The Blog Can Drive

And for its sixteenth birthday vehicle, it chooses a 1968 Lotus 49.

Shot In The Dark started sixteen years ago today.  I was in my isolated basement cube at a doomed startup just about the time the dotcom bubble started popping.  I read an article on Time.com about this new phenomenon, blogging, bringing unprecedented number of people to the marketplace of ideas.

Having been a frustrated pundit in my twenties, it called out to me; I started reading Andrew Sullivan, and that night I went out to Blogger.com and started “Shot in the Dark”.

The neighborhood’s changed since then.  Other blogs have come and gone.  Others – Ed Morrissey, Powerline – made it big, and turned into self-sustaining ventures.

Me?  I just kept on writing.  And here I am today.

Anyway – thanks to all of you for joining me on this ride.  It’s never gotten old.

Kind of like the Lotus 49.

18 thoughts on “The Blog Can Drive

  1. Is that Dan Gurney driving the Lotus? Gurney just passed away, and was somewhat under the radar even though he excelled at several forms of racing. He was hailed by Jackie Stewart as the greatest American driver of his era. I think that rather describes SiTD; maybe not a lot of fame, but able to take a lap with the best of them. Congrats!

    (Btw, SiTD was my Andrew Sullivan when I was first thinking of whether or not to get into blogging, and I read it for months and commented under another identity before taking the plunge.)

  2. NW, it was likely Jim Clarke, but I do like the Gurney comparison. Sort of like Mitch’s Gurney to Sullivan’s Shelby.

    Happy Birthday, SiTD. Hope there are many more years to come. We all need a platform to vent and to showcase ignorance and arrogance of the dark side. Thank you Mitch!

  3. Congratulations, Mitch! Shot in the Dark is my #2 check-in each morning, right after Lileks’ Bleat. Discovered you both about the same time but Lileks was first.
    Thanks for all the good writing with a sense of decency – a tall order sometimes in the communist Cities. Still gotta get your CD…

  4. HBD to us all, and I say that because the comments are a vital piece of the SiTD puzzle, often adding sizzling wit and amazing, well informed insights.

    The interesting topics and open door for all to speak their piece is what sets SiTD apart from every leftist echo chamber out there, including Bob Collins’ dismal little pity party.

    Congrats and here’s to many more years, Mitch.

  5. SITD, Power line, and MN Democrats Exposed, my first core blogs.

    I even tried it myself and found out how difficult it is to stay original every day.

    I read it every day.

    Bring back hot gear Friday.

  6. Gratz Mitch, I have been here since the beginning, the bad old days of the Berg misery index.

    Glad you have come up and out of that, you are always my daily read

    kin

  7. Congrats on the longevity and a belated Happy Birthday to SITD, Mitch. May you enjoy many more years of success!

  8. Congratulations, and thanks for your perseverance where others have wandered off, distracted by shiny objects. I still check in every day.

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