This Day In History, 2009: Starting The Blog

It was Saturday, February 14, 2009 and I decided I'd do a little writing. Blogs were still pretty new at the time and I had no idea what would happen. My first post was titled "Starting My Blog..." and this is what I wrote:

Okay, here goes. I've been thinking about blogging for quite a while, and today I'm actually going to start doing it. As I begin, I've been pondering what kind of blog I want to create - should I be completely anonymous, with deeply personal musings that I wouldn't want anyone who actually knows me to read? Or should I write it with a specific audience in mind, more like a personal conversation? I've decided to stick with writing for an audience that knows me. If I ever want to go into private stream-of-consciousness mode and write things I wouldn't want my grandmother to read, I'll start another blog (and never tell any of you about it.)

For a while this blog will definitely be a "work in progress," as I learn all the tools and tricks of blogging, but hang in there with me. This is going to be fun!

The Blogger dashboard tells me I've published 1691 posts in the last 10 years, which averages out to 169.1 posts per year but I haven't actually been that consistent. Last year was my most prolific, with 400 posts; in 2011 I only managed one, on the last day of the year. (Read it here.) 

Over the next few weeks I'm planning to look back and see what I was thinking and blogging about in the beginning. I've had so much fun with my blog over the last 10 years. Will I still be blogging in 2029? There's no way to know but I wouldn't bet against it. Stay tuned. In the meantime, click here to read my first 19 posts from February, 2009. 

Fifty Shades Of Blogging

No, I'm not talking about the new movie, I'm just having a little fun with the title of this post. Actually I'm celebrating six years of blogging. It was February 14, 2009 when I created this blog by writing my first post, and six years later I still love my little blog. Here's that first post:

Okay, here goes. I've been thinking about blogging for quite a while, and today I'm actually going to start doing it. As I begin, I've been pondering what kind of blog I want to create - should I be completely anonymous, with deeply personal musings that I wouldn't want anyone who actually knows me to read? Or should I write it with a specific audience in mind, more like a personal conversation? I've decided to stick with writing for an audience that knows me. If I ever want to go into private stream-of-consciousness mode and write things I wouldn't want my grandmother to read, I'll start another blog (and never tell any of you about it.)

For a while this blog will definitely be a "work in progress," as I learn all the tools and tricks of blogging, but hang in there with me. This is going to be fun!

At times I've been a little on again/off again about blogging, for a variety of reasons, but as long as there are Kardashians in the world, as long as there are Bachelors and Bachelorettes, as long as there are royals and politicians, the Olympics and Sarah Palin, I'll always make my way back to the blog.

Here's to the next six years!

The Other George

Yes, it's George, and not the traveling nine-month-old infant this time.

The sidebar stories are a surprise. I hadn't seen anything about Queen Latifah recently, and the Dead Blonde Girl in the bottom picture doesn't look familiar either. Nothing about Prince Harry's breakup yet, although that may have happened too late on Tuesday to get a cover story polished and ready to go. Stories about the royals must really be selling well in general, however, because there's more about Kate, this time apparently doing nothing more interesting than standing around looking good in her clothes. (All her latest looks... ) I find myself hoping Harry and Cressida's break-up is only temporary because I'm pretty sure royal stories would be a whole lot snazzier with "Princess Cressy" in the mix.

One more thing, completely unrelated to anything in People magazine: This is my 400th blog post. How about that? When I started blogging in 2009 I had no idea how it would go or what it would turn out to be but five years later I still love my little blog.

I'm also now contributing (once a week, on Mondays) to a more serious, professional blog called Blog To Work, which you can check out here, but this space will continue to be the place for my stream-of-consciousness musings about whatever catches my attention on any given day. Who knows what we'll be talking about in the future; I'm looking forward to my next 400 blog posts!

Back To The Blog

When I started this blog, almost 3 years ago, I said that I didn't want to be a blogger who doesn't blog, but unfortunately that's what I turned out to be, at least in 2011. There are many reasons-the biggest being a job that kept me on the road almost every week. The stats: I flew over 100,000 miles on United Airlines this year, plus a few random flights on American, Delta, USAirways, Alaska Airlines and Southwest. I never intended to be gone for good, however, and after this lone symbolic post on the last day of 2011, my plan for 2012 is to come back to the blog on a more dependable basis. It's a fun way to vent my spleen on whatever happens to catch my attention on any given day.

After being away for a year, it was interesting to go back and look at the various topics I was writing about in 2009 and 2010. Some of the stuff is still big news, like William and Kate; some is still around but not as interesting, like Sarah Palin; and some has mercifully disappeared altogether, like Speidi. There's also a lot to look forward to in 2012, including the election, the Olympics, the Queen's 60th anniversary and a new season of The Bachelor. My plan is to blog about all of it. For now I'm getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve, so I'll leave with this thought. As I re-read back through all my old blog posts, I was struck by the one word that was missing. It's a subject that was inescapable in 2011, but so far under my personal radar screen in 09 and 10 that I never mentioned it once. What's the word? Kardashian.

What time is it in Santiago?

As I said at the beginning, this blog is a work in progress, and this morning I'm experimenting with the "add a gadget" function. I added the World Clocks gadget and I'm not sure how much I like it. I love knowing the current time in various places around the world that I'm interested in, but I don't like the low-tech look of the clocks. I also don't like seeing the ads. I can play around a bit with the look of the clocks, so maybe I'll find a look that I like. Stay tuned.