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| An "interesting" Alt US 19 shield, Tarpon Springs, FL, 2024 |
On this date in 2006, I took the plunge into writing a blog.
Several of my friends were doing it and I thought maybe I'd give it a try. It took me some time to come up with a name, but ultimately I thought I made the right choice.
And so we sit here 19 years later. I'm still mostly the same person at heart, but I've evolved so much and I'm pretty proud of that.
Nineteen years ago, I was living in a house that we couldn't afford, married to a person who didn't want to be married to me. As awful as that might sound, I'm long past it. I didn't think I was a bad person to spend a life with and, with hindsight, well, I'll stop there.
Nearly 4,500 posts have emerged from this blog since Aug 17, 2006. Obviously, much of it came from the not-quite six years I invested in writing daily. I wish I had that drive back but I simply felt like I had run out of gas.
More to the point, I didn't want to go on about what there was to go on about. It didn't feel compelling and frankly seemed repetitive.
I've given every emotion possible over the years. I've told as much as I felt I could or should. I know, at times, I went too far.
To people I've hurt, I apologize.
To people who have been positively impacted by these posts, thank you.
I've tried to remain "me." Honest, fair, rational and, yet, sometimes irrational. But I've tried to remain relatable.
That doesn't always make me the most popular guy in the room.
There are things I wish I hadn't written. There are things I wish I had written.
And I often agonize over where the line is.
But, warts and all, it has all been here.
Perhaps the urge to write consistently will return. Perhaps that will happen when I feel better about myself and about my life.
Obsessing and repeating the same things over and over aren't things I want to do, whether it's stories or compliments I've received or anything else.
Starting a blog wasn't about attention. It wasn't about finding a job, unless it went that way.
It did introduce me to new people. Both good and bad.
But it was about wanting to find my voice as a writer and to tell stories.
I hope there are many more stories to tell.
Thank you, all.
If that fates allow, we'll reach 20 years next August 17.
