.
Here’s hoping year two is every bit as much fun, and challenging, and fulfilling as the one just ended.
Merry Christmas, y’all.
I’m pleased to let you all know that my terrific sister Amanda celebrates the 23rd anniversary of her birth this fine day. I have no idear if she reads the Buzz or not, but regardless: happy birthday, sis. Have a piece of cake on me, and tell my Shaye-bug she has my permission to eat a corner piece. Have a goo day. 😉
Much wuv,
your brother.
With all the Buzz’s talk of birthdays, I s’pose I’d be remiss if I didn’t reveal that today is my 32nd. A already spilled the beans in the guestbook early this morning, so now he has a proper forum.
Coming this week: a surprisingly charitable review of the new Coldplay record, a tribute to my all-time favorite soap opera, and a post entitled “Lessons from a Fun-as-Hell Road Trip.” As you can tell, I’m having a bit of trouble getting into the groove again following my vacation, but hang in there. The Buzz is ’bout to come back swingin’.
It was just brought to my attention that today, June 11, is A’s sister’s 24th birthday. Had I known this, I’d have had something up on the Buzz much sooner, H! Forgive your brother; he’s forgetful sometimes.
Happy birthday, my darling!
Mazel tov,
the Buzz.
