Jan
11
229

Twenty-Five

Essays, Personal

Today I am a quarter of a century old. To be honest I never thought I would be this old, it was a number beyond where I could imagine or visualize but the last few years have just gone by in a blur and here I am, 25 years young and finally able to rent a car without paying an age penalty.

Following up from the open source resolutions, here’s what I’m going to aim for this year in no particular order:

  • Learn a language where WP has a big impact (probably Spanish).
  • Take more videos, post at least 2 a month.
  • Post 10,000 photos in 2009.
  • Post at least one book a month I’ve enjoyed.
  • Don’t try to do everything myself.
  • Redesign Ma.tt! (And get back up in the search engine rankings for “Matt” on Google.)
  • Post more personal stuff. (Like this.)
  • Spend more time working with and coaching other young entrepreneurs and startups.
  • Donate to 5 Open Source projects that touch my life daily.
  • Learn to make/prepare one food item a month.
  • Launch, launch, launch! (Real artists ship.)
  • Get people to capitalize WordPress correctly, and stop using the fake mis-proportioned W. :) (Here are some correct ones.)
  • Print my favorite picture of another person every month and send it to that person in a picture frame.
  • Reinstate WordPress Wednesdays and make it easier to do an amazing photoblog with WP.

(Hat tip to Boris Mann, Benji, Niall Kennedy, John Roberts, Titanas, Network Geek, Avinash, Kirb, Julie, Mark Jaquith, and Kabatology for the resolutions.)

This is the seventh year I’ve blogged my birthday: 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23, and 24. If you had asked me 7 years ago where I would be today I couldn’t have imagined all of the amazing things that have happened, the incredible people I’ve met, and the communities that I’ve become a part of. Thank you. Here’s to the next 25.


229 Comments

  • ElGekoNegro January 11, 2009 @ 2:37 pm

    Happy Birthday, Matt.

  • Justin Carmony January 11, 2009 @ 2:45 pm

    Great goals. I recently hit 25 a few months ago, and I’m still feel its impossible that I’m “that old” (and 30, 35, 40 will only come sooner),

    Good luck on the goals, learning a second language is great. Visiting WordPress blogs in Spanish has really helped me keep it up for me. My goal in 2009 is to work on my Spanish again so my accent sounds native again.

  • Chris Rawlinson January 11, 2009 @ 2:50 pm

    Matt,

    Happy Happy and so hope you had a great day. All the best for 09 am sure will be a good one, Was a pleasure meeting you last year and hope to see you again in South Africa in 09.
    Cheers mate,

    Chris
    p.s peeps born in Jan are the best! (mines on the 17 :) )

  • disconnesso January 11, 2009 @ 2:51 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt

  • Javier Aroche January 11, 2009 @ 2:58 pm

    Congrats for the century quarter! ;)

    Glad to know you (possibly) gonna learn Spanish, we’re a lot of people running WP.

    With the redesign, what a about an iphone friendly version?

    Cheers

  • wolly January 11, 2009 @ 3:02 pm

    Happy Birthday :-)

  • Jonathan January 11, 2009 @ 3:02 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! Thanks for WordPress and all the best for the next 25 years!

  • John January 11, 2009 @ 3:07 pm

    Happy birthday! The world wouldn’t be the same without you and all the great stuff you’ve done for the community. So, thank you.

  • donnacha | WordSkill January 11, 2009 @ 3:12 pm

    Oh …

    … I guess this means you’re not taking on board my suggestion of hunting down and shooting the WordPress Direct guys then, huh?

  • yemoonyah January 11, 2009 @ 3:28 pm

    Happy Birthday !!! 2009 is gonna be great year for Capricorns :-)

  • Boris Mann January 11, 2009 @ 3:47 pm

    Printing photos of people is an excellent one. I printed some photos of mine taken over the last year, and I definitely want to a) print more and b) take more print-worthy photos.

    Happy Birthday, Matt!

  • daju January 11, 2009 @ 3:48 pm

    Happy 25th!

  • Rick Beckman January 11, 2009 @ 3:51 pm

    Happy birthday, Matt! Definitely some lofty goals there; best wishes for this year!

  • hami January 11, 2009 @ 3:58 pm

    huh .. you are quite busy person (yearly)

  • Fepe January 11, 2009 @ 4:05 pm

    Happy birthday Matt :)

    Or should I say “Feliz cumpleaños Matt” :p (You’ll understand it somewhere in the next 365 days :p).

    I loved that one about the picture, it would be nice to get a framed picture from someone I know. So go for it.

  • Austin January 11, 2009 @ 4:15 pm

    Pretty cool post. It took me forever to notice the difference between the two WordPress logos. The first one is slightly wider.

  • Austin January 11, 2009 @ 4:16 pm

    Oh. I forgot to say Happy Birthday!

  • PT January 11, 2009 @ 4:18 pm

    25 years old, congratulations

  • edy January 11, 2009 @ 4:21 pm

    happy birthday, Matt :)

  • Rick January 11, 2009 @ 4:21 pm

    Felix compleanos, Matt. In the spirit of learning a new language (Spanish), here’s a link to the happy birthday song, Las Mananitas, that we all sing down here in Mexico on these special days:
    http://www.pvscene.com/?p=237.

