Happy Second Anniversary To Us

Time flies. Uploaded to flickr.com by Madame Meow

At the risk of being called out for navel-gazing, we’d like to take this opportunity to wish ourselves a happy second anniversary.  Yes the little-blog-that-could has been posting observations, reviews, announcements, and criticisms for two whole years today.  The traditional gift for a second year anniversary is cotton, so feel free to purchase one of our amazing TheHillIsHome tee shirts to commemorate.  Some are even organic, in case you want to eat them.  Go ahead, I’ll wait.

When you come back we’ll take a look at some highs and lows of the past year.

Our humble blog started with a handful of writers who saw a need in our neighborhood.  What was at first an attempt to supplement local print papers and list-serves is now a website quoted by other neighborhood websites and even professional journals like The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and Journal of the American Medical Association (okay, maybe not that last one).  We have a staff of almost 20 writers, editors, and social media managers who help keep our presence active not just on our front page but also on Facebook and Twitter.

The Hill Is Home tries to keep our content diverse.  We enjoy covering every morsel every one of us ingests at a Hill eatery, but we also try to keep you abreast of happenings at the local schools, in neighborhood politics, and covering special events. We’ve blogged and tweeted (I really hope that’s the correct past tense) from ANC meetings and the Hilly Awards.  In 2010 THIH set foot into the physical (not digital) world and hosted an ANC candidate meet-and-greet before Election Day – an event that was well-attended by candidates and residents alike.

We are of course indebted to you, our readers.  Your avid readership, spirited comments, and sometimes downright flatulent responses to our posts are what keep us engaged and at times enraged.  Colorful commentary (minus the occasional vulgarity) lets us know not only what you are reading, but what issues and events are important to our neighbors and where opinions lie.  So thank you to you, “Start Your Own Gang” for your comments on November 30, 2010, and to you “Ascot Manscarf” and “monkeyrotica” not only for your comments but for your screen names that incite schoolgirl-like giggles from some.   We appreciate your time on our  humble blog and you’ve given the writers tons to talk about on our Google Group.

And what were your favorite posts of the past year? Gentle readers, you do have an affinity for crime and violence.  We could write for days about pies, taquitos and pop tarts but by our metrics you prefer a good cop drama to the Food Network.  Setting our weekly columns aside, the top five most commented-on THIH posts of the past year were:

1. Violent Attacks Prompt Shock, Added Police Presence

2. The Hipster Housecleaner (actually from our first year but if you keep reading it we’re happy with that)

3. Potomac Gardens Drug Bust Yields 15 Arrests

4. Get Over Yourself, Mr. Mendelsohn

5. SWAT on 10th Street NE

We don’t track least favorite posts, but judging from commentary on the posts that she ran, Frisky Fanny’s sex rants were not a crowd pleaser.  To this day I still don’t know who uses the nom-de-plume of Frisky, but I have a strong suspicion it is a certain Delegate from the Hill.  Have you seen that woman dance?

We also know that while we get a lot of web referrals from Google web searches, many of you come directly to our website on a regular basis to find out what’s going on in the neighborhood and which of our writers you’ve developed amorosity or animosity for.  Thanks for that too (I think).

What’s next for TheHillIsHome?  Who knows.  We plan to conquer the bake sale world in the coming months to benefit a local nonprofit, and you may see some of our writers at the neighborhood festivals.  We’ve already started merchandising (I’m telling you, buy a shirt) so the next logical step is probably either becoming a property developer or directing and producing Hollywood features.  And please write in TheHillIsHome in the next ANC race.

Seriously though…whether you agree with our points of view or not, we’re a group of your neighbors who are passionate about our neighborhood, who enjoy (on a volunteer basis) writing about what makes the Hill a special place to live, and we hope you’ll stick around for another year with us.