Back in 2005, I started writing a series – “Twenty Years Ago Today” – about various episodes that have happened in my life 20 years previously, starting with my decision to move to the Twin Cities.
As I worked my way through 130 episodes of that series over the course of about six years, I often marveled at how much things changed over the six years in the story – and in the 20 years hence.
And I’m getting close to the same, whack upside the head moment right now. Because it was 13 years ago today that I started writing this blog.
13 years ago today, I was an angry, incoherent, voiceless guy with a couple kids working at a misbegotten dotcom that was rapidly swirling down drain of the post 9/11 tech bust. This will probably be the 12th time I related the story – I read an article in Time Magazine about Andrew Sullivan, a leading “conservative intellectual” voice in the new, do it yourself medium of blogging.
And that night, after I hustled the kids to bed, I sat down at “blogger.com” and tapped out the first ever installment of “Shot In The Dark”. And suddenly, I was…
… Well, still angry and incoherent – but I had a voice.
It goes without saying a lot of things of happened since then; the blog led me to the talk show; the talkshow lead me to the regional forefront of blogging as a brave new medium, in the middle of the last decade.
That, of course, was then. Blogging has receded from the bleeding edge of cultural consciousness since then, and with that a lot of bloggers. There are people who ask why keep blogging?
Because I enjoy it.
Which isn’t to say there haven’t been periods of intense burnout. I just went through one of those, in fact; postelection fatigue and unexpected job change over the winter led to one of those, from which I’ve just emerged over the past couple of weeks. And writing through those periods of burnout has, in its own way, then even more personally instructive and interesting than the periods where I feel like I’m on fire; I’ve learned a lot from prevailing over my own mental limitations in those situations
Of course, writing when you are absolutely on fire is a lot of fun too.
Anyway – as always, I think all of you readers for having gotten, and stayed, interested over this past 13 years. I know you won’t take it as ingratitude when I say “I do it even if none of you to dinner every day” – I do it because I enjoy writing – but having all of you here every day is certainly a kick, too.
So thanks!
And thank you. I was worried this would be a farewell post. Dodged the bullet again.
Yer welcome
My wife is the one who suggested I try blogging back in 2004. I don’t know where she heard about it, but I gave it some thought. Someone pointed me to Shot in the Dark while I was trying to get a handle on what blogging was and if it was something I thought I could do. I launched in Feb. of ’05, so there must have been something here – or I thought, “Sheesh, I could do that!”
I had five really great years of almost daily blogging and made some really good friends who are still around even if my blog isn’t. Blogging was even directly responsible to my getting a son-in-law and grandchildren! It was a great exercise in discipline, thinking and in trying to be clear, and much of what I took from that I still apply today.
Thanks for being there at the beginning for me, and being an example. Now that the latest grandson has been named after me, perhaps the next one will be named “Mitch”!
Thank you for everything you do, Mitch. I am grateful for your wisdom and your example.
I have been checking in and reading twice a day for seven or eight of those years – thanks very much for all the info and entertainment you provide Mitch!