Who would've Known?

June 25, 2007, marked the birth of Grumpy's Hollow.  My first series of posts were my trip reports from my 5 day trip to Disneyland.  A trip that would be one of 3 trips to a Disney Theme Park in 2007.

I had been talking about doing a Disney blog for a long time prior to that, but couldn't really see myself capable of saying anything worthwhile.  After much persuasion by my good friend and ImagiNerd, George, I took the plunge.

Who would've known that the way I recounted my trip to Disneyland would be found appealing to people around the world.  After all, I don't tend to write short posts and the trip reports come with tons of pictures.  These weren't the typical one paragraph per day trip reports that you see scattered around the Internet.  I never would've guessed people would have the patience to sit through them.  I just figured they would be viewed as the verbal equivalent of forcing my friends to sit through the viewing of 2000 slides of my trip (you may only get that reference if you were born before the 1980's...haha)

I got a lot of feedback on those initial trip reports and I just decided to keep saying what came to mind.

My blog quickly became more than Trip Reports.  But I still remembered what brought many of my readers here and provided additional trip reports for my September trip to Disney World, as well as, the recent MouseFest extravaganza.

I'm still amazed that people like my trip reports.  But what amazes me even more would be that my most remembered post of 2007 was my Theme Park Footprint post.  What I thought might've been my most controversial post actually turned out to be well received. 

I haven't been alone in this.  My lovely wife, who goes by the moniker Enchanted Rose, occasionally decides to come out of hiding to provide her perspective on things.  But, I think the most exciting thing she brings is a very crafty point of view.  Her posts on her quilts and scrapbooking have gotten a lot of attention.  She is constantly talking about what her next installment is going to be.

I have also made some great friends in the mere 6 months this blog has been alive.

It's no secret that I am friends with Tim Devine of The Magic in Pixels.  But, 6 months ago I didn't know him as anything other than the owner of a great Disney photography forum.

We met for the first time at Disneyland in June.  He was there on a much needed West Coast vacation and he asked me to give him a call when I got to the parks. Who would've known that I would make a great friend in the 2 days I spent with him and his wonderful wife and kid at the parks.  It also happened that his wife and my wife hit it off.  That meant that Tim and I could have more time to take pictures since the wives were able to talk to each other. 

I have known George and Andy Taylor, of ImagiNerding, (my brothers from another mother) much longer.  I cannot remember how long I have been talking to George via instant messenger or over the phone but it was way before the birth of this blog.  As I stated earlier, he was instrumental in convincing me to build "The Hollow".  In fact, when I was at Disneyland, I think I called him every day to let him know how much fun I was having.  He was also the one I called to tell him about getting stuck on Splash Mountain during my September trip.

Along the way, I was also able to make friends with Jeff Pepper, of 2719 Hyperion (Did I tell you he did my logo?).  My friendship with Jeff may be really new, but he has already has been kind enough to pass on sage parenting advice to my wife while we were at MouseFest.

Who would've known that an adult male actually exists that is shorter than Lou Mongello?  Well, he exists and it's yours truly [Ed note:  I do believe your biceps may be ever so slightly bigger].  What's Lou going to do if I ever get half as famous as he is and all the short jokes get pointed in my direction? 

I was finally able to meet the man with the golden touch during MouseFest.  Like there was ever any doubt, but he is genuinely as nice as one would imagine from listening to him on his Podcasts all these years.  Lou and I definitely have one thing in common.  That is having very supportive wives which is essential.  If it wasn't for their support, we'd have had to shut this stuff all down a long time ago.

The Year 2007 was a short one for Grumpy's Hollow, but I know 2008 holds many exciting things.  The blogging community is just now starting to take off.  New blogs are starting every day and we all are trying to spread the love to each other so our voices can be heard.  Nothing but good things can be around the corner when people work together.

The louder our voices, the more power we may have when something important comes along and we need the right ears to hear them (you know they are listening don't you).

So, I would just like to thank you all for coming by all the time to see what crazy things I am talking about.  I'm even more grateful when you all post comments.  It's really nice to know you aren't speaking in an empty room <wink>.

So don't be strangers in 2008.  There is an endless supply of great drinks to be had, plenty of empty steins, and great places to kick one's feet up.  Just check your apples carefully before you bite in.  You never know when that Evil Queen has stopped by to leave behind a deadly cargo.

Finally, I'd like to say.....

To all my family members and co-workers who read this blog......Thanks for humoring this Disney Hobby of mine.

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