The experience shocked me. Such a roller coaster of experiences, insights, and digital over share. I also found that my ability to recognize commonly confused words, grammar, and punctuation issues has increased significantly since the days of some of those early (and not-so early posts).
In the valleys of the tour, I found that a lot of past readers and encouragement givers are gone; not just absent from my annual courtesy posts, but no longer with any blog presence; web sites deleted. Reading back through the Word Count Buddy floggings and assorted other comments reminded me of how much inspiration I took from those friends, family members, and fellow writers. It is a shame they are gone. I don't imagine that they will be reading this, but I wish them all the best and hope they are well and just moved on to Twitter or something that better suits their needs.
I also discovered that my constant publication reports (i.e., "I didn't get published again") were quite annoying. There were just way too many of them in proportion to posts of actual content.
At the peaks, I enjoyed seeing what amounted to an online journal that loosely demonstrated my attitudes and interests over a period of years. I've tried to keep a journal before; this blog truly is the longest and most continuous record of my existence, recent absences notwithstanding. I also found some great posts. Like my wife likes to say, no one can crack up Riotimus like Riotimus. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Lawns in Utah - Given the fact that you can wade across every reservoir in the state at this point, it looks like my thinking was right on point even back then. At least where lawns are concerned.
- In the Mail - A nice statistical analysis of a story I wrote.
- The Problem of Metallica - The release of Death Magnetic didn't relieve the symptoms.
- Riotimus vs. the Superbowl - Riotimus is always a winner.
- The Curse of the Itchy Finger: A Jack Jackson Story - No matter how you spin it, it always ends the same.
- Teamwork: It's More than just a Word - Thank goodness for motivational posters.
- Twenty-five Albums: Take Them or Leave Them - My longest post ever, and probably the most controversial.
- M,S, & T I - Some of my thoughts about Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, one of the greatest fantasy series of all time.
- The Conference Call: A Real-life Tale in the Life of Riotimus - So . . . I'm not in the conference room any more, but I have it on good authority that this exact conversation recently took place at one of my new jobs. Thus we see the cyclical nature of history.
- Good Council - My thoughts every time I read the news.
- Ladders - Some personal-Riotimus philosophy that I still ascribe to today.
- A Note on Personal Combat - A synthesis of personal experience coupled with research and some great insights by readers in the comments.
- Standardized Education, er, Tests, er, Teachers, er, etc. - Riotimus's identification of the real problem.
- Labor Day - Riotimus being "funny" about wage slavery.
I am considering re-purposing Write On, mainly by giving it a point. Once I decide what that point is going to be, I may clear out the fluff from the archives. I know others have done this: was it worth it?
R.
