This is my 3,000th blog post almost exactly 15 years to the day that I started Sean’s Ramblings. 15 years ago, I was still a newlywed and in my 20s, before kids and before even Ziggy. We had recently bought a small and comfortable condo, and I started a new job. Basically, within about six months, I got married, moved, changed careers and professions, and started a blog. All four ended up being major life events! I’m kidding a little about the blog being a major life event, but I can’t imagine the number of hours I've spent thinking of and writing 3,000 separate posts.
Let me go back to late 2004. I was in a job that I liked but the organization completely changed. All of a sudden, I went from being the new guy to having more tenure than the rest of the small staff combined, and I wasn’t even there two years. It was at this time that I first learned about blogs thanks to several friends starting their own. I would check their blogs multiple times a day to see if they posted something new. Eventually, and after talking (or at least emailing) with all of them, I decided to start my own blog thanks to their encouragement. My friends stopped writing their blogs years ago, though one of them started a successful website and continues to write regularly. The difference is that the personal blog is gone, and the new website is subject specific.
And that gets me back to my blog. Sure, I write about sports and entertainment, but it's a personal blog, and most people don’t write personal blogs anymore. Life gets in the way, or it’s easier to type out a few tweets instead of coming up with a thoughtful blog post. While it’s one thing to share your status on Facebook or pictures on Instagram, writing a blog post is potentially there forever and can be seen by anyone. I’m not going to suggest that we go back to 2010 and begin a Make Blogs Great Again campaign. That’s just the way it is. Right, Bruce Hornsby?
Even though I’ve written a lot here over the last 15 years, I’m still guarded. I don’t use my kids' real names or include pictures of them. Sure, I’ve written about emergency room visits, but I don’t write about how the kids are doing in school or some personal things about myself. Maybe I would if this was completely anonymous (about me, not the kids), but it’s not. With that written, I’ve found Sean’s Ramblings to be a wonderful outlet. It's an amazing hobby. I often find it much easier to share my thoughts and feelings in a blog post rather than through talking with friends or family. I'm sure that says something about me. When someone creates a biography about me writing the (possibly) world's oldest continuously operating personal blog, I'm sure this will come up!
Someone that I follow on Instagram posted recently that they deleted many old blog posts "in the hopes of improving overall SEO on my blog." I don't understand this. I know that plenty of my old blog posts have links to other sites that no longer work or include videos that were removed. I don't have the time or interest to go through all 3,000 posts. Apparently, I also don't have an interest in improving my SEO or CEO or IBM either. At this point, I view Sean's Ramblings as a bit of a time capsule in that I can look back at old posts at any time to see various stages of my life or to look at events from a certain time period.
While this is starting to sound like a retirement speech. Sean's Ramblings isn't going anywhere. I don't know if I'll still be writing this blog for another 15 years. At my current pace, I'm certainly not going to write 3,000 more blog posts. So what's next? I have a few ideas for blog posts including a fun look at the next 10 years likely coming out on Thursday, but who knows what I'll write about next month (for example). Although my idea of becoming Loudoun United's official team blogger failed, I still hope to get invited to various events or openings or receive a press pass to cover something. I've shared in the past my admiration for the different opportunities for the Pittsburgh blogging community. There just doesn't seem to be the same community in DC or Northern Virginia, or if there is, I'm not part of it. Maybe it will happen in 2020!
I'm ending this post by including one of my favorite songs from the last few months.
Dave Grohl starts the video by saying that "there are friends everywhere, even those you don't know." I'm grateful for all of the interaction I've had with so many people over the years. I've never met most of these folks in person, but I do feel like I have friends everywhere. Thanks to all of you for reading this post and for checking out Sean's Ramblings. Maybe this is the first time you've read my blog. Maybe you've read all 3,000 posts. I hope that I've given you some entertainment or maybe even something to think about. Although that last part seems doubtful, I really appreciate all of your support! To 3,000!
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