Friday, December 10, 2010

The Count

College Green, Dublin

Remember that thing? That thing called chronology? You know, that organizing principle on which this humble blog was built, a simple-to-grasp numerical structure that created a pleasant slog of a journey, number by number, through an entire year? Yeah, I remember it too. And while it pains my Helvetica postcard-making heart to go public with this confession, I must: I've been missing it.

There's something nice about chronology. Call me a lapsed Catholic, but over the course of &7's first year, I'd grown to think of the daily numbers here as a typographical Stations of the Cross, a place to pause and think for a few minutes and look more closely at things normally overlooked in day-to-day life. Some days I zipped past in a hurry and others I rambled on about Clearview, complicated drinks in tiki bars, and the joys of dressing up as W.B. Yeats. But I liked that there was the challenge of posting one number every single day. I found some excellent company along the way in my readers and commenters, and if you've been following in any sort of way over the past two years, I thank you. And I do hope you'll stay on board for the next stage of the journey.

While I make no apologies for the mish-mash of the past year's posts (after all, I'd have conked out if I didn't take a breather, and I really was dying to give that rotting Newmarket Potatoes sign a happy online home), I'm ready to move on. Or go back. Or a sort of "move on in a somewhat backward way." Which is why, on January 1st, I've decided to start the number line all over again. Starting from 365 and counting down to 1. A number a day, every day. That's how &7 was conceived, and it feels right to be going back to the original format. You see, blogs are kind of like Coca-Cola. If you've got a winning recipe, no need to go getting all "New Coke" on everyone's ass.

There will be ever-so-slight changes, mind. I'll be counting down this coming year instead of up. (A curious choice as I have a deathly, if irrational, fear of countdowns. We'll see how that particular psychodrama plays out.) I'll be collecting an entirely new batch of numbers for the new year. And I may throw in a few more entries with multiple photos if they go along with the day's number. But in 2011, there'll be one thing you can count on: the number line.

7 comments:

Radge said...

Oh that's very good news. Prepare to be stalked in the safest way possible.

Jackie said...

Squeeeeee!!!!! I'm EXCITED!!! (Oh, oh! And there's this 300... on this street... called Jay St...) perhaps you've heard of it?) A plain 300 it might be, but O', the stories it contains!

Therese Cox said...

Radge - I will have to don my monocle and black cape and begin counting maniacally: "One! One friendly stalker! Ah-ah-ah!"

Jackie - "Two! Two friendly stalkers!" Heh- 300 Jay. I think it rings a dim bell...

Pierre said...

I'm counting down the days til Jan 1. My birthday as well. Thanks for the present.

VioletSky said...

Oh, I am excited. I have missed the chronology, too. the daily expectation, rather like turning over a new page in a daily calendar.

I promise not to 'stalk' this time around!

Pierre said...

Merry Christmas, Therese.

Therese Cox said...

Thanks for the good wishes, Pierre and VioletSky. See you in the new year!