Happy Blogiversary Jack
Welcome friends to another self indulgent post, but that is what a blogiversary is all about. It is a chance to congratulate yourself for surviving another year of blogging as well as a chance to engage in a bit of introspection.
So here I am with the fifth edition of the obligatory blogiversary post. If you are interested in reading what I wrote in previous blogiversary posts take a look at the following links. While I guarantee that there is a certain amount of repetition I can promise you that there was little to no mention of Chumus or waffles.
My Third Blogiversary- Not Quite a Farewell
My Fourth Blogiversary- What Do I have To Say
If you haven’t figured it out, not every post here is factual. Quite a number are stories that I made up. I enjoy writing and I take pleasure out of telling stories. Many of those stories may have an element or two that have been borrowed from “real life,” but the majority do not.
Over the years I have received more than one email inquiring for the back story on some of these posts. Some have even thought they were the topic or inspiration for a post or two. For the sake of clarity, if you have to ask if I was writing about you then you can be sure that I wasn’t.
I am not cryptic. If I want to send a message I come right out and say it in the post or via email. I enjoy fulminating as much if not more than the next guy.
They tell me that when you celebrate your fifth wedding anniversary you are supposed to give some sort of gift that is related to wood. Not that I am asking for anything, besides I have all of the firewood that I need.
Anyhoo, let’s move on shall we.
I haven’t any regrets about becoming a blogger, whatever the hell that means. Writing is a joy and a passion. It is an outlet that I use to express my thoughts and feelings. This joint has served as the venue for a lot of learning. It has been the spot where I chronicle my life and those I care about.
It has served as an opportunity to make new friends and at times it has been a battle zone. For better or for worse old Jack has had his moments where he has tried to be the dragon slayer. Did I gain anything from it. Did it help or hinder me? Well I am still answering some of those questions.
The challenge of maintaining a personal blog in a public space is that your words/thoughts are there to be interpreted or misinterpreted by any who come by. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad. If you choose to follow this path you have to be prepared to accept what comes with it.
Overall it has been a great experience. And while there is no doubt that if I had to do it all over again there are things that I would do differently. That is part of the joy of life. We live and we learn. Most of the time when I read old posts over I cringe. I see a dozen different things that I wish I would have done differently. I read it and think that it could have been so much better.
But the thing about this blog is that it is not a professional effort. It is just a few thoughts from some guy at his computer so I am comfortable with it. I don’t make myself crazy trying to be perfect every time. Maybe if someone starts paying me to do this I will.
If you are still reading then you are about to enter the place where I speak about the future. Blogging isn’t the same bright, shiny penny it used to be. While I still like it, I can’t say that it brings me the same constant joy it once did. That is a way of saying that I still haven’t a clue as to how much longer I’ll do this.
Sometimes I think that I’ll try to go for another five years. That would be kind of cool, a full decade of blogging. But if there is one thing that I have learned it is that you can’t predict that far into the future with much accuracy. There are just too many variables.
So I’ll make the promise that I don’t know how much longer I’ll be here. Could be a long time, could be short. If I do decide to give it up I’d like to be the guy who just rides off into the sunset. Maybe I’ll be Shane, who knows.
And while we are talking about Westerns, let me say that I am a Clint Eastwood fan. There are a ton of movies that I could link to, but I’ll go with a couple of my favorites Unforgiven and The Good, The Bad And The Ugly.
Will Munny: All right, I’m coming out. Any man I see out there, I’m gonna shoot him. Any sumbitch takes a shot at me, I’m not only gonna kill him, but I’m gonna kill his wife, all his friends, and burn his damn house down.
Will Munny: Any man don’t wanna get killed better clear on out the back.
And
“You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.” — Blondie (Clint Eastwood) to Tuco (Eli Wallach) in The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
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