Mini-Milestone: 1510

When I was just starting out these milestone posts were like the finish lines in a race; I'd set one for myself up ahead, then reward myself for getting there. Truth be told, having run and won many such races now, I'm almost glad to be done with them.

The main problem is what to say. Not that I'm ever at much of a loss for words, but the last thing I want to do is fish for compliments, and the usual task to be accomplished in the earlier milestone posts was to tease any potential readers into either staying tuned for further developments or else to leave a three word comment by way of congratulations.

Well, my regular readers still number fewer than 10, and they're well aware of what's in store by now, and if I get ten comments a week it's a miracle (not that I don't crave each and every one of them).

Well, there are just a few milestones left now. The next four mini-milestones will come at numbers 1666, 1777, 1888, and 1969; the next major milestones are New Year's Day (number 2008) and January 26th (my second anniversary). Thereafter, they'll come at successive thousand marks, each January 26th, and whenever else it seems like a good idea (10,000 hits on the counter, for instance).

1666, 1777, and 1888 are just interesting years, numerically; I would have done 1999 too, but coming as it does just a day or two before The Big One I thought instead I'd use the year I was born. Plus, it'll be a good warm up for 2009, when I celebrate turning 40 with a year-long series of specially themed posts from that pivotal year in pop culture and history.

Because yes, I am planning that far ahead already. As you may have guessed by now, I am in this for the long haul.

One important thing to note: since the last mini-milestone - all the way back at #1357, as long ago as September 25th - the Pop Culture Institute has gained its first correspondent: Seumas Gagne. Thanks again for signing on Mr. Gagne; we all look forward to hearing from you next.

Also of note: I got a hit and a page view from Iran (including 2:24 of reading) which, when I first saw it, gave me a bit of a cold chill all over; then, just a couple of days later, someone at Orca Bay (the company that owns the Vancouver Canucks) looked at 12 of my pages over a period of one hour forty-eight minutes, which is my longest visit to date. In both cases, thank you for that.