Happy birthday to us!

Six years ago today, this post appeared.

Things have changed considerably since we first dipped our toes into the blogosphere. We're six years older, but not necessarily any wiser. We've made lots of friends and acquaintances around the place. We don't visit the golf course as often as we used to, although we're putting that right this morning and breaking a lengthy golfing drought.

Most significantly though the Electoral Finance Act, which was the piece of legislation that was the catalyst for us starting to blog was repealed when the John Key-led Government was elected in November 2008.

A self-congratulatory post wouldn't be complete without a few numbers. This is Keeping Stock's 8050th post. We have received 32,661 comments as of this morning. And although we didn't install Sitemeter until we'd been blogging for a few months, we've hosted over 900,000 visitors who between them have recorded more than 1.3 million pageviews. We were at #13 on the Open Parachute blog rankings for July, out of the 280 New Zealand blogs that Ken collects Sitemeter information on.

We blog because we enjoy it, and when we cease to enjoy it we will cease to blog. We came close to that earlier this year, after a concerted personal attack. Readers will not have seen that, but that is why we now leave moderation enabled. That is the less pleasant by-product of voicing one's opinion.

Thanks to all who stop by, and especially to those who take the time to comment, even if it's to express a contrary opinion to ours. Comments are the lifeblood of a blog, and we appreciate your willingness to engage. 


So while we're on the golf course today filling our lungs with fresh sea air, we'll reflect on the last six years, and we'll think of what lies ahead. We can't guarantee that we'll still be here next year, but conversely, we have no immediate plans to cease and desist.

Happy birthday to us!