Actually, I did, but thought it would be funny to leave that message there.
But today is, in fact, the blog's 10th anniversary (or, at least, the anniversary of the old blog). So in honor, I'll try to dig up the 10 most memorable posts—one from each year—of this blog's existence, and give a little write up of what was going on that year.
Year one: 2003-2004
What was happening? I had just graduated college. Return of the King was the box office sensation. Half-Life 2 was released. 2004 was an election year, so there was a lot of election coverage. Oh, and something something "I do" something something.
Favorite blog post from that year: Egads, this stuff is bad, but I'll go with "A Geek Tragedy (with a Happy Ending)." Huh, I was doing creative writing even back then.
Year two: 2004-2005
What was happening? Tom Adams was deployed to Iraq; we accidentally bought a car; I traveled the farthest away from home I've ever been (Melbourne, Australia, about 8000 miles away); World of Warcraft was released (and devoured the next five years of my life); The Murloc was hired at Blizzard Entertainment; and we attended our first ComicCon and Blizzcon.
Favorite blog post: we had a few good ones; this was the year of Tom's wonderful "Ask a Drill Instructor," and Cari's True Stories from College; We also discovered the insanity of a disgruntled SkyMall employee.I also started the Gallery of Windows in Our Lives (which I keep meaning to revive). But I think my favorite is Condo Shopper.
Year three: 2005-2006
What was happening? We adopted our kittens! We also moved to Santa Ana, then again to our current home; I attended my first (an last) E3; Blizzard announced the Warcraft movie (checks watch; still waiting); The Da Vinci Code movie was released, sparking internet debates; I started planning out the multi-novel plot arc of Space Pirates; OWIBTYW was launched; Paul—somehow, in typical Paul fashion—got a cockroach stuck in his ear; and one of the best things ever to announce was announced.
Favorite blog post: going through the archives, I can see the slow drift away from satire—which dominated the first year. There's a lot of links (this is pre-Facebook), so a lot of things which are now just FB status updates are blogged instead, so while there were a lot of posts, there wasn't much content. But for favorite, I think I'll go with the Adventures of Ion, Intergalactic Milk Man.
Year four: 2006-2007
What was happening? FU-News had its postingest year (2007, with 185 posts), and postingest month (January 2007, 26 posts); I started writing Jack Flint: Space Pirate; Paul found out just how expensive it is to have a giant cockroach removed from your ear; I became TIME magazine's Person of the Year; World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade launched; I started running the Wikipedia game (which ran for about a month before Tom ruined it); we went to our first Ren faire, starting the tradition of The Murloc getting her hair done in cool and creative ways; Portal and Half-Life 2: Episode 2 were released (more time has now elapsed from HL2:E2 to now than from HL1 to HL2); Tom brought Barats and Bereta to my attention; one of the most important questions that could be asked was asked (and answered in the affirmative!); and one of the best things to ever happen, happened.
Favorite blog post: again, this year had a lot of posts, but not much content. Still, there was some humor and satire left to be found. However, I think my favorite was the slightly-true story of how I acquired the final Harry Potter book.
Year five: 2007-2008
What was happening? Year five began with the 500th post and a celebration of the previous four years. I also, for the first time, linked to Shamus Young and John C. Wright, two of my favorite bloggers, who I still follow to this day; I started getting wrong emails; I posted my first piano video; I finished the first draft of Jack Flint: Space Pirate in February, then unleashed it upon the world in September; the Earth was destroyed; The Murloc won Frostmourne; and the best thing that can happen, happened to Pat Leinen and Dave.
Favorite blog post: wow, I produced just about nothing of note. I'll probably have to go with the Simple Emperor's Day Book.
Year six: 2008-2009
What was happening? Well, we started this year off with a bang, announcing one of the best things that can be announced. Tom also announced the same thing again. Additionally, I posted the first pictures of Damien; I enrolled in a UCI extension course to improve my writing; Sara appeared on, and won, Jeopardy; I combined the subject matter of lolcats and the horror of poorly-written poetry into an unholy abomination; I built my desktop computer (which I'm still using); Dave got to meet Danica Patrick; I got to see Ozzy in concert at BlizzCon (who forever shattered his image as the Prince of Darkness in my mind by ending the concert by shouting "God bless you!"—the Prince of Darkness does not say "God bless"); and one of the greatest things that can happen, happened to both Jeff and myself.
Favorite blog post: as much as I liked my Ode to Breasts and Operations Research approach to offering of indulgences, I really don't think there's any competition for the very different raid night.
Year seven: 2009-2010
What was happening? The Year of the Babby, with babby pictures and videos e-vuh-ree-where! We also learned about the Five Lowest Forms of blogging; I got my first smart phone; I made my first attempt at becoming a professional writer (hint: it was unsuccessful); I introduced Father Max to the world (there's still more to come, I
Favorite blog post: at this point, I was actively using Facebook, so I had fewer posts on the blog. I think there is little question that the best post of the year was the tribute to Isis, written by The Murloc.
