![Hey guys, it’s our birthday: The stuff we learned in 2012
After finishing your champagne, Nosh on some cake! As you may or may not know, ShortFormBlog started in earnest on January 1, 2009, and things have kind of gone pretty crazy since then. Among the milestones we hit this year? A nice little mention from Time Magazine, a night at the Shorty Awards (where I got a chance to say hey to the We Are the 99 Percent folks), and some of our coolest articles ever. But we got into this because of the news, so with that said, hit the jump to see our favorite stories from 2012, displayed Summary Sandwich style. — Ernie @ SFB
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The year’s biggest story, and what we learned from covering it The Chicago Sun-Times nailed it earlier this week, rough as it is to admit. With two major shootings and the major debate it caused, it’s the year of the gun. The question is, will things change in 2013?
How Hurricane Sandy brought us together after the storm In 2011, a hurricane got fairly close to causing major damage to NYC. In 2012, it actually happened. The monetary toll was high; so was the resiliency.
The year that politics went totally flip(-flop) The trend started in 2011 with a smiling Herman Cain. In 2012, we got Etch-a-Sketches, doghouses and binders full of women. Will 2013 be a year off?
Oh yeah, Obama won a second term or something Nate Silver called it. Though the president had a fallow period after the first debate, he eventually made it back. And he got on the cover of Time, too.
The ever-precarious situation in Sryia Syria was very volatile in 2012, but we kept you guys up to date. Meanwhile, there’s already too much drama around Benghazi, so let’s focus on those lost.
The opportunities we got to stretch our wings and try new things One of the best things we got to try in 2012 was The Pitch, an experiment in writing long-form articles. We also got the chance to experiment with the form a little, which was a real joy.
» And again, thank you: The reason SFB has continued to be fun after all this time has been because of the people we get to chat with and talk about the news with through this site. Seeing a post of ours impact so many people is awesome, and it’s something we look forward to doing in 2013. So again, thank you, from the entire team. (photo by Mamapyjama/Flickr)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/e90b6d522853ee82001440b11664ed07/tumblr_mfxm7nlbXT1qas8z9o1_500.jpg)
After finishing your champagne, Nosh on some cake! As you may or may not know, ShortFormBlog started in earnest on January 1, 2009, and things have kind of gone pretty crazy since then. Among the milestones we hit this year? A nice little mention from Time Magazine, a night at the Shorty Awards (where I got a chance to say hey to the We Are the 99 Percent folks), and some of our coolest articles ever. But we got into this because of the news, so with that said, hit the jump to see our favorite stories from 2012, displayed Summary Sandwich style. — Ernie @ SFB
Happy electric guitar day, everyone! Les Paul, the musical legend centrally responsible for developing the electric guitar, as well as a range of musical innovations (he also pioneered multi-track recording), was born today in 1915. Paul led a long and industrious life; and still regularly performed into his 90s, ultimately passing away in 2009 from pneumonia complications. In honor of Paul’s birthday, Google has a pretty cool logo variant up that lets you strum some guitar chords, definitely worth a look if you have a few idle moments. A tidbit about the man’s commitment: he shattered his right arm in a car crash, and had the doctors pin his elbow at a 90-degree angle so he could continue to play, even though he’d lost all movement at his elbow. source
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