Well, here it is:

"Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me....!"

Total clickbait! One of my favorite kitten photos!

One Year on Steemit!

According to the immutable records of the Steem Blockchain, Curator Cat was "born" on March 9th, 2018 at 13:25 US Pacific Time... so today marks my first anniversary as a Steemian!

It has been a fun first year here. I wasn't quite sure how a "Cat Blog" would go across in this community which — at least in the beginning — struck me as quite serious and all about cryptocurrency, developing apps and blockchain technology. Would "pictures of cats" just be too fluffy, here?

Thankfully, that did not turn out to be the case, and it even seems like my presence here has inspired others to create cat related content! Usage of the #catsofsteemit tag has grown to over 50 regular and sometime posters in less than three months of regular promotion. So that's pretty cool! Hoping to build it to more than 100 before year end!

I had hoped to become a "Minnow" (500+ SP) by the end of my first year, but for various reasons — not limited to the slumping crypto markets — I fell a little short.

Having a nap with Daisy, the dog...

A Few Words of Thanks!

I realize this is not an Oscar thank you speech, but there are a few people I'd like to give a shoutout to, because they were instrumental in helping me get going and keep going here:

To Hive account@acidyo and Hive account@fukako who helped me out with generous gift delegations, early on when I was struggling to get going... they made me a "virtual minnow" for a while. Today, a special thanks goes our to Hive account@nikv who's currently supporting me with a gift delegation, as I move forward towards minnowhood, in my own right.

To Hive account@simplymike who helped and encouraged me a lot when I was a freshly minted Steemian, along with Hive account@davemccoy, were super active in helping newbies get established here.

To Hive account@abh12345 who runs the weekly Curation and Engagement Leagues... which is a marvelous initiative to keep people interested and active, even when the crypto markets seem to be going nowhere but down. You should really check out the leagues, if you haven't already! Similarly, to Hive account@paulag who runs the weekly Redfish Power Up League and Wall of Fame which is another great way to keep people with modest sized accounts enthusiastic about building their Steem footprints! Between them, they run the Hive account@steemcommunity witness — well worth a vote if you have one free! — which is now behind a new initiative to create 250 more Minnows by the end of March! Good stuff!

Last but not least, some slightly "random" shoutouts to Hive account@manorvillemike and Hive account@tyramisoux for "most cats in the house;" to Hive account@phoenixwren for "best cat contest judges;" and to Hive account@kona who created the Hive account@dpet community which now has 100's of regular users through the #dailypetphotography tag... another great way for people to stay active and involved in the world of Steem.

I always help the Hoomans fold laundry!

And Now a CONTEST — the SBI Anniversary Giveaway Part!

Although I am a big fan of Hive account@steevc's "10,000 Minnows" project, part of the reason I am not a perfect candidate, is that I like to have contests and give away stuff.

Which, in turn, means I need liquidity, which means I can't do "100% powered up posts" all the time... because I have to be able to buy prizes and such!

Anyway, Hive account@steembasicincome is one of my favorite Steem initiatives (I currently have 48 shares in the program!), so it seemed like the most appropriate "prize" to give away for this Anniversary Event!

FIVE randomly chosen people (or cats!) who leave a comment including the words "Please add my name to the SBI drawing!" will each receive ONE gift share of SteemBasicIncome!

Upvoting and re-steeming is not required, although I will add more SBI shares to the prize fund if the liquid rewards from this post exceed 2.50 SBD! So, the more votes, the more winners!

So please upvote and re-steem, if the mood grabs you!

Sometimes I nap in the turkey roasting pan...

Finally, Some "Numbers Stuff"

Since the blockchain offers a sort of "permanent record," I wanted to sign off by listing some basic facts about "where I am," at the end of a Year on Steemit:

Number of top level posts: 191
Number of comments left: 3,410
Number of comments received: 3,140
Number of upvotes given: 3,756
Reputation score: 56.882
Current SteemPower: 336.048
Number of followers: 681

And there you have it! I hope you are all having a marvelous continuation of your Caturday!

=^..=