Hawaii, Waikiki Beach at sunset
It’s been one year, almost to the day, since I began the Inkwatu blog. I had no idea how much personal satisfaction writing the articles and taking the pictures would bring. Greater, by powers of 100, than I could ever have guessed. I recommend, wholeheartedly, to anyone, the experience of having a blog. It is a lot of fun.
In honor of Inkwatu’s 1-year birthday I’ve selected my favorite photos from the year’s posts and my favorite posts of the year. The pictures you see in this post are my favorites from the past year. Most were taken during that time, but several were taken prior to 2008. In honor of this birthday celebration, all the photos you see in this post link to full-screen photos suitable for printing if you wish. Just click on any photo you see here and it will open a new tab or window. And…if your cursor shows a little magnifying glass when you open that new window, then if you click on the new image, an even larger image will open. So…have fun!
Flamingos at Florida Sunken Gardens
For the longest time after I began Inkwatu I figured there were perhaps eight people who read it and I thought I even knew exactly who they were (certain friends, family), but I wasn’t even sure if all of them were reading it. Eventually, I decided to spring for the extra $3 a month to get statistics on readership. I was surprised to discover I was getting over 45,000 hits a month. This made me so nervous I stopped reading my reports. I just couldn’t deal with it. Entirely by accident, I happened to read another report recently. Somehow, it’d climbed to over 77,000 hits a month. I’ve stopped reading my reports again. I honestly can’t handle the anxiety of either failure OR success. I’ve learned that what’s best is for me to do what I do and not worry if anyone likes it or reads it.
New Orleans Street Cars at End of the Line
All I knew when I began Inkwatu was that I wanted to write about things I enjoy, primarily here where I live, but also places I travel to. I knew I wanted my focus to be about things I enjoy (not negative things) and about things out in the world (not about me). That’s how I came up with my tag line: “Delights, Near and Far.” The description, “Photos and descriptions of places, activities, cultures, arts, and foods that make our world a special place. Emphasis on Florida and the Tampa Bay area (St. Petersburg, Tampa, etc.), but also far beyond,” restates that in a less poetic, more explicit form. With those two principles in front of me at all times when I write, it’s easy to judge if I’m on track. All I have to do is ask myself if I’m focusing on what’s out there and if I’m focusing on what brings delight.
Statue of Liberty
So…I just keep trying to do what I’m doing: focus on delights, out there. The reason I chose those two things (other directed, positive) is that those are really the qualities that make for a good conversation, which is what a blog is in a way. If the focus is out there, then we both (the reader and I) can focus on it and have our opinions. If it’s about something positive, it makes it a little easier to deal with our day. Someone said―I can’t remember who–the purpose of art is to make life worth living. Blogs do that too.
Florida Seashell at Low Tide
My favorite Inkwatu blog post of the past year–some chosen for their texts, some for their pictures–are listed below. I’ve divided them into two groups: a group of eight for my favorite writing and a group of eight that are my favorites because of their photos. Each of the two lists are arranged chronologically, not in order of how much of a favorite they are.
FOR WRITING
- 2008/05/07: Mississippi Greens
- 2008/07/16: Silent Stories
- 2008/09/03: Cuzn Don’s Hoe Cakes and Hush Puppies
- 2008/09/06: New York Street Food
- 2008/11/01: Winter Light
- 2008/11/05: a bit of green
- 2008/12/17: The Meeting of the Waters
- 2008/12/31: Low Tide
Great Wall of China
FOR PHOTOS
- 2008/03/12: Mazzaro’s Italian Market
- 2008/03/31: Thai-rific
- 2008/04/06: Wat Mongkolratanaram — Palm River Thai Temple
- 2008/06/11: The Craftsman House
- 2008/09/10: New York Tugboats and the Little Red Lighthouse
- 2008/11/22: It’s not all palm trees
- 2009/01/21: Dubai Long Pier
- 2009/02/14: The Year of the Ox
Apricot Quickbread
Most folks read this blog via a reader, such as Google Reader, or they receive it by email. That means they never see the actual website for Inkwatu (inkwatu.com). That means they’re missing a few things. For instance, at the actual Inkwatu website there are columns on the main page that contain links to my favorite worthwhile causes:
- Kiva
- One Warm Coat
- Five and Alive
- Network for Good
- Heifer International
- Second Harvest
- Wikimedia Foundation
The River Strong, D’lo, Mississippi
At the actual Inkwatu website, in addition to the main page, there are a number of other pages that contain information such as:
- an index of all posts by category and by date
- a list of links to important Tampa Bay area resources by categories
- a list of some of my favorite restaurants in the Tampa Bay area by type of restaurant
- a list of links to my favorite blogs of other people by subject
- a list of links to the different Inkwatu Flickr photo sets
- info on my background, and…
- a “shop” where you can buy some of my music or make small donations to help defray the cost of having this blog
Pass-a-grille Beach, Florida
The biggest jump in growth of Inkwatu came when it was listed by alltop.com, an “online magazine rack” of popular topics. Inkwatu is also a “featured publisher” of foodbuzz.com, and a featured blogger on urbanspoon.com, a restaurant guide featured on iPhones. Very recently, Inkwatu has been made the St. Petersburg Community Examiner for examiner.com (it carries reposts of earlier Inkwatu posts for a whole new audience).
Kona, Hawaii, Sunset
It’s been a good year. Less than $100 income from Inkwatu, but that’s not why I’m doing this. I’m doing it because it’s proved to be one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. Part of that fun has been getting to know you through your comments–please keep those coming. I’m looking forward to offering you another year of Inkwatu posts and photos.
All the best…
Hilton
Peace
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulation and Happy Birthday to the baby.
Felicitaciones y Feliz Cumpleanios al recien nacido.
Inkwatu is a wonderful site that deserves all the attention (and more) that it has attracted over the past year. It’s hard to imagine pictures as evocative of Tampa Bay and beyond as the ones that we find here, and the written comments often bridge the distance between prose and poetry – lively, graphic, and always so suggestive of the themes that the site has discovered to the delight of the reader and viewer. Congratulations on Inkwatu’s first birthday and thanks to its creator for providing such a great place to visit on the internet. Ad multos annos!
Congratulations! Hauoli la hanau! We appreciate your support of Alltop. Here’s to even more growth and happiness during the next year!