    Even if this link doesn’t show up in the comments, go to it and receive the wishes.

    I thank you from the bottom of my heart for WordPress.

  • Dawn @ My Home Sweet Home January 11, 2009 @ 4:34 pm

    Happy Birthday!

    I have a friend who takes photos, and then prints, frames, and gives them to people. She’s already given me a group picture from New Year’s Eve. I take lots of pictures but rarely print, so it’s a real treat. Your resolution is good and will be appreciated.

    As a loyal WP user, thanks for all you do. Have a great birthday!

  • Kristan January 11, 2009 @ 4:38 pm

    “Print my favorite picture of another person every month and send it to that person in a picture frame.”

    That’s my favorite one.

    You’ve accomplished a lot of impressive things in a relatively short amount of time. I hope I can say the same in 2 years.

  • Mike Little January 11, 2009 @ 4:53 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt.

    Thank you for the last 5, and I look forward to the next 25.

    All the very best. Mike

  • John (Human3rror) January 11, 2009 @ 4:58 pm

    congrats. you’re the man. keep up the great work, we’ll see you back in another 25…!

  • Mark McWilliams January 11, 2009 @ 4:59 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! :D – I’m not that far behind you, just about 7 and a half years! (As I’m only 17!) – So still a kid really, but into this kind of stuff, and love WordPress!

    One of these days, I’ll have to have a little read back through some of your blog posts from years ago. Any you’d recommend I take a look at, as there’s quite a lote of ‘em! In fact, this might be a nice idea for a post itself. What do you think?

    Looking forward to many more years of WordPress updates, improvements, and successes! It’s a joy to work with, and I’d love it to be taken to the next level.

    Enjoy the day!

    Thanks
    Mark

  • TripleM January 11, 2009 @ 5:02 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt..
    I couldn’t make it to Dubai.. for WordPress meet up…maybe we will meet the next time.

  • Alejandro Martinez January 11, 2009 @ 5:02 pm

    Happy Birthday! And if you want learn spanish, we can talk in spanish using Skype xD

  • Isaak Kwok January 11, 2009 @ 5:03 pm

    Happy Birthday, Matt!

  • Tina January 11, 2009 @ 5:05 pm

    Happy birthday Matt! :)

  • JMorris January 11, 2009 @ 5:08 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! You’ve done extremely well for yourself at such a young age. You should be proud!

  • Geof F. Morris January 11, 2009 @ 5:23 pm

    Happy birthday, Matt. 10,000 photos! That’s a lot.

  • Toni January 11, 2009 @ 5:29 pm

    Happy Birthday my friend!

    I’ll join your pledge to learn Spanish :)

  • Douglas January 11, 2009 @ 5:33 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! That is a terrific set of resolutions.

  • Fiona January 11, 2009 @ 5:50 pm

    Happy Birthday! (I didn’t ever think about the proportions of the WP logo!)

  • Lester Chan January 11, 2009 @ 5:54 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt!

  • money January 11, 2009 @ 6:07 pm

    Happy birthday,Matt!
    You are only 3-year older than me.But you have aceive such a great success.Terrific!

  • Rai January 11, 2009 @ 6:11 pm

    kudos on your bday and life in general, im a new member in wordpress, and i like to read real life books (blogs), but dont know if i could be an author of my day to day autobiography, so i wanna congratulate the fact that u can and also, awesome background, it looks so colorful.
    p.s. i speak spanish and i can help whenever u need it.

  • Anthony January 11, 2009 @ 6:21 pm

    Happy Birthday! And good luck on the resolutions!

  • Casey January 11, 2009 @ 6:22 pm

    Happy Bday Matt. Yeah I remember turning 25 and thought it felt a bit odd. Now I am just a few weeks past 30 and it feels like it went by even faster.

    Make sure you take time to enjoy life! Oh and ill try to help with the Matt rankings with a post and a link to ma.tt sooner or later.

  • MadéJunés January 11, 2009 @ 6:24 pm

    Haapy Birthday :)

  • Giuseppe January 11, 2009 @ 6:24 pm

    Happy birthday Matt! Excited to see some of those photos this year!

  • Jaypee January 11, 2009 @ 6:44 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! Like what you said earlier, you’re now on version 2.5 hehe

    Btw, it was nice meeting you at WordCamp. Hope you have fun on your special day and God bless!

  • Deny Sri Supriyono January 11, 2009 @ 6:48 pm

    happy birthday, matt!

    may all resolutions becoming true in this year.
    wish you can do all the very best and coming in useful in the rest of your life.

  • Douglas Bell January 11, 2009 @ 6:49 pm

    Happy birthday, Matt!

    Just think where you might be in the year 2034 (twenty-five years from now!)…

  • Bryan Villarin January 11, 2009 @ 6:57 pm

    You rock, Matt. Happy birthday!

  • Uchu Keling January 11, 2009 @ 7:23 pm

    Happy 25th Birthday Matt.. I am 41 today.. great to share the same birthday with the person who makes WordPress a great application.

  • Marcus Hochstadt January 11, 2009 @ 7:25 pm

    Congraz, Matt!

    How could this look like — spend more time working with and coaching other young entrepreneurs?

