Happy Valentines Day. I have been blogging for 9 years now.

As a DWF Technical Evangelist, I started blogging by supplying Shaan Hurley with guest articles that he would post on his blog, Between The Lines, on my behalf. On February 14, 2006 I started my own blog, Beyond the Paper, using Shaan's naming strategy where the emphasis was on DWF files and what you could do with them beside just printing.

Here is my first Beyond the Paper blog post:

When our team's DWF work grew into a more formalized presence for Autodesk Labs, I defected from the DWF-related blog to It's Alive in the Lab. I wrote my first article on April 10, 2007 entitled "It's alive. It's alive. It's alive." (an allusion to the original Frankenstein movie) which described the mission of Autodesk Labs.

No one likes to follow a blog that goes stale due to lack of content. So Autodesk blogging guidelines (suggestions, not rules) recommend that bloggers blog at least 3 times per week. I decided to blog 5 times per week. I have posted at least one blog article every business day since February 14, 2006. It's been 9 years. Technically, during my first sabbatical (6-week vacation to recharge), I had guest authors fill-in. For my most recent sabbatical, I was able to cover work-related items plus my exploits in New Orleans and keep the streak going. In the coming months, I will move to a 3 times per week schedule.

A blog is a novel written one page at a time. It's Alive in the Lab is the Autodesk Labs story. It is my story. Thanks to the Autodesk Labs community whose readership keeps the blog going. The comments on this blog reflect our dialog about gallery exhibits, research, technology previews, and thoughts related to the Office of the CTO (OCTO) of which Autodesk Labs is a part. Thanks for your readership and participation. A blog without comments is a monolog.

Sewing words together like body parts is alive in the lab.