Happy Third Blogiversary to Us!

Three years ago today, young bones groaned and Shakesville was born.

It was originally christened as Shakespeare's Sister, which was not an allusion to delusions of grandeur, but the name of one of my favorite Smiths' songs, which contains a line that stuck me—and strikes me still—as being beautifully apposite to my feelings about blogging: "I thought that if you had / An acoustic guitar / Then it meant that you were / A protest singer." Whatever clever old Mozza actually intended with that lyric, it suggests to me something about authenticity; having the accessories and tools of someone who does something meaningful doesn’t make you someone who does something meaningful. Calling this blog Shakespeare's Sister was meant to remind me, always, that I started it to try to make some kind of difference in this world and that only what I put into it could make it so.

And so it has reminded me, and so I have tried to make it meaningful.

I don't know if I believe that blogs can change the world, but I do believe most fervently that even a single blog has the capacity to change the world for individual people in big and small ways. A blog can turn people on to and connect them with a global community, can simply offer a much-needed laugh on a bad day, can provide support and validation from like-minded people, can open its readers' minds to new ideas and persuade them to let go of prejudices and give them a new way of understanding and loving themselves. That's what I thought when I started, anyway. And I haven't changed my mind yet.

In the intervening three years, a truly wonderful community has grown up around this blog, including nearly two dozen contributors and an amazing group of commenters, all of whom seem to share my desire to make this little bus stop in the blogosphere a meaningful place—and informative, interesting, and fun to boot. The Shakers are a great lot. That's about the long and the short of it. Thank you, everyone.

And thanks to Mr. Shakes, who first suggested I start a blog, who is nothing but light and support and encouragement, who makes this blog possible in every conceivable way.

Onward…