I frequently think to myself about the years that have passed before my eyes so quickly and what I have done with them on that day that happens once a year. My birthday. It was on June 12, in what seems like so many years ago, that I was brought into this world, and it is this year's that I feel like I have finally accomplished something meaningful.

Oh sure. When I was twelve I won the spelling bee, finishing first out of 1,500 other students, in the county finals, with the word "schadenfreude". It felt fantastic to know that none of those other losers would know the full glory that I experienced at that moment, but it was fleeting.

Fifteen was also an important year when not only did I finish first in my high school decathlon, but I also made it to state finals in the 500 yard butterfly. Yet, I still felt something was missing.

Eighteen, when I discovered the joys of smoking and drinking, was when I started to come into my own, beating all but "Buddy" Jones in tequila shot competitions, but I was still unfocused.

This year, at long last, do I feel like I have focused my abilities and sharpened my intellect like a fine blade to the point where I have been able to accomplish something. The last year has seen the launch of spudWorks, a viewer supported website that features video "art", "music", and weekly columns giving exposure to multitudes of previously unheard of artists. I can now feel like I have done something with my life.

So I shall celebrate. The entire spudWorks team will be taken out to the Music Box in Manhattan for a night of drinking, and... drinking. Where we shall remember the early days when spudWorks was a small product of love run by but a few savvy engineers and a couple of avant-garde artists and was not the behemoth that it is today. Of course any loyal spudWorks viewer is more than welcome to join us after 9 to share your stories of how you found spudWorks.

- Colin Ferm
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