So as I said previously, today marks the tenth anniversary of the first blog post, which is a little curious to me. I wasn’t really sure where it might lead, and had no serious expectations – though I know where I would have liked it to have gone. At the time, blogging was exceptionally popular, and there were a lot of sites out there with some interesting and thought-provoking stuff; more than a few people had parlayed a web presence into things like speaking engagements, publishing books, and so on. So yes, I entertained the idea that this might lead someplace ‘big.’ Did I believe it? Not really – I’m somewhere between a realist and a pessimist – but it certainly wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t venture the time and effort. And as it says in the Welcome page, it’s just as much a writing exercise as anything else, which helps me organize my thoughts and feed my own interests. If someone gets something out of it, great! And if they were chased off, well, so be it.
Since that start, blogging waned a bit in overall popularity, and several of the people that I’d ‘known’ back then disappeared, leaving the practice behind for other things. But I happen to like it, and while the blog may not add anything in particular to the main part of the site (that dedicated to showcasing my photographic pursuits,) I doubt it detracts from it in any way either. The popularity and ‘bigger things’ never materialized (yet, anyway,) and may not ever, but I’m cool with that. It’s my soapbox, and I’ll give it up when I’m good and ready.
All that said, let’s take a look back at some of the posts that I particularly like – perhaps it’s because I felt the writing expressed what I was after pretty distinctly, or perhaps the photos were ones that I felt proudest of. Maybe you’ll agree, maybe you won’t – feel free to chime in if you like.
By the way, I was attempting to narrow it down to just one per year, and gave that idea up; there may be a small selection for any given year.
2008
There was just one post back then, Oh, is that what I’m doing?, so it must be the best. And the worst. The wisest, and the stupidest.
2009
I don’t get emotional too often (or at least, not what most people imagine when you say things like that, which is maudlin or something, though I can manage irritation and pissiness just about anytime,) but Flashback is a rare exception, relating something from a previous life. While What I did over summer vacation wraps up with a perspective that still strikes me dumb.
2010
Go us! is a bit of a rant, but I’d like to believe that it could make people think a little about the vast amount of effort expended over something completely superficial.
2011
One thing that I really like about critical thinking is its value in eviscerating sophistry, and unmasking false assertions is fun too, so Dealing with the real world is an obvious choice; it’s a shame that the originating article has been taken down now.
There’s also Nuclear whoas, one of those controversial topics of course, and Cultural blind spot, another hopefully thought-provoking perspective like 2010’s choice above. And as intimated earlier, the disappearance of the forum that I cross-posted it to eradicated quite a few interesting replies. Such is the webbernets.
2012
I started getting into my stride, as it were, so we’re getting a few more choices now. Personal god is another rant, but more than a little justified I think. To offset that, we’ll have a photo post with Good morning!
Too smart to be intelligent illustrates why I find most philosophy to be utterly worthless, while Seneca Falls, we have a problem examines a disturbing disconnect between critical thinking and a lot of popular feminism.
2013
Much ado about “fucking” is, like, my personal philosophy, and interpret that as you will. Both Too cool, part 18: Hubble turns 23 and Drama are choices for photography; the former isn’t mine yet is damn cool, while the latter introduces my trend towards uncomfortable closeups of arthropods. And a bit of humor with All the answers.
2014
Mass challenged and Life is not all spiders and mantids and It’s all good for something are all here for the photos. Then a break with But what if the third time is the charm? to trash Pascal’s Wager (again,) before we have a dramatic photography outing with I know better.
2015
The struggle for an appropriate title is a favorite when I probably should be ashamed of it, and that might be intriguing enough to get you to click. On the horizon is an examination of artificial intelligence, because. Then we have She has a great personality and Keep coming back to ’em for the extreme closeups. The myth of “live and let live” is always going to rank highly with me, while Cry, “Sexism!” and let loose… illustrates that pursuing an agenda (not mine) can produce some utter nonsense.
2016
It’s mostly photos this year, partially because I was now taking a lot more, but partially because my efforts were improving and thus I don’t feel as accomplished about the older stuff, you know? What this says about my philosophical posts we’re going to leave unexamined…
Anyway, we’ll start off with A tiny bit of diversity, doing some serious closeups on newborn mantids, and go to The snakes are taking a beating in the same month, actually much more diverse because it features a family of red-shouldered hawks. Then we’ll have Podcast: The mindset of a nature photographer, because I think it’s the most helpful to those interested in the topic. We’ll close with Too cool, part 32… and maybe 33, featuring a question that as yet remains unanswered.
2017
A pretty productive year, if I say so. We’ll open and close with some philosophical stuff, such as Of matters big and small because again, you know, soapbox. Too cool, part 35: A modicum of success is the post about Chinese mantises, since I finally did something useful with video. I’m only doing the first link of three regarding a super-productive beach trip; that’s The week of mellow, but wait! We had a total solar eclipse that year too, so Podcast: Yeah, me too has to be in there. And if there’s one perspective that I’d love to reach as many people as possible about, it has to be The measure of humankind.
2018
Once again, we start with huge blocks of text, because winter, so that would be “No kill” is a myth that needs to fucking die already. But hey, I had preceded with photos: The color of the day is “white” and its follower deserves a look too. It’s been a bit turtley lately is a sentiment I’m sure you’ve heard too much of by now, but I was the first. I must inflict The unwanted and uncalled-for sequel because I didn’t feature the first; all necessary further commentary is within.
And 2018 saw me starting slideshows, with the least-painful example being Podcast: Yet again
That should be enough to keep you busy during the lean months, but just in case, while doing the ‘research’ for this I ended up adding a few more to the Favorites page, so you can go there for more bloggy goodness. You know, if you’re feeling peckish. Meanwhile, I’m going to try and sneak at least one more out before the end of the year, and it might be a podcast. However, The Girlfriend’s birthday is coming up, and she considers this a disturbing milestone though that’s unwarranted, so don’t hesitate to tell her so.
So just in case I don’t catch you before then, have fun starting off yet another arbitrary demarcation like we’re prone to (I’m referring to New Years with that.) Cheers!