  • iRonnie January 11, 2009 @ 7:27 pm

    Happy birthday Matt! May you have a rewarding and fun-filled year…

  • Roland Tanglao January 11, 2009 @ 7:30 pm

    happy birthday matt! thanks for wordpress! thanks for being a positive world changing force!

    …Roland

  • Chris Thomson January 11, 2009 @ 7:35 pm

    Happy Birthday! Thanks for all of your hard work you’ve contributed over the years, Matt.

  • Nuo January 11, 2009 @ 7:53 pm

    Happy birthday, Matt!
    Learn a language where WP has a big impact – actually you can take Chinese into consideration too ;)

  • Jamie January 11, 2009 @ 8:26 pm

    Happy belated birthday!

    Hope you have a blast, and treat yourself to a day off.. you deserve it.

  • 0p0 January 11, 2009 @ 8:35 pm

    Thank you for the gorgeous WordPress, projects like this make life easier and even happier by providing such a beautiful piece of software.
    Cheers and happy birthday! :)

  • Chip January 11, 2009 @ 8:54 pm

    Wow wow happy birthday Matt. Can’t believe you’re only 25 considering everything amazing you have done!!
    You’re more than right to choose Spanish. It’s one of the most beautiful language in the world! Feliz cumpleaños. Looking forward to more of your personal blog posts.
    And it’s perfect if you can make photo uploading on WP easier :)

  • endhoot January 11, 2009 @ 9:10 pm

    happy birthday, matt! waiting for you to come to indonesia :)

  • Michael Moore January 11, 2009 @ 9:11 pm

    Feliz Cumpleanos Matt !

    Suggestions for learning Spanish…
    1.I really started to learn Spanish when I picked up a little book at City Lights in fall of ’66…The Selected Poems of Federico Garcia Lorca… poems on facing pages..one page in Spanish, facing the page in English…. you learn how to express from the heart… here is an Amazon link
    /www.amazon.com/Selected-Poems-Federico-Garcia-Lorca/dp/0811216225
    Neruda, et al work as well

    2. Whenever you travel in Mexico, Spain and Latin America… carry a dictionary, get away from gringo hotels restaurants and hangouts… make a fool of yourself (and you WILL make some very funny missteps) People will laugh a little, help you… and love you for trying

    3. Listen to music in Spanish… so many artists, so little space to make a list… Cafe Tacuba, Molotov, Calle 13, Orisha, Ricardo Arjona… just getting started

    4. If you read a book by Garcia Marquez or another author whose native language es el Castellano, get the version in Spanish and keep your dictionary handy…it’s work, but so is learning to play the sax or write code like it’s poetry

    5. If you are unattached, the best way to learn is to get a profesora (or sleeping dictionary)…in other words, a girl friend from whichever part of the Spanish speaking world…you will pick it up really quickly that way….

  • Gary LaPointe January 11, 2009 @ 9:14 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt!!!

  • Jeana January 11, 2009 @ 9:38 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt!
    I hope you achieve all your goals in 2009 plus more.
    I turned 25 this past October and realized just how fast life goes by.

    Enjoy!
    Jeana

  • Danesh January 11, 2009 @ 10:13 pm

    Happy Birthday Dude!! Have a great one.

    Thanks for the great work you bring the blogging world :D

  • Dries Buytaert January 11, 2009 @ 10:30 pm

    Congratulations, Matt! Rock on. :-)

  • Mark Jaquith January 11, 2009 @ 10:42 pm

    Don’t try to do everything myself.

    I struggle with this, too. I’m particular about how I want things done, and I calculate the likelihood of someone else doing it in that exact way to be near zero. So I do things, or they don’t get done. It’s frustrating because you end up spending a lot of times doing things that aren’t furthering your life goals, or a lot of time stressing about all the menial things that need to get done but you’re not doing.

    I’m trying to do better, starting with hiring a housekeeper.

  • Fredelig January 11, 2009 @ 10:54 pm

    Congrats, Matt!. :)

    That’s a big list. If you can do half it will still be great!

  • Albert January 11, 2009 @ 11:11 pm

    Happy Birthday, Matt.

    We share a birthday day but I’m a little older than you (I’m 36).

  • Unknown Nobody January 11, 2009 @ 11:14 pm

    Happy Birthday… though it is a day late. Your right about time flying. My twenties went by so quick. I am now 30 and I bet I will be 40 before I know it.

  • Cupid Blogger January 11, 2009 @ 11:29 pm

    Hi matt, happy birthday to you…Looking forward to meet you in WordPress Wordcamp Indonesia 2009

  • Jeremy January 11, 2009 @ 11:46 pm

    No, no. Thank you!

  • Andrew Ferguson January 11, 2009 @ 11:50 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! I’ll be turning 23 in a couple weeks and agree that I never thought I’d get to this age…I feel old.

    Regarding 10,000 photos: I think that’s a lot. And as someone who takes my fair share of photographs, I think your placing quantity over quality. Personally, I’d rather see 1000 good photos than 10k okay photos. Even better, 100 amazing photos.

    Why do you want to post 10,000 photos?

    P.S. Thanks for WordPress!

    • Matt January 12, 2009 @ 4:18 pm

      For me the photos are mostly auto-biographical. I don’t do a great job right now of highlighting the good ones, of which there are usually only 1-2 per album.

