Two Year Anniversary: What a strange trip it’s been
It’s official. Gangstas & Hugs is now two years old. Who would have thought it was possible? Thanks to this blog, I’ve been able to waste time and obsess over page views like it was going out of style. It’s been fun though. I never imagined it would last this long or that G&H would be pulling in between 15,000 and 20,000 pageviews a month. Hell, I didn’t even know what an RSS feed was until way after I started blogging with this first post, back on August 24, 2005.
If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll remember that I started blogging on a Blogger domain. That just got too damn frustrating, so I ended up purchasing a domain and switching to Wordpress. So far, I’m glad I dropped the ol’ blogspot domain.
Here are just a few of the notable milestones from the past two years:
- 200,770 unique visitors
- 318,127 page views
- 295 posts
- 2,566 comments
- 51,061 blocked spam comments thanks to Akismet
- 3 mistaken posts about diaper fetishes - [Diaper Post #1] [Diaper Post #2] [Diaper Post #3]
- 2 extremely popular posts on ass/booty - [Booty Post #1] [Booty Post #2]
- 2 posts showcasing the idiots who stole a video camera from my work - [bitch session
- etc, etc, etc…
Of course, they go on and on. But a two year anniversary post wouldn’t be complete without a thorough look back on how G&H has grown up. Through the magic of internet caches, you will now get the pleasure of reliving the past two years with Gangstas & Hugs.
Plenty of chronological screen shots after the jump!
November 11, 2005 -Not sure where I was going with this template, but I made it while I was still using Blogger. Notice the great ‘Mojo’ graphic in the top left… gold tooth and all. Looks like I was into bitching about web standards and other crap back then. What the hell is funny about that? And what was up with that Tag Box in the right sidebar? That thing was just annoying.
November 24, 2005 - I think this is still using a Blogger template, but the colors are all changed. Just look at how damn busy the page is. It’s like a smurf sharted text boxes all over the screen. Why did I ever think people would take a look at this page and stick around to read? It wasn’t the worst looking blog design I’ve ever seen, but I wouldn’t exactly call it “good”.
December 31, 2005 - Time for the sexy ads to make an appearance in the sidebar. The over all look was starting to take the shape of the current design. I think I actually started shying away from political posts around this time, and began focusing more on humor. Or lack thereof. I do miss seeing those scantily clad babes every time I loaded the site. Maybe I’ll bring those back, just for nostalgic reasons.
May 12, 2006 - This was during my “social web” phase, where I started an account on every Web 2.0 site I could find, and then linked to them on G&H. Bleh. No thanks. I prefer to have a modicum of privacy in my personal life now and again. Myspace is crap, and the thought of using Twitter and Facebook so my friends can keep tabs on what I’m doing 24 hours a day is scary to me. But look, now you can search at the top of the page! And the blogroll is above the fold again!
September 1, 2006 - This is the beginning of the simpler 2-column layout. I thought this was much easier to read than the 3-column mumbo jumbo. The sidebar still needed some work, but at least the posts were easy to see and read right away. I still get a kick out of watching that OK Go video, although I think the pictured post started a run of posting other people’s videos that hasn’t quite died down yet.
November 26, 2006 - Messing around with the sidebar again, and changing around the menu buttons in the header. I still don’t know why I opted to go with that diagonal hashing as a background for the sidebar. Guess that was my attempt at a new Web 2.0 design. At least the diaper fetish freaks still like me. If only I could surmise why
May 24, 2007 - Started messing around with the sidebar junk again. At least the blue diagonal hashing was gone. Man, the more I see them, the more I hate those little blue background headers for the sidebar text boxes. God those were annoying. Why didn’t anyone tell me? I even tried to get away with an Adsense ad in the to right of the banner. Lame. I’ll go ahead and chalk that up to me ignoring the blog for weeks at a time. Hey, cut me some slack. I was finishing up my last semester of grad school bitches!
August 29, 2007 - Now isn’t that better? The most straight forward Wordpress theme yet. Sure, there are a couple ads above the fold, but at least their not super ugly or all over the place. Now that I look back on all the time I spent trying to design a decent blog template, I realize I should have gone ahead and paid a real designer to make me one. Hell, I still might do that. Just as soon as I quit my job and start blogging full-time.
Here’s to another two years! Oh, and a quick congratulations to The Phoenix who also recently celebrated his two year anniversary.
Big Congrats to you!!!
ADW: Why thank you! I’m blushing.
Two years?! Wow. It’s felt like at least 5. ;)
Here’s to a dozen more, when we’re blogging on Mars, bitches!
I like Wordpress for the scheduled posting feature. Blogger should really catch up.
ACW: Blogging on Mars… I wonder if the cyber-squaters are going to get there first.
Mist 1: I have to admit I’ve never used it. Mainly because I’m too lazy to write posts ahead of time. If Blogger ever caught up, I’d consider taking a look at it again.
congrats!
here’s a thought: what are you going to do when this blog turns 20? or 21? can you buy it a drink then???
Congratulations, Mojo!!!
minijonb: If I’m still blogging in 18 or 19 years, shoot me. If, on the other hand, someone else is writing this blog for me and I’m making money off of it, then call me a genius!
ajooja: Thanks ajooja!
Hey congratulations on your two year anniversary! I’ve enjoyed reading this shit!
FW
congrats on two years!!!
congrats bro — I remember the first days — your early blog daze were downright strange. The fat kid was scary
Furtive Wrangler: Thanks! Sometimes I even enjoy writing this shit!
webmiztris: Thank you Dawn… I’m just glad you stuck around so long.
Shane: You remembered! That’s damn impressive of you Shane.
Hey Mojo, where does the time go, eh? Now that you mention this whole 2-yr old thing, I wonder if I’m 2 yet?
Hold on… let me check… No, I won’t be 2 until the beginning of next month. I always forget until someone else mentions their anni. We’ll both be in our terrible two’s then. heehee.
Thanks, same congratulations to you as well.
Dude, I remember every single one of those templates. I’ve been coming here that long? Holy crap.
2 year anniversary gift is cotton, so if you send me your mailing address I’ll drop you a pair of my ball huggers. ;) Now that I’ve lost so much weight, they don’t hug so well anyway.
I was trying to figure out when (and how) I first stumbled upon G&H… it wasn’t right at the beginning, but it was in before the end of 2005.
yllwdaisies: The terrible twos… I like it. Does this mean I have an excuse to be even more idiotic?
Phoenix: I actually thought of you when I was making the screen shots. I kept trying to remember who would have been around long enough to see all of them. Crazy.
Robguy: Ball huggers huh? Are the tighty-whities or do you have a range of colors and designs.
And I remember how you came across G&H. It was because I left some comments on your old MSN Spaces blog… so I found YOU first. How ’bout that?
I’m a boxer briefs kinda guy. I have a wide range of styles and colors. No skid marks :p
Robguy: Boxer briefs for me too… I’m a true believer in them.