For over two years, I’ve put up a topic of the week up every Friday for everyone to discuss. But do you care? I’m debating whether to keep posting a topic of the week or simply go dark on Fridays, as I do on Wednesday. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Long time readers of the blog know that several years ago, I wrote Where the Hell Am I Going?, a book about my literal and figurative journey after getting laid off just before my wedding. The month-long trip around the US was great for me to clear my head, and I decided to publish what I wrote on the road in 2010. (It’s still for sale if you’re interested in a quick and fun read: Amazon paperback – $14.99/Kindle – $9.99)

I loved writing that book and figured I would write another one of these days. But I didn’t predict that my next book would be something so completely different. When Globe Pequot Press asked me if I would be interested in writing a book in their “How to” series for home-based businesses, I figured it would be fun. And it was.

My book, How to Start a Home-based Blogging Business, is now for sale all over the place from Amazon to Barnes & Noble and everything in between.

Basically what I did here was write down everything I went through and considered along the way as I built Cranky Flier and Cranky Concierge into what it is today. It should be pretty easy to read and it goes step by step through various bits and pieces that will help you build your own blogging business.

Is this a definitive guide on how to start a home-based blogging business? No. I don’t think that’s possible. There will always be a lot of different opinions on how to do things. I have, however, built a successful business this way, and I’d like to think others can as well.

To celebrate, I’m going to give away a couple copies of the book. If you’re interested, just leave a comment below and make sure to include your email address in the field as requested when you leave the comment. (It won’t be displayed to the public and you must include it to be entered.) You can say anything you want in the comment, just make sure you leave it by Thursday, March 21 at 1159pm. I will then use a random number generator to pick the two winners on Friday.

And of course, if you don’t win, the book is for sale at your local bookstore.

In the Trenches: Prioritizing Tasks, Getting Paid – Intuit Small Business Blog
We’ve neglected an important part of the business, and that means I need to either reallocate time or find someone new to handle it.

American Says: Check Your Own Damn Bag. We Say: Finally – Conde Nast Daily Traveler
American started self bag-checking in Chicago yesterday. This is long overdue here in the US, but it’s not quite as simple as it could be.

It’s a rare day that I post on a Sunday, but it’s an even rarer day when we lose a very young member of the online aviation family.

Many of you know NYCAviation.com as a great place for airline dorkiness. The site is co-owned by Phil Derner and Matt Molnar. Shockingly, Matt died Thursday night while he was with his fiancé. He was only 33 years old.

Matt’s family really consisted only had his younger brother and his fiancé, Gina. Now she is sadly putting their wedding funds to a more awful purpose – medical and funeral expenses. Phil has set up a fund to try to offset the remaining costs so that Gina doesn’t have to feel a financial burden in addition to the heavy emotional one.

If you would like to donate to the fund, it has been set up at GiveForward.

Any remaining funds will go to Matt’s favorite charities, The Humane Society and the Wounded Warrior Project.

I didn’t know Matt personally, but I do know Phil and others who knew him well. The online aviation world may seem vast, but it really isn’t that big. When something awful happens to one of our own, I’m happy to be able to provide what little support I can. If you would like to do the same, you can donate as well.

It took more than 6 years to get here, but this post is my 2,000th. And on those 2,000 posts, you’ve left more than 33,333 comments. That’s a lot of words. So I thought I would look back at some of the things I blogged about during that first month in August 2006. Posts were more frequent and a lot shorter back then.

• Delta re-built its LAX hub with Mexico regional jet flights.
• The number of checked bags soared thanks to the liquid ban going into effect and early feedback was positive because of how few carry-ons there were.
• Boeing shut down its Connexion inflight internet service.
• JetBlue CEO David Neeleman wanted to power his planes with coal.
• MAXjet announced flights from London to Vegas.
• I wrote up a trip report from a trip to Indianapolis on the newly-merged US Airways.
• United killed its short-lived regional jet hub in San Antonio.

It’s fun to look back on the first 2,000 posts. If you all keep reading, I look forward to 2,000 more.