  • Fernando January 11, 2009 @ 11:58 pm

    Happy birthday Matt!

    I’m really surprised, you’re so young! You have made a lot of good things and a lot are going to come. Congratulations!

  • Ben January 12, 2009 @ 12:29 am

    Congrats on your 25th birthday!

  • strk January 12, 2009 @ 12:30 am

    Happy birthday and best whishes for your wonderful new generation business

  • George Serradinho January 12, 2009 @ 12:50 am

    Good luck with all your goals.

  • Tim January 12, 2009 @ 12:53 am

    Happy birthday, Matt. Thanks for WordPress. As the senior citizen said to you at Wordcamp2006, you are one very impressive young man.

    Not so young any more :-)

  • Jonathan Dingman January 12, 2009 @ 12:54 am

    Did no one else catch up on that this was Matt’s birthday?

    Happy birthday Matt! Still a young guy, but very, very successful.

    You’ve done some amazing things Matt, quite a few things to be proud of.

  • Gil January 12, 2009 @ 12:55 am

    Happy Birthday! :)

  • Aahz January 12, 2009 @ 12:58 am

    Happy Birthday, Matt! As a result of Automattic I owe you so much that you’ll never even realize, and yet all I can give you is a birthday greeting here and in my Weekly WordPress Roundup.

    Thank you! And Happy Birthday once again!

  • Doron January 12, 2009 @ 12:59 am

    Congratulations matt!
    “If you had asked me 7 years ago where I would be today I couldn’t have imagined all of the amazing things that have happened…”
    I wish you that in seven years from now you will write this same sentence again.

  • Karel Segers January 12, 2009 @ 1:08 am

    Happy Birthday Matt.
    Be prepared: life gets better and better after 25!!
    Cheers from downunder,
    Karel

  • Vijay January 12, 2009 @ 1:13 am

    Many many happy returns of the day matt.
    Wish you a great life ahead.
    You are doing great work. Cheers.

  • Thejesh GN January 12, 2009 @ 1:24 am

    Happy Birthday and All the very best for 2009.

  • markku January 12, 2009 @ 1:29 am

    Happy birthday Matt! :D

  • Alejandro Urrutia January 12, 2009 @ 1:30 am

    Nice list Mat, I have one too, but mine’s from a 30 years person. Like you and others says: I never imagined myself with this age… If I take a look to myself I still think about me as a twenty something :D

    Nice to know that you are going to learn Español. Now I’m learning mandarin and maybe french

  • Luke January 12, 2009 @ 2:08 am

    Happy 25th mate! I’m liking that idea of making it easier to make a photoblog, I’ll be keeping my eye out for that :)

  • Mohammad January 12, 2009 @ 2:13 am

    hi .
    good luck matt !
    That’s it.

  • Eviwidi January 12, 2009 @ 2:23 am

    Hi Matt, firstly I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY…!!!! Wishing all the best for you!

    By the way, I’m surprising about:
    “Print my favorite picture of another person every month and send it to that person in a picture frame”
    Are you realy to do that?
    I’m also very happy if you do to me..:) *I wish*

    Thanks for information about the WP logo.

    On next Wordcamp 2009 in Jakarta, how long do you will stay in Jakarta?
    Will you visiting Bali island or Lombok?

    Its many beautiful place in Indonesia, I hope you can enjoy your trip, and I can see your beautiful picture from Indonesia in this blog.

    Cheerz..

    -Evi-

  • Daniel Craig Jallits January 12, 2009 @ 2:30 am

    Wishing you a very Happy Birthday and another successful year Ma.tt!

  • Ajay January 12, 2009 @ 2:39 am

    Happy Birthday Matt!!!

    I’ve blogged about my birthday for five years now, 22 till 26. Would love to see an update post on what you did today :)

  • Yves January 12, 2009 @ 2:58 am

    “don’t try to do everything [yourself]” is most important. It will let you do more things for your relatives, friends, colleagues and by yourself.
    Happy birthday, Matt !

  • John January 12, 2009 @ 3:00 am

    Happy Birthday Matt! Good luck on the next 25, not that you’ll need luck, just more of the savvy and skill that got you through the first. Cheers!

  • Michael Torbert January 12, 2009 @ 3:06 am

    Happy Birthday Matt. Hopefully you’re able to achieve all of your prescribed goals this year.

  • AS January 12, 2009 @ 3:08 am

    Happy Birthday!

  • Dennis Morhardt January 12, 2009 @ 3:34 am

    Happy Birthday, learn German, it’s bigger than the Spanish community ;) . And for the WordCamp in Germany.

  • sabin January 12, 2009 @ 3:56 am

    Happy birthday!

  • Claudius January 12, 2009 @ 4:07 am

    Happy birthday!
    Well, your 2nd for Matt, so that’s not too bad: http://www.google.com/search?q=matt&pws=0

  • Dario Salvelli January 12, 2009 @ 4:31 am

    I’m also 25 (in February, 26 :( ). Happy Birth Matt! :-)

  • Alex Sysoef January 12, 2009 @ 4:31 am

    Happy Birthday Matt!

    So much accomplished by only 25! Keep it going and your life is already made huge impact on life’s of others and at this rate I don’t see it stopping!

    Happy Birthday!

