The big 5-0

Holy crap, my humble little blog is 50 posts old. Who knew?

I guess my favorite post, still, is the one about the potential pratfalls of a Philadelphia Olympics. Apparently it was good enough to get a notice on Oddsnark - still the only random, unaffiliated link I've gotten to this site.

But I think that's OK. I don't know what I expected to get from this, but I think it's worked. I find myself bringing a reporter's curiosity to everyday experiences. Most of it is the typical introspective stuff you've come to know and love. Like wondering if the grass on the National Mall feels any more special than, say, a blade of grass in Las Cruces. Or wondering why I got choked up at the site of a program from a fireman's funeral - it was a drawing of a dalmatian, it's head hung low with a single tear coming from its visible eye. A sad story, to be sure, but one that caught me in just that certain way.

Maybe the Yuengling's got something to do with it. You may have noticed that there's a lot of posts on late Thursday/early Friday - a few hours after I return home from our softball game, with a handful of beers consumed (some weeks more than others). At least I'm not a mean drunk, I guess.

I wonder if this blog has fulfilled its mission. I've asked some erstwhile blog folks what they think, and based on their feedback, I guess this isn't really what one would expect from a blog - lots of links, multiple updates a day, that sort of thing. And that's cool, but it's just not what I'm trying to accomplish.

And that's OK, I think. After all, I'm not beholden to anyone's rules in this deal. Plus, it's a cool thing to have such complete ownership over something; perhaps that's why I enjoy my NASCAR blog at work so much. There's no sports editor sighing and wondering why I'm more interested in going to a Kasey Kahne interview session than working on my high school golf preview. (Not that he's said that, mind you.) The topics are mine, the words are mine, the ideas are mine. And that's a wonderful feeling.

This was meant to be a sort of creative exercise for myself, and I think we get a checkmark next to that mission as well. I've always been pretty good at remembering random details; recently, the highlighting color on Al Saunders' playsheet, or the reaction from Penn State cornerback Justin King when he couldn't remember the right word to describe a receiver from our area.

I think the blog has helped with that. Each day, each hour, is a chance to see something I've never seen or look at something in a way I've not considered. I walk down the street and random thoughts pop into my head; maybe it's enough to blog about later, maybe not. But either way, I feel like I'm a bit more perceptive to the world around me.

One of the basic tenets of journalistic writing is show, don't tell. And if this blog has done anything, it's helped me show a lot better.

I know the crew around these parts doesn't exactly approach a throng, but thanks to you guys for playing along. Keep those comments coming ... I definitely need to be told when I'm full of shit.

Apparently that happens from time to time.