I began this blog in July of 2005. You can read that first post to find out more of what inspired me to begin this journey and, of course, the spirit of adventure started then lives on to this day. A rarity to be sure for this format of social media. Free-form blogs like this used to be more commonplace as you may remember. But newer social media platforms have replaced most "slice of life" blogs leaving the blogosphere, yes an actual term oft used a decade ago, anchored now by niche blogs devoted to either news, special interests, hobbies or as added fluff for larger sites.
Blogs back in the day were mainly a written format and though the the ability to include pictures, videos and other media slowly became more and more user-friendly and accepted, blogs like mine tend to still focus primarily on the written word. As I've admitted many, many, many times, I'm not a terrific writer. My posts lack consistent grammatical accuracy, they tend to lose track frequently and even the subject matter can be considered either ho-hum or unfit for presentation for one reason or another.
But I try to keep it real. I'm reporting about my life and, as I've said all along, my most important reader is me. If someone else can find something they seem to be interested in, then all the better, but this blog is more than just a carefree diary. Countless times I've needed to use it like a reference tool in a library to do research on me. I've got to deal with myself for every minute of the rest of my life so I use this as a way to trace where I've been in order to better understand where I'm going. Like the motto of this blog states, I'm trying to find clarity in this blurry, blurry, world of ours. This resource is one way to do it, I'm sure.
A few years after I started this thing and realized that I was going to stick with it, I thought I'd do some sort of year end summary of the events logged here and, since by then pictures were commonly added to posts, I thought I'd make it a one page collage of images either used in the past year's collection of posts or visuals that enhance or define the subject of each.
Here, I've included links to each of the past ten years Blog In Review pages represented by one of the photo strips of that year. Also, though not necessarily pertaining to the picture, I've pasted a small excerpt from one of that year's posts for your reading pleasure:
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| 2008 |
"But, suddenly, the road surface changed and there was a layer of water covering the slick asphalt. The car began to hydroplane and I couldn't maintain control of the steering. Luckily there was no on coming traffic, otherwise it would be now, at about 60 mph, head on, that I would have crashed. Instead the car veered across the left side of the road and towards the shoulder. I ran off the road despite my pulling on the steering wheel to the right and plunged into a grassy covered ditch, about 3 feet deep. The velocity of the vehicle propelled it through the ditch and as I watched in utter amazement, the airbags deployed and warning dings sounded."
A Whiff Of Formaldehyde
July 28, 2008
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| 2009 |
Another Bloody Workday Daydream
November 05, 2009
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| 2010 |
"In her fifties and "kickin' it" (think of that other great over-the-top SNL character Sally O'Malley (played superbly by the always-hilarious Molly Shannon) Diane is married to one of the senior security guards who she calls Captain Bob and gave birth to her first baby naturally, without aid of drugs, splayed out with her hairy Flower Child legs spread wide open. Gulp. Yeah, apparently she's totally scripted and "phoning it in" when talking about work but when she shifts into personal gear...watch out!"
New Job Roast 5
August 07, 2010
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| 2011 |
"2:40 The helicopter shots show the mass of shocked citizens outside the courthouse.
2:42 The defense legal team stands in the media room. All the main lawyers and their support team.
2:42 Cheney Mason speaking at the mic: Vehemently chiding the "talking heads" and the media telling them "I hope you learned your lesson!" OMG!
2:44 Baez speaking at the mic: Bumbling through his thanks to those that stood by him. Saying justice was served. Casey did not kill her daughter. Also saying this is an opportunity to learn a lesson.
2:46 Going on and on, Baez is trying to sound monumental and deep but with his halting and inability to construct a smooth flow of speech...he is sounding like an idiot.
2:47 Baez: "Yesterday, the 4th of July, a breath of life..." HUH? "We all need to stop and look at a country that tries to kill its citizens." What?
2:48 Baez: "We need to stop trying to kill our people." Now blabbering some shit in Spanish."
LIVE BLOG: The Verdict
July 05, 2011
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| 2012 |
Viva Las Vegas!
April 13, 2012
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| 2013 |
Tooey-ooey-ooooh....Waa, Waa, Waaaaa!