Year eight: 2010-2011
What was happening? We started the year by announcing, once more, one of the best things there is to announce... on Facebook. I actually have no blog post announcing Anthony (either conception or birth). But I do have ultrasound pics! In other news, The Murloc seriously got into cosplay; Pat Leinen unleashed his app that digitally absolved sins until it was banned by the pope... or something (and I accidentally besmirched his good name); I became a Knight and joined the Latin Schola, then later sang in the schola's first concert; I taught the Murloc what blogging was like in ye olden days; I also discovered the source of many of my wrong emails; I summoned up the courage to tell off my hero, John C. Wright; Otto von Habsburg passed away; I shared what the late, great Blessed John Paul II meant to me; we learned what the big bad horrible villain of the next WoW expansion was going to be; and one of the greatest things that can happen, and seems to keep happening, happened to us again.
Favorite blog post: there were some good ones this year, like The Banalization of Sexuality and Shopping for a Delli Sandwich, but I think my favorite was Quaestiones.
Year nine: 2011-2012
What was happening? The ending of the old and the beginning of the new; the culture wars seriously heated up with all that entails; that inspired me to write a short story or two; and my hero, John C. Wright, called me brilliant; Anthony became mobile and Damien learned to read (or at least fake it); Star Wars: The Old Republic launched and quickly flagged, perhaps due to the shocking and appalling filth, or perhaps because of the similarities with Space Pirates; we bought Helga the Viking for the Murloc (and I served a day of jury duty for the second time of my life); I sang in my second schola concert; and officially declared Grenada as the winner of the 2012 summer Olympic games (ahead of someone else who did it with a prettier graph); and I saw The Hunger Games, which has dominated my thoughts since (more on that to come).
Favorite blog post: oh, there were so many good ones this year: I really like Why I Hate Smart People, even though no one commented on it (which is a blogger's only source of validation); I also put a lot of work into Forensics and figuring out What We've Forgotten; On the Ability of Inanimate Objects to Realize This Title is Too Long was just silly fun; but I think by popular demand, I have to decree the Build from Hell series (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) the best for the year. For the record, that computer still doesn't work quite right.
Year ten: 2012-2013
What was happening? While we technically discovered the Murloc's infertility the previous year, this is the year we associated it with gluten intolerance. She changed her diet in February, and by June we were announcing baby Regina. Additionally: I inflicted more short stories and poetry upon you poor, unwitting saps; I experimented with Gregorian Chant notation software, and eventually got a semi-workable solution; we visited Santa Catalina island for the Murloc's 35th birthday; the Pope resigned; the Pope was elected; I started working on my chess program (which is so far unfinished); I got busy in Minecraft (and so did Damien); Pat Leinen developed an app for Pope Francis to use on his Android; I sang in another concert (these seem to keep recurring); The Murloc seriously got into the cosplay scene, organizing photoshoots at several conventions, doing a really professional photo shoot, and joining/organizing a charity called C.A.P.E.S.; oh, and we accidentally bought another car.
Favorite blog post: this was the year I finally started collecting my FB status updates and creating quick takes posts on the blog. Also, I nearly dropped of the face of the blogosphere in the summer, with only one update in each of July and September. So there's not much to pick from. I really did like my short stories this year, but those weren't written specifically for the blog. And while I've had Polycarp on my mind a lot recently, probably my best work would be the St. Joseph's Day meditation.
Infinity and Beyond
So where am I going? You've probably noticed a lack of posts; I've lost most of my readership. Just going back through the archives, I'm noting the discussions we used to have, which are no more.
I considered, for a while, ending the blog with this post. Saying "ten years is enough" and going off to enjoy my time. But I really can't. I already have a post written and queued for Friday, I'll write a short one for Saturday, I have an idea for Thanksgiving (finish the post I wanted to write last year!), and another one after that. I have the Advent Lessons and Carols concert coming up, which'll give me a post or two, and Regina really deserves something special. Every time I think I'm done blogging, I get an itch that just has to be scratched.
Right now, I'm trying to do a simple once-a-week update schedule. I'll think up something, write it ahead of time, then schedule it for Monday morning. I have some ideas at least for the time being, and quick takes and links should be able to carry us on.
So the blog lives on, in diminished capacity. It exists still because I need it to. I don't know if there will be a twenty-year anniversary, but something tells me I'll never really be done blogging.
Things are different. Your previously regular reader's lives have changed, social media exists, etc. etc. I could do a LeMons post to drive the rest aw- I mean introduce new content.
ReplyDeleteAlso, where's the Sky Mall parody?
Here it is.
DeleteI wrote that the same year as Condo Shopper, which is the only reason it didn't get a most favoritest of the year award.
A LeMons post would be awesome.
Fun post! I had a great time going back and reading faves. Mr. Pickles and I agree w/Dave -- the SkyMall post deserves an honorable mention.
ReplyDeletePerhaps you should ask yourself what the purpose of your blog is. That might help you decide what kind of posts/how often you want to write. Who is your intended audience? Family/close friends? Or do you expect a wider readership?
I know the feeling about lack of comments on posts. When you've poured your soul out, or even just shared something really exciting to you, it's kind of deflating to be ignored. I promise always to comment on your posts from now on (at least the ones I understand), 'k? :)
-from your third biggest fan (after Mom and the Murloc)