Over 100,000 served...

...and we thank you.

If you look down yonder left, you'll see that my SiteMeter counter passed 100,000 visits earlier today.

To be precise, a visitor from the University of Edinburgh's Moray House Institute of Education dialed into ScienceBlogs' 'Last 24 Hours' channel at 2037 GMT and clicked on my post about yesterday's death of Dr Robert Cade, the renal physiologist who formulated Gatorade. (So that readers don't get nervous, SiteMeter doesn't track in any greater detail than that.).

So, a great many thanks to my Scottish reader for being #100,000. If I knew who you were and could be overseas today, I'd treat you to a pint or three of Caledonian Edinburgh Scotch Ale.

But then again, I'd also owe the other 99,999 of you a pint as well.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to every blogger who has ever linked to me, encouraged me, and advised me. To readers, thank you for the tips, the questions, the challenges, the corrections, and the story ideas.

To all of my journalist friends who make an actual living at this writing thing, your examples set a high bar to which I strive - thanks also for the encouraging advice.

I first signed on here at ScienceBlogs.com on 9 June 2006 with a lengthy diatribe on my life story.

So, it took 538 days, or 1 year, 5 months, 20 days, to get to this milestone, with an average of 186 visitors per day.

Yes, I know, that is not a huge number in the blogosphere, and even the scientific blogosphere. The Drudge Report gets 100,000 visitors every 11 minutes. On average, my blog mentor, Orac (Respectful Insolence), registers 100,000 visitors every month. Even some of my "classmates" who joined ScienceBlogs when I did, like Michigan neuroscience grad student Shelley Batts (Retrospectacle), have eclipsed my readership.

But having taught classes of 90 to 140 students, I've always figured that I was having an impact on the world if I could reach more than 140 people a day.

So for those of you who read regularly, I hope that you leave here more informed than you were before you visited. I'll do my best to continue to make reading Terra Sig worthy of your time.

And for those who are visiting for the first time, I hope you stick around.


For the record, here are some fun, representative posts for your reading pleasure:

Why Terra Sigillata?

Perversion of good science

The ugly reason for CAM in US medical schools

Grapefruit juice as a "drug booster": don't try this at home

On the origin of witches and broomsticks

What's your favorite MTV memory?

Curcumin for cancer: Part 1, Part 2

How can Hooters support the fight against breast cancer...

I am not worthy

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Many blogs deteriorate over time. Terra Sigillata keeps getting better and better and better... Congratulations, my friend!

Congrats!! As a regular reader for a long time now, really appreciate your insights and writing.
Thanks

Yeah - I think you have interesting posts with a good variety of topics.

Indeed, Kristjan, I remember being very excited when I got my 3,000th hit at Terra Sig's previous home. "Success" in the blogosphere is all relative anyway. I'm so impressed by all of you that your endorsements mean a great deal.

Coturnix linked to me early and often; only later did I learn he lived very close to me. Anjou has been a constant source of info AND support. Tara was another of my early influences and Brian is a newcomer (at least to Sb) who gives me confidence in the future of science. AnnR and McDawg can always be counted on to make some thoughtful and thought-provoking questions and Kristjan has been such a great commenter that I am so pleased to see him start his own blog.

Liz has also been such a great friend over at The Pump Handle, giving me a traffic boost almost every Friday with their blog round-up. Even my blog-brother, Orac, was nice enough to link to this milestone.

So, this is a long way of saying that I am thankful for your readership and participation. Regardless of whether you think 100,000 is big or small, I wouldn't trade your camaraderie for anything.

Congratulations.

100,000 is an impressive number especially when you consider you are promoting science and not sex, sin, scandal, and self-indulgence.

Consistently informative and personable, if a blog can be personable...love what you're doing here, please keep it up!

Congratulations!

Thats wonderful.Happy new year.