  • Conz January 12, 2009 @ 5:00 am

    cheers to that!

  • Twanna A. Hines (Funky Brown Chick) January 12, 2009 @ 5:00 am

    … and the 25 after the next 25. :)

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY

  • Frank January 12, 2009 @ 5:06 am

    Happy birthday! Thanks for your work on WordPress and your attitude to open source.

  • Alex January 12, 2009 @ 5:19 am

    Hey Matt, congrats on your big 25! Hope you can realize all your goals and you will have another successfully and healthy 25 years and hopefully more.

    Maybe a goal for 2010 would be: Learn an additional language, this time German ;)

    Hope to see you at WordCamp in Germany!

  • Shaibanii January 12, 2009 @ 5:41 am

    Happy birthday Matt! :-)

  • woddfellow2 January 12, 2009 @ 5:45 am

    Happy belated birthday!

  • Hyder January 12, 2009 @ 5:48 am

    Happy Birthday Matt! I remember being 25 five years and thinking what I would be doing five years from then, working for myself was number one on the list.

    Thanks to WordPress, and You, for contributing to that dream.

  • erica January 12, 2009 @ 5:59 am

    Happy Birthday!

  • Pulpo January 12, 2009 @ 6:12 am

    That one about learning Spanish I vote for!!!!
    Next Wordcamp in Argentina could be nice practice

  • javipas January 12, 2009 @ 6:12 am

    Happy birthday, Matt! Thank you and all your team for this really great work you’re doing.

    Good luck with your resolutions. Especialmente con la primera ;)

  • Carson January 12, 2009 @ 6:22 am

    Congrats on the milestone. I promise you that your next 25 will pass a lot faster than your first. I know. I’m heading toward the finish line on my third 25.

  • dinu January 12, 2009 @ 6:28 am

    happy birthday !!!

  • huda January 12, 2009 @ 6:46 am

    Happy birthday..
    I like the open source resolution.. nice idea :-)

  • Phil v. Sassen January 12, 2009 @ 7:01 am

    Best wishes from Berlin Germany!

  • Rosa J.C. January 12, 2009 @ 7:25 am

    It’s great to hear you’re thinking of learning Spanish.

  • Marcelo Lynch January 12, 2009 @ 7:40 am

    Well, Matt, congratulations! Without you the ying yang woulb be a chaos.

    I had the pleasure to meet you in WordCamp Argentina 2008 (I was the kid), and it was one of the most memorable moments of my life. Thanks for all you’ve done, and… keep on track!

    Code is poetry. Matt is the poet.

  • rafael January 12, 2009 @ 7:52 am

    FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS (IN SPANISH, MEXICO)
    ZUMGEBUSTAG VIEL GLÜCK

  • heather January 12, 2009 @ 7:53 am

    An awesome set of goals. Happy birthday, Matt!

  • Network Geek January 12, 2009 @ 7:55 am

    Hey, thanks for the “hat tip”!
    Hopefully, you’ll remember that this site was “Photo Matt” once upon a time and be motivated to get back into sharing your photography again this year. It’s so easy to lose our passions as we get older and get caught up in the race to get more “stuff”. Besides, you go so many interesting places, there have to be lots of opportunities to take pictures!
    Have a great year!

  • Julie January 12, 2009 @ 7:56 am

    This is a great list! I’m excited for all of these, and they’re not even my resolutions!

  • Chip January 12, 2009 @ 8:11 am

    Happy birthday! Keep it up with your goals. I’ll be watching you.

  • joaon January 12, 2009 @ 8:26 am

    Congrats, Matt! And thanks for the legacy you’ve already left behind!

  • Augustin January 12, 2009 @ 8:48 am

    Happy birthday Matt! Good luck with your (numerous) resolutions, and all my regards from France !

    =)

  • Luxiano January 12, 2009 @ 8:55 am

    Happy Birthday, Matt!! I wish I have goals for this year :P

  • gene January 12, 2009 @ 9:20 am

    congratulations.

    thanks for wordpress.

  • John Biddle January 12, 2009 @ 9:30 am

    I am amazed at what you have already accomplished by such a young age. It’s a wonderful thing how the accelerating rate of change in our knowledge, our technology and our access to information have expanded the opportunities for everyone with the will to create and achieve.

    Thanks for WordPress, which is making my web life easier and more productive.

  • Sean January 12, 2009 @ 9:51 am

    Happy birthday Matt. Not only can you now rent a car without paying an age penalty, your car insurance will also go down. Also, you if you think time flies now, it only goes faster once you hit 25. I’m not sure why but one day I woke up and was in my 30′s. In closing, I like your goals for 2009. Keep up the great work and again, happy birthday!

  • maya January 12, 2009 @ 9:56 am

    Really nice post, I love the idea about sending your favorite person a picture frame – really sweet.

  • Mike January 12, 2009 @ 9:59 am

    25 years old and look how much you’ve accomplished…great job…;)

  • MY-Hou January 12, 2009 @ 10:09 am

    Happy Birthday?

  • Maria January 12, 2009 @ 11:28 am

    I’d be glad to teach you spanish :D

    Happy Bday, Matt!

