Happy 1st Blog Anniversary TVB Interaction! :D

This year has flown by! Believe it or not, it's officially been a year since the creation of TVB Interaction. What first started out as a small fry blog has turned into a unique blog with many wonderful loyal readers. Speaking of loyal readers, please take a look at this banner that was created as a tribute to our first anniversary:

The banner above was made by TVB Interaction's #1 reader herself, Krystal from TVB Focus! Krystal, I'd like to thank you for this banner tribute and being such a loyal reader in general. :) Featuring three of my favorite characters from D.I.E. Again, this banner is the first graphic Krystal ever created on Photoshop. She even made this before the first Photoshop banner for her own blog! As stated in the email she sent to me with the banner attached: "I wanted my 1st Photoshop creation to be TVB Interaction's 1st Anniversary banner :)" Awww, thanks Krystal! :D

This leads me to what I want to talk about next: I can not stress enough how amazing it is to create a blog and meet people through it. People say you shouldn't make friends online (i.e., through MySpace and dating sites), but this is the one exception. It's truly special to build a friendship with someone online. Not only are the TVB bloggers I've met friendly, but they share the same interests as me and read (as well as support) my hard work. This has allowed me to make some very close friends. A year ago, I never would've thought that some of the people I'm closest with would be people I met via the Internet!

What TVB Interaction Has Done For Me

I believe TVB Interaction has changed me. I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true. If you know me very well, you would know that I'm one of those people with a tough exterior and warm interior. There are so many people at school who annoy and/or aggravate me. I consider myself a generally nice person, but I can easily get ticked off by certain people. As a result, I can appear very sarcastic and cold towards others. Some people consider me mean. However, it was different when I was online. TVB Interaction allowed me to just be me. I was able to be who I really wanted to be: A nice and friendly person. For some reason, it was just so easy for me to do so online. I didn't feel the need to be the type of person who gives sarcastic remarks to people to get them to shut up. I could just be sweet little me, the kind of person I would not be hesitant to be in real life if people weren't so cruel or untrustworthy.

It also allowed me to hang out with a crowd I felt much more comfortable in. Due to my more mature yet awkward personality, I find it hard to socialize with my peers. I can only find so much in common with them. I am the type of person who is mature in the way that I think more sensibly and be more responsible. As a contrast, the people my age at my school are only mature in the way that they're dating way too early and talking about stuff they should in no way be talking about. The TVB bloggers I've met are different. They're grown up, actually mature, and are genuine, great people. Even if I'm not close to them, I can have friendly conversations with them. These are the kinds of people I feel so much more comfortable with. They are the ones I would hang out with in real life if I had the choice. To put it simply, they gave me the chance to be the person I wanted to be.

TVB Interaction has also helped me decide my future. I know that may sound silly. Why would a TVB blog cause me to realize what I want to do with my life? I've always loved writing. And over the year that I've been updating TVB Interaction, my writing skills have improved dramatically from before. I developed different writing skills such as analyzing, critiquing, and writing satire. These are skills that I learned myself. As a result, it's made me realize that I want to do something with my interest in writing. I keep saying that I'll only write as a hobby and find an alternative career, but that hasn't been working for me. I want to make a career out of writing. It'll be hard, and chances are the job wouldn't be stable nor worth a lot of pay. Right now, I'm actually looking towards becoming a web designer. The job consists of one of my other interests (web design) and can also lead to me becoming a writer. (If you become successful as a web designer, you can actually write for blogs as part of your career!) And I won't give up on the possibility of becoming a writer on the side. One of these days, you will see my [real] name on some sort of publication at the book store. It's a big aspiration, but I am determined in making it.

It May Be Getting Worse, But I'm Forever a Fan

Yes, TVB is getting worse. Yes, I'm becoming more interested in American series than those produced by TVB. You shouldn't bite the hand that fed you though. Blogging for TVB Interaction was the first step in becoming "discovered" for me. For once, there were people who read what I did, critiqued, and complimented it. Plus, no matter how bad the series gets, there's still certain fun in being a TVB fan. This includes being able to recognize all the artistes, following a series process (from the costume fitting to the actual filming and etc), and anticipating upcoming productions.

I'll Always Be Here

I plan on sticking around for years to come. Perhaps what I'm most proud of about TVB Interaction is that it's my first successful commitment. I'll admit that commitment is one of the things I have trouble with. Prior to creating this blog, I was constantly creating new blogs and abandoning old ones. This blog and past year has proved to me that I am capable of commitment. TVB Interaction will always be one of my priorities. Yes, I'm an aspiring writer. I want to branch out of just writing for TVB. I am currently trying to do so with my other blog Speak4Myself. I also want to write stories. But I'll never forget my "baby."

Iris Says Thanks Again

I've probably said this hundreds of times, but thank you! Thanks to all my wonderful readers who've been supporting this blog. You guys mean the world to me. It feels great to know that I have so many loyal readers, both silent and active. To those who have left me countless tags and comments, thanks for letting me hear your thoughts! To those who are silent, let me hear from you! I was once also a silent reader, and trust me when I say it's so much fun being a "loud" reader. So go ahead and leave me a comment now if you haven't already! Don't worry, I won't bite. ;)

Cheers to a great year and let's hope for many more to come!