Ten Years Gone
Ten years ago, 21-Year-Old-Me thought it might be cool to try my hand at expressing my thoughts to the world via the Internet. Because nobody had ever heard of the term "blog" in 2000, I called it an "Internet column", because I thought that maybe this might get me attention and help my job prospects somehow, being fresh out of college.
And today just happens to be the 10-year anniversary of the day I posted that first entry. I cannot say I have been doing this blog for 10 years because that would be a lie. I stopped for nearly 4 years because I got sick of it. I felt like I had to post every Friday and when I ran out of ideas, I just abruptly quit. Also I feel like there is no need for me to repeat myself on here... if you want to know my thoughts about something I've already blogged about, you can find the entry. If I'm writing about something I've already said something about, sometimes I'll link to my prior opinions to save time. So yeah, I don't like to repeat myself.
I've thought about whether or not this blog is fit for mass consumption, and there were times back in the days when I was employed in radio that I didn't want people knowing that I wrote this blog, because I thought it could get me fired. Now I care less about that, although being in academia now there's always the risk of being labeled "another academic elitist with an agenda". But then again, my agenda is dissimilar to 95% of my fellow academics, so then the fear becomes repercussions that come from me not subscribing to the groupthink. I also don't publicize this blog a lot because certain parts of my agenda seem to be dissimilar to a large majority of my friends as well, and in this age of hyperpartisanship where, sadly, you can lose friends because you expressed an opinion about something, I'd like to avoid conflict. I say what I say here and whomever finds it can read it and comment. Few do, but whatever. The link to this blog is on my Facebook and Twitter pages, so if someone gets curious, they end up here.
So now I've been back up and running for nearly 4 years, and it's tough sometimes to write entries. I've considered quitting again several times, not because I'm a quitter, but because the demands of life are sometimes too much, and it starts feeling like the blog has again become something I HAVE to do. So I stop sometimes for weeks or a couple months at a time, but I always come back, and since I brought this blog back in 2006, I've averaged about 45 entries a year. That's pretty damn good when you consider that at best you get 24 episodes a year out of your favorite network TV show, and just 13 if it's a quality cable show like "Mad Men". I put out the product, dammit. So even though I was hoping I could line it up perfectly and be at my 300th entry exactly a decade after column #1, alas this is only #291. Deal with it.
Still, I'm pretty impressed with myself that I found the wherewithal (not to mention the brain cells) to post 291 entries over the years. Sometimes it's pretty easy... I watch the Sunday talk shows or read the letters page and my blood starts boiling, and I crank out the entry pretty quickly. Other times, I have the idea but not much else so it languishes here in the form of 2-3 paragraphs of notes until I find the time and the interest to finish it. Now there are some pretty regular entries that come up throughout the year every year and are therefore easier to do, because I do them ever year... such as the State of the Tube Address, my baseball picks, and my year-end list. I think that even if I gave up this blog for real, I'd still come back 4-5 times a year just to do those and get them out there, because I like to predict and I love baseball and television... and stupid people. I love the stupid things that stupid people do. Just not when they're around me... especially driving.
Incidentally, bad drivers have been my topic 3 times... that's one thing I like about Blogger is the stats they run on the number of times you tag an entry with a specific topic. So what have I blogged about the most? Here's my Top 5: politics (43 entries), baseball (25), television (19), music (17), and football (14). This should not surprise anyone. Incidentally, this is the 9th time I've done an entry that had to do with "blogging" itself, so it's fair to say I like to self-analyze. This also should not surprise anyone.
It's fitting that I hit a round-numbered anniversary right now, as it prepares me for the next round-numbered anniversary that I have to deal with... my 10-year college reunion. That is hard to believe, but it's coming in October. Did I think I would have accomplished more with my life by now? Definitely, but I think what few of us could have seen coming in 2000 was that life and career plans change so much these days. Few of us end up where we always wanted to be, and I've accepted that and I've come to enjoy the ride as it takes me wherever it will go. Kinda like this blog. So here's to a decade of blogging, and may the second decade be just as enjoyable. And I do have entries in the tank, so they will keep coming... when I get around to them...
