Well it’s Valentine’s Day. Feb 14. And that means TPN is one year old. Like most one year olds, TPN is just learning to walk upright. We’ve been crawling for much of the last year, throwing up on ourselves, trying to figure out what this whole “life” thing is all about. We’ve been growing in spurts, never as fast as we’d like, but always growing. We’ve had some set-backs, sometimes it’s seemed like one step forwards (get a new host), one step backwards (lose an old host), but it’s always been for the best.

There are some people I need to thank.

1. The TPN listeners. I know I make fun of you from time to time, but I know you know I know it’s all in jest. Well… mostly in jest. I’d especially like to thank those listeners who have been with us since the beginning, are passionately loyal and a just a little unnerving, like Tony Harris and Molly Malone (there’s that link you keep asking for Mol). You guys have always been forthright in your criticisms but at least I know SOMEONE is listening and going on the journey with us.

2. The TPN hosts. Without you folks, there would be no TPN, and I know it. It’s your passion for your subject, and your willingness to suffer the slings and arrows of podcasting technology that makes you genuine pioneers. And how many times in life can you claims to be a true pioneer? I especially need to thank the guys who have been with TPN since day one - Richard Giles and Ewan Spence. Verily I say unto thee, your place in heaven is assured. We started with those two guys on launch day and today we’ve got 36 hosts and 50 podcasts. And we’re just getting started.

3. My wife and kids. Yeah I’ve spent a year of my life and our savings account on this thing. That’s a year I could have been earning a $200,000 income or running a real business, instead of trying to bootstrap a new industry with crazy ideas of citizen media. We’ve had to cut back. We’ve spent money on ephemeral things like websites and servers that have zero asset value in the real world. But hey… you only live once, right?

4. Pixel Ink Media. Mano and his gang of crazy-ass delinquents were all working 9-to-5 cushy jobs and living in inner-city mansions when I appointed them as our technical support team six months ago. Now they are all living in a park, straining metho through loaves of bread, because I can’t afford to pay them their real worth. But living in a park ain’t so bad, cuz they don’t have time to sleep anyway, so a bed would be a total waste. They’ve got a backlog of sites to put up a mile long, a new TPN homepage to finish, more goddamn WordPress upgrades… the list goes on. But know this People Of Earth - without the timely assistance of PIM, TPN would have vanished up it’s own backside many months ago from technical difficulties. So, Mano, Hanna… you know I love you. In a manly way, of course. Strictly hetero. Not that there’s anything wrong with love between cowboys. Anyway… verily I say unto thee, your place in heaven is also assured.

So… like an Academy Award winner, I could go on forever, thanking Jesus, etc. But I won’t. Let’s just say that I’ve had a great year. It has been an absolute HOOT. If you ever get the chance to quit your job and go do something totally INSANE… then take it. Seriously.

And with that… I’m taking my first day off in a year. Enjoy.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 13th, 2006 at 5:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.