January 14, 2015

Up to 11.

What can you say about 11? The 10th anniversary of this blog was marked last year:
So this is it. The big milestone of the blog. I've made it to the last time-related goal that matters. It was all, always, done for the sheer intrinsic pleasure of it — to live freely in writing, in real time, daily — even the time-related parts, like noticing the annual anniversary on January 14th, 2 days after my birthday, feeling like it's more important than the birthday.
I can say, once again, that I have blogged every single day of the past year. I have blogged for 11 years, every day, never ONE day without sitting down and seriously looking for some things to blog. Maybe there are a handful of days in the archive with only one post — none from the past year — but these were never posts written in advance and scheduled to make it look as though I'm blogging. I've been here every day, sometimes — like right now — before 5 a.m.

But last year was 10, the big one. Now, we are 11. But this is America, and in America, we think 11 is special too, because we like say "up to 11." There's a Wikipedia article for "Up to 11."
"Up to eleven" or "these go to eleven" is an idiom from popular culture, coined in the movie This Is Spinal Tap, where guitarist Nigel Tufnel proudly demonstrates an amplifier whose volume knob is marked from zero to eleven, instead of the usual zero to ten. The phrase has come to refer to anything being exploited to its utmost abilities, or apparently exceeding them. Similarly, the expression "turning it up to eleven" refers to the act of taking something to an extreme.
So... extreme blogging... nonstop for 11 years. The 11th bloggiversary, here on the Althouse blog.

32 comments:

Freeman Hunt said...

Best blog on the Internet. Thanks for all that you've done for the last eleven years to make it so.

Bob R said...

One louder.

FleetUSA said...

Yes Professor, I agree with Freeman Hunt.

We can learn something everyday through your hard work.

Merci beaucoup.

Oso Negro said...

Crunchy conservative coating, creamy hippie love chick center, eyeing the world, asking the questions, and demanding logical clarity of her posters. The hostess with the mostest. I have read this thing every day for years. You are awesome!

Ron said...

Hi Freeman! Good to see ya! :)

Will Cate said...

Happy Ann-inversary... Like Freeman said above, best blog there is.

tim maguire said...

Congratulations. I sometimes wonder when I started reading--definitely year 1--but have no memory of discovering you (probably through Instapundit).

Back then I read many blogs, so many it was difficult to keep track of them all. Over the years, one by one, they've dropped away--stopped blogging, got boring, a few I left in a huff because the blogger pissed me off (you are the only blogger I argue with regularly who I continue to read). Today I am down to 3. You are a survivor.

Heartless Aztec said...

Can't believe I've been reading your blog everyday for eleven years now. Times does go by when you're having fun. Congrats on the milestone.

CStanley said...

Congrats and thanks for the Althouse-pitality!

David said...

Consistency is one of the key elements of excellence. Very well done and many thanks.

Danno said...

What Freeman said.

Curious George said...

"Up to 11" There were eleven comments. Did anyone else notice the symmetry?

Ooops.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Eleventh bloggiversary?

We are BLOGGAGOG!

Tank said...

There's a lot to be said for just showing up every day. A lot. That is hard to do, and harder to do well.

Congrats.

I've remarked in the past how hard this must be to do well every day, but Althouse replied that it was easy for her because she just writes about what is interesting to her. That's part of the secret, I guess, but most people are just not that interesting. I'm not excluding me.

Skeptical Voter said...

Worked every day for eleven years straight. Gee Mom! Thanks!

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

What can you say about 11?

"Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?" -- Nigel Tufnel

Congratulations on 11 years.

ussmidway said...

We are in your debt as so much of the Blogosphere has become vitriolic and unpleasant. Your Blog has always been able to attract and retain the best commenters driving the most enlightening conversations. You should be very proud, in a humble, Wisconsin-style manner.

Thanks for being here Professor. You are a rare bird indeed -- Happy #11

JSD said...

Great place. Plus the site doesn’t freeze the crappy laptop in my kitchen. Not surprised that you survived. Too many sites pushing outrage and peopled with agenda sock puppets. The left-right mix mirrors my environment. Co-workers are mostly conservative, social friends are mostly old lefties. When I voted for Reagan, all my friends thought I was going to hell. Now we realize that we’re all going to hell.

I love the Spinal Tap nod. It reminds us that Rock and Roll is for high school dropouts with substance abuse problems. Except for all those damn indie bands that followed. I always marveled that a Marshall combo amp, that is over four feet tall, is only called the half-stack. The full-stack is seven feet high. Rock and Roll is all about attitude.

Congratulations

SGT Ted said...

It's been a great decade, Ann. Keep it up. And thank you for the forum.

rhhardin said...

My flickr stuff is daily for a few years.

When you take a work break, take camera and dog outside and shoot the activities.

Almost 50,000 doberman pictures now.

It's without the daily vow but has turned out that way.

FullMoon said...

I don't like anybody, but I lke you.
HaHa, just kidding!

YoungHegelian said...

Best blog on the Internet.

Yes, I agree with Freeman & the others on that.

But, on the other hand, doesn't that say something really scary about the Internet?

Bill said...

My first online stop in the morning. After Drudge.

MadisonMan said...

Thank you.

Leslie Graves said...

Elevenses! I'm going to check and see if you have a hobbit tag.

Rocketeer said...

My first online stop in the morning. After Drudge.

So, second then. Or as Nigel Tufnel might say, "it's like number one, but it's one less, isn't it?"

Congrats though!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Congratulations.

Paul Brinkley said...

Been reading this since somewhere in 2004, and don't see myself stopping any time soon. (Well, except to go to the bathroom and work and stuff like that. Had to clarify!)

virgil xenophon said...

Eleventy! Daily blogging is a tough, time demanding mental and physical slog on/at any level. You're a rare "bird" Althouse (to kill two cultural "birds" with one stone) and you deserve all the accolades you get

Richard Dolan said...

I've been reading this blog since early 2005, pretty much every day. Not many others in the same category. Thanks. Looking forward to another 10 years.

Crunchy Frog said...

"What do you call this?"

"Well this blog is called 'Lick My Love Pump'."

Anonymous said...

Excellent work.
You are living well.
Thank you for sharing yourself with us.
Hope you continue for many years.
When events occur your blog is a go-to for me.
Again, thanks
V/R JW