According to Blogger, this is post number 1,000, but I know for a fact that's a lie.
I've had this blog since...wait for it... 2004. That's about eight years and most of my 20's. That may also be the most committed I've ever been to anything in my life.
But I digress.
Anyway, named for some Dixie Chicks lyrics, this little piece of web real estate has served many purposes over the course of the last eight years. It began when a friend of mine started her own blog, and I, being a total follower without a mind of my own, decided I should start one too. At that point - I was in college - several of my friends and I used it to keep up with each other. We'd post about the mundane details of our daily lives. Honestly, it read like a 20-year-old girl's diary.
(Don't even try to go back and find that stuff; I did away with it long ago.)
I know it has sat empty at times due to my schedule or just an overall lack of interest, but being a writer at heart, I'd get the occasional desire to write some crazy little essay about something going on in the world or in my life (many of those are gone too).
It's also served as my outlet for political rants, particularly during the months leading up to the 2008 elections. While that particular political season gave me a constant migraine, I had so much fun blogging and chatting with a few political friends almost every night as we watched debates and returns and our country go to hell.
Speaking of friends, I've made several through the blog. I've even connected with people I've written about. I won't start naming names, but one of my favorite blog-related memories is talking Lindsey Buckingham, politics, and running over myself with Pat and her husband, Steve.
This blog has served for an outlet for the hard times I've gone through over the past few years, and it's served some professional purposes. In some ways, I could credit this blog with launching my writing career (Assuming it stays launched in the future, right now things aren't looking so peachy.)
It's given me an outlet to talk about the various obsessions that I wouldn't dare share with people I knew in real life, or they would probably think I was crazy. (Well, they probably already do, but whatevs, not the point.) I'm pretty sure I spent at least a year blogging about a great little show that I just knew would go off the air if it didn't get every little bit of support it could. Ironically, I don't watch it anymore, but for what it's worth, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld is still going strong, and more importantly, the show's genius host is now on TV at a normal hour.
It's also given me a way to kind of keep up with my own life. There are many aspects I choose to keep private, but it's fun to go back and read about various things that happened over the years or to have a reference point for specific dates when those events occurred. It's also funny to go back and look at how some my opinions have changed.
Politically, I've changed a lot. I'd like to think my writing has gotten better. I've got one of the best damn quote collections in the world. (Well, I've got many of my favorite quotes here in one place - close enough.)
Anyway, I ramble on about all of this to say I've been thinking about revamping the blog. Part of me thinks it's a waste of time. When I get my book finished, I'll need a more professional site or something, right? (Humor me, people.) Part of me thinks it's a great idea, because it does give me an outlet to write about whatever the heck I want and maybe have a tiny audience.
If I do continue, some big changes definitely need to be made. I spent many late nights in 2009 trying to figure out this current, customized look, but not only am I over it, much of it is broken. I used to have ads and things placed around my posts so that I *might* could make a little money here. Over the last year or so, my traffic has really increased. It sucks right now but for a while I was getting many, many hits. Turns out, my links to those ads had broken and all of it was worthless. (Well, uh, what I mean is, I appreciate the traffic, I'd never do something just to make money!)
I'll put it this way, you can no longer click on the title at the top and go back to the home page. How does that even break?And the "Good blogs, awesome people" thing to the left? I don't even talk to some of those people anymore. (Actually, I did try to clean that up a few weeks ago, but I'd like to add some things.)
There are more issues I could get into, but I doubt anyone but me is reading this now. So, I guess my point is that I'm really thinking of making big changes here, and if you'd like to see those, stay tuned. They may not happen anytime in the too near future - my weekend o' writing has already been ruined once again - but if I can find the time, I may play around with it. Who knows, I may even self-host? I tried that before with a political blog, but shortly after I started it, I became pretend journalist girl and never had time to work it out.
I've had this blog since...wait for it... 2004. That's about eight years and most of my 20's. That may also be the most committed I've ever been to anything in my life.
But I digress.
Anyway, named for some Dixie Chicks lyrics, this little piece of web real estate has served many purposes over the course of the last eight years. It began when a friend of mine started her own blog, and I, being a total follower without a mind of my own, decided I should start one too. At that point - I was in college - several of my friends and I used it to keep up with each other. We'd post about the mundane details of our daily lives. Honestly, it read like a 20-year-old girl's diary.
(Don't even try to go back and find that stuff; I did away with it long ago.)
I know it has sat empty at times due to my schedule or just an overall lack of interest, but being a writer at heart, I'd get the occasional desire to write some crazy little essay about something going on in the world or in my life (many of those are gone too).
It's also served as my outlet for political rants, particularly during the months leading up to the 2008 elections. While that particular political season gave me a constant migraine, I had so much fun blogging and chatting with a few political friends almost every night as we watched debates and returns and our country go to hell.
Speaking of friends, I've made several through the blog. I've even connected with people I've written about. I won't start naming names, but one of my favorite blog-related memories is talking Lindsey Buckingham, politics, and running over myself with Pat and her husband, Steve.
This blog has served for an outlet for the hard times I've gone through over the past few years, and it's served some professional purposes. In some ways, I could credit this blog with launching my writing career (Assuming it stays launched in the future, right now things aren't looking so peachy.)
It's given me an outlet to talk about the various obsessions that I wouldn't dare share with people I knew in real life, or they would probably think I was crazy. (Well, they probably already do, but whatevs, not the point.) I'm pretty sure I spent at least a year blogging about a great little show that I just knew would go off the air if it didn't get every little bit of support it could. Ironically, I don't watch it anymore, but for what it's worth, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld is still going strong, and more importantly, the show's genius host is now on TV at a normal hour.
It's also given me a way to kind of keep up with my own life. There are many aspects I choose to keep private, but it's fun to go back and read about various things that happened over the years or to have a reference point for specific dates when those events occurred. It's also funny to go back and look at how some my opinions have changed.
Politically, I've changed a lot. I'd like to think my writing has gotten better. I've got one of the best damn quote collections in the world. (Well, I've got many of my favorite quotes here in one place - close enough.)
Anyway, I ramble on about all of this to say I've been thinking about revamping the blog. Part of me thinks it's a waste of time. When I get my book finished, I'll need a more professional site or something, right? (Humor me, people.) Part of me thinks it's a great idea, because it does give me an outlet to write about whatever the heck I want and maybe have a tiny audience.
If I do continue, some big changes definitely need to be made. I spent many late nights in 2009 trying to figure out this current, customized look, but not only am I over it, much of it is broken. I used to have ads and things placed around my posts so that I *might* could make a little money here. Over the last year or so, my traffic has really increased. It sucks right now but for a while I was getting many, many hits. Turns out, my links to those ads had broken and all of it was worthless. (Well, uh, what I mean is, I appreciate the traffic, I'd never do something just to make money!)
I'll put it this way, you can no longer click on the title at the top and go back to the home page. How does that even break?And the "Good blogs, awesome people" thing to the left? I don't even talk to some of those people anymore. (Actually, I did try to clean that up a few weeks ago, but I'd like to add some things.)
There are more issues I could get into, but I doubt anyone but me is reading this now. So, I guess my point is that I'm really thinking of making big changes here, and if you'd like to see those, stay tuned. They may not happen anytime in the too near future - my weekend o' writing has already been ruined once again - but if I can find the time, I may play around with it. Who knows, I may even self-host? I tried that before with a political blog, but shortly after I started it, I became pretend journalist girl and never had time to work it out.
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