  • Matt January 12, 2009 @ 11:33 am

    Happy BIrthday Matt! I’m 25 this year too. I spotted your dip in Google rankings the other day – as photomatt used to be right up the top.

  • Mark January 12, 2009 @ 11:44 am

    Happy birthday Matt!

    Thats quite an impressive list of resolutions!

    Good luck in accomplishing those.

  • Giant January 12, 2009 @ 11:49 am

    Just wait until you’re asked if you want the senior special… not a good day.

  • SE7EN January 12, 2009 @ 12:30 pm

    Happy birthday :D I’m looking forward to the redesign

  • Andy Gongea January 12, 2009 @ 12:33 pm

    Cheers Matt! Happy Birthday!!!

  • Nicolas January 12, 2009 @ 12:36 pm

    Happy Birthday!

  • tony conrad January 12, 2009 @ 12:55 pm

    joyeaux anniversaire cher ma.tt

  • j0an January 12, 2009 @ 12:57 pm

    hi matt!
    happy birthday from argentina!

  • Banago January 12, 2009 @ 1:00 pm

    Congrulation Matt! This must be a very special year for you – WordPress is very fit and healthy right now :)

    I think you should add the 2009 resolutions one more thing – you should attend (and help organize) a WordPress camp in a in-development country as mine – Albania.

    Albania is very near to Italy – a couple hundred kilometers. I tried to attend the WP camp at Italy last year – but I had to wait 2 months, until the Italian consulate employers (the ones that deliver visas) got back from holidays. So I missed it. Again now, you have to ask for a visa 2 months before you can get it.

    Organizing a WP camp in Albania would be great because many other people around Albania who have to get visas to go to Italy or other developed countries would benefit by coming easily to Albania.

    What do you think Matt?

    • Matt January 12, 2009 @ 4:27 pm

      I’m open to going any place where there is a WordCamp. :) There are a lot though so might need to cut down on travel this year.

  • Guntram Engelhardt January 12, 2009 @ 1:21 pm

    Happy Birthday, Matt!!! Hope you will have a nice day. With all the things you like and those which make this day specially..

    And thanx for WP!

  • Mathew Sanders January 12, 2009 @ 1:40 pm

    Wow! Happy birthday! You’re so young!! :-)

  • Chelmus Mihai January 12, 2009 @ 1:49 pm

    you are the man!!! happy new year

  • John Lynn January 12, 2009 @ 2:18 pm

    Well done Matt. I love the goals and Happy Birthday. It’s really quite amazing to see what you’ve done in your short life. It was a pleasure to meet you and here you speak at WordCamp Las Vegas. Looking forward to all the ongoing changes with WordPress.

  • hae min cho January 12, 2009 @ 2:21 pm

    Wow. That’s really an inspiring list. I like that you have “Post more personal stuff,” as one of your goals. It’s a rare quality to be so warm and authentic in your public as well as private persona. Happy birthday, Matt! May all your hopes and intentions for this year come bounding forth in ways even you could not have imagined! “You’ve got the world on a string…”

  • HiMY SYeD January 12, 2009 @ 2:41 pm

    Well old man,

    You still have ten years until you’re 35.

    And 35 is the upper limit of adolescence.

    Feliz Navidad.

    ~ HiMY! ~

  • Manuel Reis January 12, 2009 @ 2:54 pm

    Hey, just missed it by a day. Happy B-day.

    And, please, come to Portugal for a future WordCamp!

  • Pande January 12, 2009 @ 3:24 pm

    Feliz cumpleaños!
    I hope you understand my greeting soon!
    ;-)

  • Patrick Havens January 12, 2009 @ 3:25 pm

    Well Matt, you survived your birthday. Do anything interesting?

    And as a Resolution you should of had on your list.

    To continue to live your life trying to positively effect the people around you that you can.

    I always love to try and keep that one handy. :)

  • Rich January 12, 2009 @ 3:40 pm

    Happy (belated) Birthday, Matt!

    Great resolutions, too…. I just hope I don’t have to see all 10,000 of those photos in the WordPress Planet newsfeed! (pretty please???)

  • Ptah Dunbar January 12, 2009 @ 3:49 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! I can’t believe your only 4 years older than me! I knew you were young, but man! lol

    Congrats on the OS resolutions, have an awesome year!

  • Wayne January 12, 2009 @ 4:32 pm

    Happy Belated Birthday.

    I’m turning 33 myself next Saturday. When I pause and think that – were you to stop at the age of 25 you would have contributed more to the world the the rest of my years combined… well… I have a little trouble breathing. :)

    May your 25th year see you conquer the largest goals yet.

  • Cristhian January 12, 2009 @ 5:48 pm

    Felicidades matt, departe de un usuario venezolano fiel 100% a wordpress.

    Un Saludo, grande!!!

  • Brian Elliott January 12, 2009 @ 7:24 pm

    Happy belated birthday. I just realized we share the same birthday. I had a great one, hope you did too. Thanks for giving us WordPress!

  • Dianso January 12, 2009 @ 8:29 pm

    Happy Bday Matt.

  • Pablo January 12, 2009 @ 11:43 pm

    Happy Birthday!!!

  • January 13, 2009 @ 6:26 am

    Happy Birthday and hurry up learning Spanish. We’ll start Portuguese in 2010 :)

  • awi January 13, 2009 @ 7:05 am

    When I hit twenty-five, the thought of being a quarter of a century old made me feel old. But at least you have a lot of successes to show for it.

