As of August 4, I have officially been blogging for eight years and this is my 999th post. I still haven't decided what the topic of post 1000 should be. I generally pride myself on not having a purpose for blogging. And I have maintained that philosophy for eight years.
I'd like to think of myself as the poster child of persistence when it comes to blogging. Despite a lack of readers, inspiration and purpose, I have kept cranking out posts when other, more creative bloggers have fallen by the wayside. Being mediocre helps.
Oh, I've gone through my share of phases. I started as Tim-Elvis, morphed into Tim-id and then became Time. I spent a great deal of time Photoshopping my face onto various animate and inanimate objects, animals and people. I don't think many people appreciate the labor required to Photoshop your face on a bowl of Kimchi stew. Nor did everyone appreciate my fascination with putting my face on famous paintings. I vaguely recall one person commenting that they found it offensive that I would butcher the masters by putting my face on them.
To which I believe I replied, "Smack my ass and call me Sally."
Regardless, my enthusiasm for slapping my face on paintings, animals and food has waned a bit. I even resorted to recycling many of my images because, hey, no one really looks at my blog so who will remember that I'm used the image of my face on a photo of Bigfoot at least four times.
Few people probably realize that Dizgraceland actually had three spin off blogs including the Monkey Playing Cymbals blog, Ich Bin Gunter blog and Quixotic, a blog in which I tried to explain Don Quixote chapter by chapter in a way even a Monkey Playing Cymbals could understand. Those blogs fell by the wayside as I realized that maintaining one blog was challenge enough when you also had to contend with real life.
Real life in the eight years since I began blogging included getting married, buying two new houses and having two children. Sometimes I am surprised I have time to go to the bathroom let alone write in my blog.
There have been times in the eight years I've been blogging that I have actually had people who commented on my blog on a regular basis (including people as far off as Australia and England). In the early years I felt like I had a community of blogger friends I could count on to insult me (in a nice way) on a regular basis. Sadly, none of them remain.
I've come to the conclusion that the virtual community of bloggers and people who comment on blogs mirrors reality. People enthusiastically pop into your life with the best intentions and then get distracted by brighter, shinier objects they see on the side of the Information Highway. You have to accept blogger friends as tourists stopping by long enough to point and take a few pictures before hopping back on the bus.
So as I approach the milestone of my one thousand posts, what will I write about? Should I make it my farewell blog and tell people how it is time to move on? Or should I announce a major redesign of Dizgraceland and a new direction as I embark on my next thousand posts?
Well being that this is a .44 Magnum blog, the most powerful blog in the world, you got to ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky? Well punk, do you?
7 comments:
Great post! Congratulations on 999. I know it isn't fair for me to say this but I find it comforting to know you're still blogging.
When I drop by I get nostalgic about those early years when we were in the same community of bloggers. Your's was always my favorite blog. I loved the photoshopped images of yourself on works of art. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that someone found that offensive as I suddenly found myself offended by other bloggers. It was frustrating to learn that some bloggers weren't quite as "normal" as I was hoping and started posted bizarre S&M photos and whatnot. It became harder to continue to read their stories but once you've comitted to the blog neigborhood, it was all quid pro quo.
Haa haaa, I just remembered the fake neighborhood they had us in. I think that's when it all came to a head. Thrust together in a virtual town and I realized I no longer wanted to play with them.
You and I were more similar and I was always entertained by your blog, never offended. Anyway, as I said above, I find it comforting that you're still blogging. You are my connection to that time. It was fun for the most part.
I can't keep up with it any longer because, to be honest, I blogged from work. I can't get away with that now.
Lights in the Wake still asks about you. We laugh about some of the old stories.
NB! How fitting that one of my first blog friends should show up as I turn 1000. Thank you!
I do miss the old blogger gang, but not the drama. It was a bit like a bizzaro Dungeons and Dragons game at times with characters like Goat Spanker, White Snake and Buffalo. I think Facebook and Twitter can take the responsibility for killing the community aspect of blogging. No one wants to comment any more. They are too busy clicking the "like" button on Facebook pages to avoid having to think of anything clever to say.
I also don't miss having to read bad blogs just because they added me to their "favorites" list. It's just me and the monkey now. He does chatter about Lights in the Wake now and then though :)
No! Punk or no punk, I'm still a reader - just can't always think of something to say!
Yeah, clicking the like button is about as exciting as it gets on facebook. Even that is a dangerous move sometimes. If you "like" something that someone else is offended by you're apt to be deleted. There's too much controversy right now over the whole Chick-fil-a thing.
I miss the days when I could post a story rather than just share a link.
Baggy, for a person who easily posts a thousand times in year, I can't believe you are ever at a loss for something to say. But I appreciate you reading.
Congrats on 999! I miss my old Blogging community too. I blame Facebook. So many of the bloggers I knew back in the day stopped altogether when they started up with Facebook. Of course, it's not the same thing at all, but blogging in general seems to have gone downhill since then.
I vote you keep on photoshopping yourself onto things. It's an art!
Kristy
Kristy,
Good to hear from you! I thought you had ran off with that Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman :)
Yeah Facebook reduced people's attention spans and ability to write more that three sentences even more than it was before.
I will always look for new things to Photoshop my face on. It is what I do.
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