PCJM turns 10!

Ten! TEN! I can still remember when I turned 10, on a winter day in 1977, and I told my dad in the car on the way to school that it was exciting that I now had two digits in my age. Well into his 50s at the time, he thought that was hilarious.

And now PCJM, the little Weblog I started a day or two after I got word I was about to be laid off from Twin Cities Sidewalk (which was bought by Citysearch) in 1999, is 10. It's brought me a lot of things -- friends, some national media attention -- and hasn't brought others (still working on that book contract), but if it wasn't fun, I would never have done it, and certainly wouldn't have continued for a decade.

Every time I post -- and I know I've had less time for it since Kelly arrived -- I enjoy the process. I love sharing links, offering my own twist on them, and seeing the reactions from friends and strangers alike.

The name of the blog (I fought against the term "blog" for so long, but I think the fight is over now) came from the fact that when I worked at Sidewalk, I discovered I just loved sending links to people who were of like minds. Of course the links were pop culture based, and the "junk mail" part of the name came from my trying to say that I worried people were viewing my links as junk mail, or spam. (No co-worker of mine ever said this, bless them.) So I threw that self-deprecating moniker on it and started a Weblog, so I would no longer be pushing my links into peoples' e-mail boxes -- they'd have to come look for them, leaving them no excuse if they didn't like them.

At the time, I felt like I knew everyone else on the Internet who had a Weblog. We even had a list-serv going for a while...remember that? Matt Haughey, Jason Kottke...now many of them household names in Web history (and both great and gracious guys). Now, of course, there are Weblogs everywhere, and while I love the variety, I kinda miss the camaraderie of our small world.

I remember when I started working at the Star Tribune and as all new employees do, was asked to meet with the editor-in-chief, at that time, Tim McGuire. He had never heard of Weblogs before, so I carefully explained them to him. He now writes one, for the Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU. Hi, old media, meet your future.

And the future looks bright. Even 10 years on, I have no plans to retire PCJM. There's an exciting redesign planned (I know, I know, from me, the person who's never cared one whit what the site LOOKED like...but I have help.). And there's a couple more projects in the offing, so stay tuned.

And most of all, thanks. I probably would have done this even if the only reader was me, but it's been much more fun with all of you.