Last night I realized that this week is, in fact, Fanatical Apathy’s Second Anniversary!

What started as a dumping ground for political rants and stray bits of comic material that didn’t really fit anywhere amongst my paid work has grown and evolved into… well, a dumping ground for political rants and stray bits of comic material that doesn’t really fit anywhere amongst my paid work.

Well, evolution’s for suckers anyway. If these last two years have proved anything, it’s that neanderthals can govern just as effectively as their high-foreheaded, so-called “successors.” So long as you ignore the stench of rotting elk carcasses emanating from the Lincoln Bedroom.

It seems strange to look at post-9/11 New York and say that those were simpler times… but they were. Reading back to my earliest posts in this brave new medium, I can see that I thought Bush was a buffoon, but I approved of the War on Terror, Episode 1. A year later, a singularly weird and controversial new war seemed inevitable (scroll down to December 2nd for some slightly horrifying retrospective fun).

And now, here we are. There are things I’ve been intending to do around here for two years that I STILL haven’t gotten around to doing. Things like renaming the place. “Fanatical Apathy” was an offhand oxymoron chosen carelessly back when I thought I’d lose interest in this newfangled “blogging” thing after a month or two. There are fine blogs I’ve been meaning to provide links to, and yes, I’ll get to that soon, definitely, I promise.

My main reason for starting this thing up was the simple idea that a writer should write all the time, which I’ve always tried to do. And as long as I was gonna do that, thought I, why not put some of it out there via a free web-hosting and archiving service? Also, it was nice to be able to publish something without the interference of the battalions of executives and editors who constantly mangle my paid work in the name of making it “better” or “smoother” or “at least slightly coherent.”

Then, using a strong-arm technique known as “buying people drinks,” I persuaded several of my comedian friends to also establish blogs. In fact, I think it’s fair to say that in 2001 I took the initiative in creating the blogosphere. [Gosh, I hope that doesn’t get twisted and used against me somehow in the future.]

But two years on, my reason for continuing has more to do with the community I’ve found myself in. I’m referring both to the loose affiliation of fellow bloggers and to the home-grown community of you, my beloved readers and commenters. If the focus of this execrably-named site has changed or sharpened in the past 24 months, it’s because I’m no longer doing it for me, I’m unquestionably writing it for “us” nowadays.

That being the case, I don’t believe I’m exclusively patting myself on the back when I say Happy Birthday to this place. I’m patting us all on the back, maybe even massaging our collective shoulders a bit, but in an affectionate, fatherly, non-threatening way. Nothing to worry about. Hmm, it’s getting warm in here. Okay, now I’m suggesting that we take off our collective sweaters and get a bit more comfortable…