2 years old

2 years already.

It was in September of 2008 that we at Between the Seats had this wild idea of writing and publishing film related reviews on our own blog. I still recall it was like back then, when I was a total newbie to this increasingly popular ‘blogging’ thing. What colours do I chose? What font do I choose? WHAT DO I EVEN NAME MY BLOG?!? After careful reflection (which, if memory serves me right, lasted about 20 minutes) I registered this little bundle of joy you see before you now on your computer screens. Those first few months were a bit tough and I wasn’t sure how long I’d keep it up, but I figure that it could be useful to put my writing skills to the task since I tend to find pleasure in jotting down thoughts into grammatically correct phrases.

I’d have to say that for about 3 or 4 months, the only readers, and they were indeed few, were other members of the Filmspotting message board, which I had been frequenting since the fall of ’07. I learned that blogging is a funny thing. Some of us might say that we just want to write for ourselves and care little for who and how many people visit our sites, but the truth, I suspect, is a bit different. I mean, is it not the least bit gratifying when people leave comments at the end of your articles? Of course it is, let’s not kid ourselves here. It became increasingly obvious that in order to earn some credentials among my new found peers, I would have to spread my horizons and take a plunge into the ocean of movie blogs and start ‘connecting’, if you will. Some blogs weren’t worth the time, some were alright, while others were (and still are) excellent. I started leaving comments and the hosts, the best ones, tended to answer back. Hence, connections were made.

Suddenly some bloggers I had visited and shared some thoughts with were visiting Between the Seats! I gained further understanding of the tools offered by Blogspot, like ‘links’ and that ever so useful ‘follow’ tool. There are so many aspects about blogging that one must juggle in order to become good at it. You want to find good material across the net either for inspiration or just for pleasure or information. You also want people to visit your own blog, but the key to that is the dance of give and take required to create those essential connections. To be a blogger really means being part of a community. There is no such thing as being on a lonely island if one wants to blog. Uh-uh, it really doesn’t work that way. It’s tough finding some quality writing on the net these days. Anybody can host a site or write for a blog. Very little skill is required to do just that, but a lot more creativity, class and openness towards others is a necessity if you actually want to be good at it.

I’d like to thank all those who visit Between the Seats, whether you’ve been around since September of 08 or just discovered us last week. Equally important, if not more so, is that I want to thank all of you who blog as well. It comes back to that notion of ‘give and take’ I mentioned before. If Between the Seats is still around, you, the other bloggers I visit, probably had a lot to do with that. If any of you reading this were to take something away from reading this post, I’d like it to be the following: if you happen to stumble upon a blog you’ve never heard of and you genuinely like what you find, let the author know. Trust me, they’ll appreciate it.

Thanks again.
Edgar Chaput