My name is John Morris, an artist and lifelong native of Queens (Woodside and then Forest Hills)who pulled up stakes and started a little gallery in Pittsburgh a few years ago. I blog on the Pittsburgh Metroblog. Yes, it’s true that the Steeler Nation may be pursuing a stronger first strike capability but I’m not involved in that and I come in peace. I’m in town to help put together an exiting project in a space I will be renting on East 2nd street in November that I hope to keep everyone updated on.

But never fear, we have our crack team of lolcats working on the issues and should be back up and fully functional shortly

While I was out of the country Metblogs NYC celebrated its 3rd birthday, so here’s a little belated bday message.

That’s right, back on June 16th of 2004 this little site was born and we’ve grown to fully embrace our toddler-hood. From where I’m sitting three is a pretty nice age to be. I don’t know about you guys but I think I feel a temper tantrum coming on…

There are all sorts of bloggers out there. People blog for a variety of reasons. For fun, for information sharing, for venting out thoughts, for meeting new people, blah blah.

People read your blogs. It is true but you cannot believe it. Days go by and you have no response. Then to track people down, you install counters, stat trackers and other available freeware out there. Now you know, people ARE ACTUALLY reading your blog. But still, no response. Then finally, one day, you receive the email saying someone left a comment on your blog. You hurriedly go over and open to see who the other soul is. And???? Darn Spambots!

THE most exciting part of any blogger’s life is – when someone leaves them a comment. Correct me if I am wrong.

Now, there are boring blogs that dont encourage comments. I am not talking about those blogs. The blog that I am talking about is our very own NYC METBLOG! We all post stuff (try to) regularly. I have seen many good posts but what I have not seen is a ready participation via comments. I am not shouting out for comments here, but, maybe, an increased percentage in posting comments not only increases interest but also will encourage all of us to blog more. Increasing the number of posts thusly. Increasing the effectiveness of the bloggers thusly.

Someone should make a positive move on this issue. My idea to initiate some responses from our readers (and I had been intending to this for a while) is to collect POLLS. These are really interesting, offer a good way to collect people’s thoughts and it is just a click away.

My Dear Fellow Bloggers, Readers of Metblogs and the rest of the world!
If you happen to chance upon our blog, happen to like a post, would you happen to leave a comment to the respective blogger?
To answer this question, please select from the POLL options.
GO TO THE POLL

Let us see how much participation we get out of this one!

With the launch of MetroBlogging Kuala Lampur, we enter a whole new country! KL is the largest city in Malaysia, and also it’s capital. The vast metropolis is a hub of art, culture, transportation, and ideas, and is home to the Petronas Towers, which were the tallest buildings in the world for a while.

KL will be a fantastic addition to the MetroBlogging family. And, they are off to a great start! Here is the answer to that age-old question “How do Malaysians celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?”

[Photo courtesy of Wikipedia]

Hi. I’m… uhm… new here.

So… this is… uhm… like my first post.

Or something.

I’m not new to the blogging game, I’ve been hanging around the web over on my own blog for a couple years now. I’m not new to NYC either, I just had my three year anniversary of moving to town. I may not even be new to you. Over on my own blog I keep a diary of subway sketches that has been getting some press lately. (In fact you can check out the article on me in today’s NYPress if you feel so inclined.)

But I am new here. And that’s what matters.

So… see you ’round the schoolyard I guess.

Dear Readers,
NYC Metroblogging is growing… QUICKLY! To facilitate this, we are looking for more enthusiastic bloggers to come aboard and write interesting entries for us. As a Metroblogger volunteer, you will be free to write about whatever they want as long as it has some connection to NY, but you must post AT LEAST three times a week. You also must live in or right around New York City. Other than that, it’s open season! We encourage series posts, or new ideas that will keep people interested and help us grow. It is a great opportunity to get your opinions heard, gain writing experience, blow off steam, or just see what it’s like to write to a broad audience.

We only have a few spots, so if you are interested, you need to move on this NOW! We will only be accepting applications until Friday at noon, so drop us a line before then. Include the following:
- Full Name
- Writing or blogging history if applicable (if you have not written before, that doesn’t mean we will not consider you!)
- A short explanation of why you would be a good blogger with us

That’s it! To apply, send a note to nycmetblogs@gmail.com. We also welcome questions you may have. We are excited to hear from you.

- The Metroblogging Team

Please join me in welcoming our 53^rd Metroblogging City–San Jose, California! It’s pretty odd that it’s taken SJ so long to be represented here on our blog-network, being the home of Silicon Valley and the birthplace of many things tech, but I say better late than never! This is also our 5th Metroblog in the great state of California!

Here are some interesting facts about San Jose, courtesy of Wikipedia:

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, and the tenth-largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Santa Clara County. For the past several years, it has held the title of The Safest Big City in America. San Jose is located in Silicon Valley, at the south end of the San Francisco Bay. With a population of 912,332 San Jose is the largest city in Northern California. Once a small farming city, by 1950 San Jose was a magnet for suburban newcomers in new housing developments (1960s to the 1990s) and became a large thriving urban center of Northern California.

Stop on by and say “Hi!”

Metroblogging San Jose

Welcome our neighbors to the west–Metroblogging Pittsburgh! Pittsburgh is our second Metroblogging site in the fine state of Pennsylvania, preceded by our friends over at Metroblogging Philadelphia. Swing on by, check them out and say “Hi!”

Check out some interesting facts about Pittsburgh over at Wikipedia–come on, you know you want to.

What started out as a once-city venture just keeps on growing. Metroblogging today announced the launch of their 51st city-specific blog community in Auckland, New Zealand.

While Auckland represents a brand new country for Metroblogs, it is actually the second blog focussed on the ever-interesting Australasian continent (following Melbourne). The blog is sure to flourish as its first writer, BigNosedUglyGuy, has the experience of helping to launch Metroblogging London under his belt.

If you get a chance, stop by Auckland and say “G’Day!” I know, I know, that is more of an Aussie thing, but that is the only cheesy reference I can think of! Give me a break.

[photo courtesy of Wikipedia]