The Blog’s a Lucky Seven Years Old

My blog is now seven years old, folks!  How cool is that?  I had hoped that such a lucky number would mean good luck, and it pretty much did, as a lot of nifty neato things happened this year!  Before we get to the good stuff, let’s review my current stats.  Hmm, let’s see here…subscribers went up from 295 to 349, and total views has increased from 24,723 to 29,061.  Mm-kay.  My best day continues to be December 9, 2012 with 208 views.

I’m super happy my subscribers and views have increased this past year.  (And it’s all thanks to you guys!)  But the fact that my blog’s best day was 4.5 years ago makes me cry on the inside a little.

Sad truths aside, let’s talk about what I did this year.  Where do I even begin?  Well, I guess I might as well start in order.  First of all, I spent the better part of 2016 and some of 2017 working on my Foxy cosplay, my most complex costume yet.  This required me to learn many new skills, such as learning how to work with foam and plastic mesh, and I even had to create a giant head with a functioning mouth that employed a hinge and elastic.  I also learned how to create realistic blood and rust using coffee grounds, just like the professionals.

While that was more of an ongoing project, the first major event of this seventh year of blogging/being an online Duck was last August, when Virtual Bastion’s (at the time, we were going by the name of United We Game) Youtube channel turned one.  Yes, by the time of today’s post, we are heading towards our second year on Youtube!

In late October, I finally got a PlayStation 4, on which I have played and completed the Ratchet & Clank remake, Uncharted 4, Yooka-Laylee, and Kingdom Hearts 2.8.  Seeing as obtaining a PS4 was one of my goals last year, then, I suppose this calls for a major pat on the back for me.  I’m so proud.  Even so, the best game I played this past year was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Wii U, which is easily one of the greatest things of all time.

Fast forward to February of this year, I finally changed my blog’s theme for the first time since it was created.  It looks a lot brighter now, and I get to add featured images to the top of each blog post, which is a nice addition indeed.  I also made a vow to make some important changes in my life.  One of these late New Year’s resolutions was a wish to stop being so afraid of everything.  That’s…a bit hard to explain, though.  Suffice it to say, I think I’ve conquered my fear of SD cards.  On second thought, that probably makes no sense at all.  Well, that doesn’t make my statement any less true.  Mold, however…no.  Still hate the stuff with all my might.

March was also an exciting month, for it was at this time that I decided to return to my own personal Youtube channel.  Not only have I begun to record my fan fiction again, but I was able to get some new cameras (a webcam and a Canon camera, the latter being one my dad gave me when he got a new camera of his own).  These couldn’t have come at a better time, and they have allowed me to begin recording an even greater variety of videos.  Oh, and my cat Elsa turned three this month.  She’s so darn three, it’s not even funny!

The most exciting month of all, however, was April, in which two big events occurred.  One, United We Game (the gaming blog of which I am one of three admins, along with Jacob AKA Hatm0nster and Cary of Recollections of Play) was renamed Virtual Bastion.  We decided our blog needed a new name because United We Game was just a bit too common online.  And we also got a change of artwork, courtesy of Hatm0nster.  As for event number two…Mother Duck and I went to Disneyland!  I’m sure you’re all more than aware of this by now, as I spent about a month writing blog posts on the topic, but this was my first visit in 9.5 years, and it was pretty awesome!

So that’s how I spent year seven.  As for year eight of blogging, here are my goals.  For one thing, I’d definitely like to continue expanding my personal Youtube channel.  I’m hoping for…20 subscribers by next year.  I currently have 8.  You can see how little faith I have in myself.  As for Virtual Bastion, I hope our Youtube channel can reach 100 subscribers.  We’re just 10 shy, so it should be an easy accomplishment.  But I like setting goals that can easily be reached.  I have no cosplays scheduled for this year (Youtube is tiring, and I’d rather focus on that right now).  Other than that, I want to keep thinking up new content for the Duck of Indeed, and I’d like to find some games to play for Virtual Bastion that might get a higher number of views.  I have some ideas that might be good for both channels, including some cool games for Virtual Bastion and some fun Halloween ideas for my own channel.  Yeah.  I’m saying no more.

As you can tell, it’s been a pretty busy, and pretty cool, seventh year for the Duck.  I can only hope year eight will be even more exciting.  Of course, I must end this post by thanking you all for taking the time out of your busy days to read my silly blog.  Thank you, subscribers!  Thank you, commenters!  And thank you everyone else who visits me, as well!  This blog would be meaningless without my readers.

Lucky Number Duck