    Belated happy birthday, Matt! :)

  • Lucia January 13, 2009 @ 7:42 am

    Feliz cumpleaños !!!!!!

  • inna boren January 13, 2009 @ 9:04 am

    happy birthday. to bad we are homeless right now, otherwise we would love to have you over for steak. when we are settled in you should jet out and check out the new boren bbq scene.

    • Matt January 13, 2009 @ 9:47 am

      I will take you up on that. :)

  • Gary January 13, 2009 @ 10:50 am

    Happy Birthday. You’ve done good things so far, but twenty-five is just a drop in the bucket, kiddo. However, I’m sure you will continue to do well over the next 25 years, especially if you stay focused on the goal that every ‘aging’ person should strive for – senior citizen discounts at Denny’s.

  • ecc1977 January 13, 2009 @ 11:03 am

    A belated Happy Birthday to you, Matt. Inspiring stuff, those resolutions. Makes me feel like I should write some of my own (and stick to ‘em).

    The “Launch, Launch, Launch” line is very inspiring. Real artists ship. Got to remember that, this year.

  • Camilo January 13, 2009 @ 11:32 am

    25 is the new 40, so count your blessings. About the Spanish thing… watch novelas. These are extremely campy yet have excellent grammar, vocabulary and diction.

    Or, you know, you can go out there in the Mission.

  • ceci January 13, 2009 @ 12:58 pm

    Buenísimo! and you will be able to enjoy of Gabriel García Marquez :)

  • Abbie Sanderson January 13, 2009 @ 1:19 pm

    I love this idea and I just might copy it:

    “Print my favorite picture of another person every month and send it to that person in a picture frame.”

    Good luck with your list!

  • Sebastian January 13, 2009 @ 2:33 pm

    Hi Matt,

    thank you very much for everything around wordpress. You created more for a lot people than I did and therefore you get a lot respect from my side, but don’t forget to enjoy your life too – there is a lot to explore!!!

    Sebastian

  • TheFrosty January 13, 2009 @ 4:01 pm

    Hey Matt,
    Had a awesome time in Vegas, boy do we party hard! Hope your hang over finally cleared, I know my drive home today was rough.

    Sure you got the RSS feed from flikr, if not check out the photos I uploaded.

    -Austin

  • Jeana January 13, 2009 @ 6:55 pm

    BTW I will upload the pictures from your birthday night out in vegas tomorrow on flicker!
    It was really great talking with and sharing your 25th birthday with you!

    See you soon,
    Jeana

  • Duane Storey January 14, 2009 @ 12:02 am

    Happy belated birthday! Good look with the resolutions.

  • Putri January 14, 2009 @ 5:28 am

    Hi Matt..!!
    It’s first time for to visit here
    Nice to know that the founder of WordPress is so young.. :D
    If you see WP in Indonesia you will know how the impact is :D *wait…i’m from Indonesia..for the information* so BIG.

    Blog become more that a blog..it’s a rope for b

  • Aw Guo January 14, 2009 @ 6:24 am

    Oh, Happy birthday… sorry I’m too late ;(

  • Franco January 14, 2009 @ 9:07 am

    Feliz cumple años! Y gracias por ahcer WordPress.

    Saludos…

  • Hannes January 14, 2009 @ 9:44 am

    Happy belated birthday.
    Making it easier to do an amazing photoblog with WP sounds great! Can’t wait… I look forward to seeing what you have in store for future versions of WP.

  • Kayla January 14, 2009 @ 5:20 pm

    Happy birthday! I don’t feel as though I’m going to reach 25, but I suppose it will come someday. 5 1/2 more years…

    Those are some pretty high, but reasonable goals. I need to make a habit myself of personal goals. Good luck with all of them.

  • Massimo (aka maxp76) January 15, 2009 @ 7:28 am

    Happy birthday, Matt!! :-)
    I’ve read you’ll be in Italy in may ’09, so it’s time to learn Italian ;-) !
    Bye,
    Massimo

  • Anna January 15, 2009 @ 10:21 am

    Happy birthday.
    Its such a huge success that you have gotten in you age!
    I hoooope that I can do the same…

  • vicmx January 15, 2009 @ 9:22 pm

    Matt Happy birthday!
    Thank you for creating WordPress :D

  • Koen January 15, 2009 @ 10:59 pm

    Happy birthday, Matt. A little bit late :) . See you in Jakarta then.