Tooey-ooey-ooooh....Waa, Waa, Weeeeey!
One of us...Punk! One of us is going down tonight! I stepped on it. It "drew." I "drew." And, well...
I won.
Waa, Waa, Waaaaa!"
Day 48: 34 Pounds
May 28, 2013
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| 2014 |
"The view from my window seat as we landed was very cool, it was just after sunset and the whole LA area basin was laid out in a twinkling electric light carpet. It was just about 8pm local time after disembarking and I was lazy. Rather than take the FlyAway bus to downtown as I'd planned ($8), I hopped into a cab ($60), and after my check-in at the hotel which required a $20 cash deposit for the room key (yes, an actual metal key), all my pocket cash was gone. Man, LA was going to be expensive."
TRAVELOGUE: Los Angeles Vacation, Good Morning, LA
September 14, 2014
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| 2015 |
I'm watching from my on-far perch in the dark of night as the 3-ring spectacle unfolds. What do I care? Think I'm gonna make waves? Haven't up to now, and with the April pay raise still in effect, boosted by the 7% differential, I'm making more than during that springtime fiasco. So I remain steadfast in the shadows of the night, drawing not one discerning eyeball towards me."
Reprise Of The Circus Music
August 14, 2015
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| 2016 |
"I'm living in a real-life version of the movie "Brazil."
I became, finally, aware of this when today (today in my dystopian upside-down reality) a hapless yet ruthless maintenance man burst into my apartment, waking me up, to repair my air conditioning unit. You know, the one with all the ducts. And apparently oozing, leaky diaphragms weeping moisture into my walls and, no doubt from the way he barged in, water was bursting like machine-gun wielding stormtroopers through the ceiling of the dwelling below. So he said. So I must trust him.
While he endeavored to litter my home with all manner of tube and wire entangling everything around (so I imagined) I pointed out the black mold. I told him, as I scrambled to find a pen and paper that I'd have the notification in writing, as required by Addendum 4, Clause 4, Paragraph D of the lease contract (not at all imaginary), for him shortly. But suddenly he changed from Bob Hoskins' mindless cog into DeNiro's Harry Tuttle and said I didn't need to put it in writing. Of course, after I went back to bed and he finished up whatever he was doing, I saw no elimination of the mold. He was a false Tuttle."
ERIAM
August 14, 2016
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| 2017 |
"I actually don't like driving. I'm not really that good at it and having to constantly be on alert for the other A-holes on the road with me is so frustrating. Plus, doing 70 miles an hour on somewhat shitty road conditions while 18-wheelers zip past your very, very tiny car creating a sucking wind turbulence pulling you towards their immense, multi-ton metallic masses while they cruise aloofly by at about 90...not fun...not fun at all.
I'd planned out the route ahead of time using Google Maps on my computer, of course, but having neither data availability or access to a good road map app (damn Windows phone), I couldn't review it while en route. And, since everyone else in the world seems to have superior Android and iPhone devices well capable of not only providing a detailed map, but even GPS voice navigation, well, paper maps are a relic of a bygone yesteryear. On one of the occasions I was lost (yes there were several, sigh) I stopped in at a gas station and even inquired if they had any road maps. The millennial behind the counter looked at me as if I just asked if they sold whips for my horse and buggy."
TRAVELOGUE: Total Solar Eclipse, Charleston, South Carolina
August 23, 2017
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| 2018 |
"The meeting was really very quick. I went to Jessica's office and she was on the phone but was soon off and motioned for me to join her, in her Missy Polyanna way, like we were going to sit on the veranda and relax while being served icy-cool mint juleps in silver cups, in Jake's office. Oh fiddle-de-dee.
Jake, butchly (Is that a word? I don't think so but to me it means a fucking pussy man trying to come across as more manly than he is by providing a hefty, robust handshake.) shaking my hand like we we're old friends sitting on the veranda and sipping our mint juleps. I don't know why I keep coming to this stupid metaphor. Maybe because of my aforementioned sour taste about Southern culture...but this dude's from Pennsylvania so that doesn't even fuckin' make sense. Ah well."
The End Of The Madness
April 05, 2018