And today just happens to be the 10-year anniversary of the day I posted that first entry. I cannot say I have been doing this blog for 10 years because that would be a lie. I stopped for nearly 4 years because I got sick of it. I felt like I had to post every Friday and when I ran out of ideas, I just abruptly quit. Also I feel like there is no need for me to repeat myself on here... if you want to know my thoughts about something I've already blogged about, you can find the entry. If I'm writing about something I've already said something about, sometimes I'll link to my prior opinions to save time. So yeah, I don't like to repeat myself.
I've thought about whether or not this blog is fit for mass consumption, and there were times back in the days when I was employed in radio that I didn't want people knowing that I wrote this blog, because I thought it could get me fired. Now I care less about that, although being in academia now there's always the risk of being labeled "another academic elitist with an agenda". But then again, my agenda is dissimilar to 95% of my fellow academics, so then the fear becomes repercussions that come from me not subscribing to the groupthink. I also don't publicize this blog a lot because certain parts of my agenda seem to be dissimilar to a large majority of my friends as well, and in this age of hyperpartisanship where, sadly, you can lose friends because you expressed an opinion about something, I'd like to avoid conflict. I say what I say here and whomever finds it can read it and comment. Few do, but whatever. The link to this blog is on my Facebook and Twitter pages, so if someone gets curious, they end up here.
So now I've been back up and running for nearly 4 years, and it's tough sometimes to write entries. I've considered quitting again several times, not because I'm a quitter, but because the demands of life are sometimes too much, and it starts feeling like the blog has again become something I HAVE to do. So I stop sometimes for weeks or a couple months at a time, but I always come back, and since I brought this blog back in 2006, I've averaged about 45 entries a year. That's pretty damn good when you consider that at best you get 24 episodes a year out of your favorite network TV show, and just 13 if it's a quality cable show like "Mad Men". I put out the product, dammit. So even though I was hoping I could line it up perfectly and be at my 300th entry exactly a decade after column #1, alas this is only #291. Deal with it.
Still, I'm pretty impressed with myself that I found the wherewithal (not to mention the brain cells) to post 291 entries over the years. Sometimes it's pretty easy... I watch the Sunday talk shows or read the letters page and my blood starts boiling, and I crank out the entry pretty quickly. Other times, I have the idea but not much else so it languishes here in the form of 2-3 paragraphs of notes until I find the time and the interest to finish it. Now there are some pretty regular entries that come up throughout the year every year and are therefore easier to do, because I do them ever year... such as the State of the Tube Address, my baseball picks, and my year-end list. I think that even if I gave up this blog for real, I'd still come back 4-5 times a year just to do those and get them out there, because I like to predict and I love baseball and television... and stupid people. I love the stupid things that stupid people do. Just not when they're around me... especially driving.
Incidentally, bad drivers have been my topic 3 times... that's one thing I like about Blogger is the stats they run on the number of times you tag an entry with a specific topic. So what have I blogged about the most? Here's my Top 5: politics (43 entries), baseball (25), television (19), music (17), and football (14). This should not surprise anyone. Incidentally, this is the 9th time I've done an entry that had to do with "blogging" itself, so it's fair to say I like to self-analyze. This also should not surprise anyone.
It's fitting that I hit a round-numbered anniversary right now, as it prepares me for the next round-numbered anniversary that I have to deal with... my 10-year college reunion. That is hard to believe, but it's coming in October. Did I think I would have accomplished more with my life by now? Definitely, but I think what few of us could have seen coming in 2000 was that life and career plans change so much these days. Few of us end up where we always wanted to be, and I've accepted that and I've come to enjoy the ride as it takes me wherever it will go. Kinda like this blog. So here's to a decade of blogging, and may the second decade be just as enjoyable. And I do have entries in the tank, so they will keep coming... when I get around to them...
Labels: blogging
posted by Dave | 5:18 PM
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