Ten years ago, I reserved the domain ShaiCoggins.com to host my personal site. Over the years, it has been moved, revamped, redirected, and shifted so many times to reflect the changing seasons of my life.
The Wayback Machine will tell you that my site was first archived on the web on April 2001, on Geocities (no longer available). However, I started maintaining my personal site back in 1999 (yes, in portfolio and blog-like format, long before the word ‘blog’ was invented), and purchased my own domain name in August 2000.
Due to the different ‘start times’ of my online life, I never really thought about my “webversary”. But, a couple of years ago, I felt like I should. I decided to use August 2000 as my official anniversary for this site.
Last year, I did a proper 9th Year Celebration. I was hoping to do an even bigger and better one this year, but I think I’d be hard pressed to commit to anything too massive, what with work and everything else going on in my life right now. But, I’m hoping to share a handful of special surprise posts throughout the month of August to celebrate a decade of ShaiCoggins.com (now also known as Studio Notes, of course!).
As part of this celebration, I’m opening a 10 for 10 Special. That is, I’d love to try and grant 10 special requests or questions to the first 10 Studio Notes readers who leave a comment here with their request/question.
Of course, requests/questions should be within reason. For example, I can’t exactly give you $10,000,000 (or any similar monetary request), even if I wanted to… or I can’t exactly answer overly controversial questions. 
If you have anything reasonable and simple (e.g., “Can you please leave a comment on my blog?” or “What’s your favourite sushi roll?”), then I’d be more than happy to comply. Yes, pretty much similar to the Ask Me Anything feature I had here a few years ago.
And yes, I wish to take this opportunity to say a great big THANKS to all ShaiCoggins.com/Studio Notes readers, both long-time ones and new. Things would’ve never been the same without you.
Thanks to you, I have learned a lot about blogging and community building.
And, of course, I am always grateful for all the friendships that have been developed throughout the years through this site.
Thank you, thank you, thank you…
Looking forward to sharing my life’s journeys with you for many more years.
Kari (3)
eds (2)
Mitch Mitchell (2)
Rachel Cotterill (2)
Anne (1)
bcylady (1)
Connie (1)
Jazzille (1)
macy (1)
Mel W (1)
Congratulations, Shai! And thanks to you, I got my start in the blogging world. It’s been a fun experience and a great learning experience. And we’re both working together again at http://www.kidoosh.com with other innovative plans in the wings. Stay tuned, everyone!
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
Thank you, @Mary Emma! It has been a pleasure knowing you and working with you over the years. You’ve supported many of my crazy web ideas and ventures — from The Write Life/eWriteLife (became an award-winning site!) to AboutWeblogs/b5med…ia (became a huge global media thing)… and now, KIDoosh (still in its early stages, but hoping our team can grow it bit by bit…
). So, for all these and more… THANK YOU! 
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Hello Shai
Congratulations.. a great milestone. I’m going to take you up on the request offer.
For my request – How about posting a favourite Asian recipe to share with us?
I note you lived in Singapore and I saw your chili crab recipe from there on your blog. Yum!
I’ve had curried soft shelled crab in Singapore and absolutely loved it, but crab is a bit expensive to experiment with, so I’ve been I’ve been searching for quite a while for a great soft shelled crab recipe (curried or otherwise). I wondered if you have a tried and true one – or know someone who does
But any Asian dish (not too complicated) would be perfect. I just love Asian food. Don’t go to too much trouble…. but I must admit, all this talk of yummy Asian food is whetting my appetite.
Congrats once again.
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
Wow, thanks, Yvonne. And, that’s a very interesting request. Now I’m racking my brains for a good Asian recipe. Actually, this is my second recipe request based on that chilli crab recipe. So yes, will definitely do it! I’ll keep you posted.
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Oh I miss the Geocities days, and before that Opendiary! Where has time gone? I’m surprised our paths didn’t cross sooner than 2004 seeing as we ‘lived’ in the same cyberhoods
I will ask a question in celebration of a decade of goodness! In your very first days of blogging in 1999, how did it differ from what your blog about in the present day? Was it more like a diary or somewhere to share your art maybe?
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
@Kari – It is interesting how we didn’t cross paths sooner, isn’t it? And thanks for asking – will respond to your question in another blog post.
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Congratulations, sis! Happy 10 years!
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
Thanks, sis! I appreciate it.
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hey there shai! even if I don’t comment all the time, I’ve always been reading this blog. congratulations on 10 years of blogging.
mwah!
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
I always appreciate it when you do drop by, Glo! I love hearing from you. Thanks so much. You definitely been a good part of my blogging life.
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I’ll give you an easy question: What is the meaning of life?
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
LOL, J.R.! That would make a good blog post. Will keep you posted.
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10 Years – Congratulations. You are the blogging and web queen.
Here is my question.
What five things generally make you the happiest each day?
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Shai Coggins reply on August 12th, 2010:
Aw, thanks, Terry! That’s a wonderful compliment. Thank you so much. And, that’s a great question too! Will let you know when I answer. I appreciate it.
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Congratulations Shai!!
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Shai Coggins reply on August 15th, 2010:
Thanks, Jo! And always great to hear from you.
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Wow, 10+ years is a long time! Do you have any screenshots of the Geocities page? I am sure yours wasn’t terrible, but there were a lot of really funky looking ones. Kind of dates your site pretty well too
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Shai Coggins reply on August 15th, 2010:
RogerAD – Looking back, I do feel ancient on the web.
In any case, I responded to your question in my latest blog post. Thanks for saying hello. And yes, my old Geocities looked horrid. Heh.
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Good answer! ^_^
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Shai Coggins reply on September 13th, 2010:
Glad you liked my response, J.R.!
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Hi Shai,
I can’t believe I didn’t ask you a question — I know I read this post!
I hope it’s not too late for mine. Here it is:
Since I feel partly responsible for your love of sushi, I’d like to know… (a) which one was the first ever sushi roll you tried? (b) which sushi is your favourite? (c) which type of sushi will you NEVER try?
Sorry, it’s actually 3. But inquiring minds want to know.
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Shai Coggins reply on September 13th, 2010:
Hey, Nenette. Thanks for asking! I’m about to answer your questions through a new blog post now.
And yes, thanks for the sushi influence. My eating life has been made richer, thanks to my sushi love. 
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