  • laisya January 16, 2009 @ 7:07 am

    Happy Belated B-Day…
    I watched you in an interview in TVOne (one of TV station in Indonesia).
    Hope you’ll enjoy your visit to Indonesia :)

  • nadia January 16, 2009 @ 7:56 am

    very happy birthday matt…just now i wachting you on tvone,indonesian tv,,very glad to see u ..so always good luck

  • Nick Nelson January 16, 2009 @ 8:39 am

    Who would use the fake mis-porportioned WordPress logo? ugh…people!

    http://s.ma.tt/files/2009/01/wordpress-logo.png

  • sunflower January 16, 2009 @ 9:11 am

    Dear Matt,

    I watched you on Apa Kabar Indonesia. Cool! Welcome to Indonesia.. :)

    By the way, I want to congratulate you a Happy Birthday,,, Your resolutions list is great. Hope it all comes true,,,
    I also want to give you some ideas to enrich your resolutions. Here they are: first, express “I love you, Mom” in a very different way than usual;
    second, since I love family and have a really big family (more than 50 cousins), I always want to make a family tree to find connections in our family. What a surprise to find that I have family connections with someone or some families that I never know before!
    So, perhaps, you can try to trace all of connections in your family tree and see how many connections you have and how good you know them.
    Moreover, by knowing more people connected to your family, you can just start to see if there are any of them who needs your help. Sometimes, we are not aware if someone in our family needs help. So, you can give a hand for them as well as for other fellow that don’t even have any bonding relationship with you… :)

    That’s all my idea. Hope it is useful :)

    Oh, can i add once more? Since you’ll spend some days in Indonesia, so why don’t you take a look at the beauty of our nation :) ? You can visit Bali, Lombok or Jogjakarta. Try our uniquely different taste of culinary, enjoy our best natural views, and share the warmth of Indonesian smile and hospitality,,, you won’t regret it! ;)

    Finally, all the best for you, Matt!

    Good Luck! ;)

  • lookj January 16, 2009 @ 9:36 am

    Welcome to Indonesia Matt, youre a young man with creative idea.

  • Mike Null January 16, 2009 @ 9:12 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt! I like your resolutions. Best of luck..

  • William January 16, 2009 @ 10:54 pm

    Hi Matt…!!!
    I saw u on tvone last night in Indonesia and i’m very admire u…

  • Keith January 17, 2009 @ 8:58 pm

    You have such an exciting future ahead! I was born in the middle of the fourth decade in the last century. I wish I could see all the progress we will make this century!

    Happy Birthday!

  • Bill Babcock January 18, 2009 @ 8:33 am

    Congratulations! I just turned 62 on Jan 5. If I have anything to share with you from the extra 37 years I’ve run through so quickly it’s have fun every day, and make every one count. Even the saddest days can contain a laugh–and they should.

    Great list. Focused on doing good things for yourself and people around you. Not only have you done amazing things in such a short life, you’re obviously a good guy too.

    One suggestion–give stand up paddle surfing a try, even just on flat water it’s such a remarkable sport. I’m having so much fun with it that it seems criminal not to share the stoke.

    All the best,

  • Phil v. Sassen January 18, 2009 @ 9:27 am

    Can’t wait to see the photoblog within WordPress!

    Will there be a sneak preview in Jena (Wordcamp Germany)?

    Cheers from Berlin – Germany, Phil

    • Matt January 21, 2009 @ 1:15 am

      Maybe, depends on how far we get before then. :)

      • Eviwidi January 21, 2009 @ 5:38 pm

        Wow..photoblog within WordPress? I can’t wait to know and use it!

        When that you will announce Matt?

        Cheerz From Jakarta-Indonesia :)

  • Rhakateza January 18, 2009 @ 11:05 am

    Happy Birthday Matt.
    It Nice to see you visit Indonesia again

  • detnot January 18, 2009 @ 7:56 pm

    Met ulang tahun matt.
    thanks udah bolehin ane numpang gratisan ngeblog di wordpress sampeyan :mrgreen:

  • Rivermaya January 18, 2009 @ 10:43 pm

    happy belated B’day Matt
    It’s so nice to met you in WordCamp Indonesia and got the only one gift from you :)
    thanks, I’m truly grateful that day ..

  • ninja-neer January 19, 2009 @ 5:56 am

    Happy Birthday!

    Enjoy it while you can; you’re not getting any younger ;)

    Now go and perfect your work/life ratio.

  • Danny Schreiber January 20, 2009 @ 1:07 pm

    Happy Belated!

    Had a good laugh at this line (as I’ve got a year to go) – “25 years young and finally able to rent a car without paying an age penalty.”

    And I thought this was an awesome idea (I might steal it from you): “Print my favorite picture of another person every month and send it to that person in a picture frame.”

    Keep it up.

  • Robert January 21, 2009 @ 7:36 am

    I’d say Matt you could spend time coaching older entrepreneurs and such too! Good job with it all… cheers.

  • Nathan Chancellor January 24, 2009 @ 2:58 pm

    Have a great one Matt

  • det January 25, 2009 @ 3:24 am

    hai matt, thank you very much
    i use wordpress for my blog, free ;)

    gob bless you, matt!

  • Nathan Chancellor January 25, 2009 @ 6:34 pm

    Can’t wait for that redesign as well

  • Marjie January 31, 2009 @ 5:29 pm

    Welcome to the club! I just joined it last month =)

  • Ezron Sinaga February 1, 2009 @ 7:26 am

    Happy birthday Matt…
    we have the same birthday (but I was born in 1985)
    heheh

  • baion July 31, 2009 @ 4:51 am

    Happy birthday sir. Man 10 000 pictures are a lot.

  • Brian Wong December 27, 2009 @ 9:11 pm

    Happy Birthday Matt. I cannot imagine the Internet without WordPress. My partners Mike and Vishen met you at Necker Island and said you were an amazing guy. I look forward to more great ideas to change the world from your next 25 years.

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