A year ago today, I wrote this uninteresting post and Living with Balls was born. 198 posts later, it’s still alive and kicking.

A lot has changed since that first post. My initial plan when starting this blog was for it to be more of a men’s magazine. I’d write the occasional funny piece but I’d also write reviews, give advice and write sports analysis.

Then it occurred to me that I really don’t like writing about anything serious. Also, my “funny” posts were doing way better than the posts where I gave out shitty advice or wrote a boring review—and with a name like Living with Balls, how could anyone take anything I wrote seriously? So I gradually transformed it to a humor blog for men and that’s where it stands today.

I’ll admit it. My main motivation a year ago was to make a little side cash off this site. It occurred to me pretty quickly, however, that making money off a blog would not be so easy. I’ve realized that making some real coin from this blog may never happen. I’m ok with that because I also didn’t know how much I’d enjoy it. So I’ll continue to write and if I make some money off this site, then great! If not, I’ll still continue to work hard at making it better each day.

Overall, I’m pretty happy with where the blog stands now. It’s not as popular as I had hoped when I started it a year ago, but I know I have a decent amount of loyal readers out there. Some of my posts have been read by thousands of people and that’s a pretty cool feeling. If you’re one of those loyal readers, hopefully at least one of my posts has brightened your day.

I’d like to give a shout out to all the regular commenters who have helped keep me motivated with their positive feedback; particularly Dr. Faust, That Aint Kosher, Mr. Cleavage, Kosmo, Puppy Juice, Gary and Uncle Billy. Forgive me if I forgot anyone.

I’d also like to thank Don Valdez, Frank Wheeler, Deuce McGee and Oobstastic for helping to contribute posts during the past year. Contrary to what I may have wrote, Frank Wheeler isn’t gay and I have never banged his mom. So a special thanks to him for being a good sport with that post.

I’d also like to thank all the sites that are on my blog roll. You’ve all helped bring traffic to this blog, whether it’s by linking to one of my stories or allowing me to do a guest post. I’d particularly like to thank Muff Slap and The Campus Socialite who have linked to my stories on almost a weekly basis from day one. Be sure to check out all those sites. You may like what you find.

I hope to continue this blog for many years to come. However, there are a lot of factors that will play a role in the future of this blog. Certainly my personal life will play a factor. I’m married now and who knows if, or when, I’ll have kids. That could certainly hurt my ability to maintain this blog (On the other hand, having a child could give me lots of great material for this blog). I also have a job with my own private office, which allows me to neglect my work and write blog posts on the company’s dime. If I change jobs, I may not have such an ideal situation.

Finally, perhaps the biggest factor will be you the reader. Seeing my readership go up and reading encouraging comments is what keeps be motivated to make this blog even better. So if you enjoy this site, be sure to keep commenting and maybe tell a few friends about it! There’s some Fudgie the Whale cake in it for you if you do!

Here are a few stats and milestones from the first year of LWB:

Most Viewed Post
Terrible Ideas That Still Make Money

Most Commented Post
Tits or Ass? The Great Debate

Most Linked Post
Tits or Ass? The Great Debate

Personal Favorite Post
Hard to pick one but I’d probably say Bullshit Job Interview Questions and Answers or Rap Lyrics Translated for White People Volume III

Most Popular Month
May 2010

Most Popular Day
May 4, 2010