State of the Ramblings: 19

I feel like nearly every State of the Union address by a United States president includes the declaration that the state of the nation is strong. Well, I'm not going to write that here. Sean's Ramblings has certainly slowed down over the years. After writing 85-100 posts annually each year between 2017-2021 (well down from the number of posts I wrote for the first decade of this blog), I wrote 71 posts in 2022 and only 64 posts in 2023. I write when I feel like I have something to share and have the time to write, both of which seem to occur less frequently.

Now that this blog is 19, I understand why I’m probably one of the oldest blogs still around. Maybe 10-12 years ago, there was an explosion of “mommy” blogs/bloggers. I remember getting frustrated that much of their content was sponsored. The ones that focused on their kids and kid-related products aren’t around anymore. Maybe it's because the money went elsewhere (hello Instagram and TikTok). More likely, it’s easy to share stories and pictures about new foods for toddlers, diaper explosions (well, not pictures for this one), cool strollers, or activities for 5 year olds. It’s not as easy to write when your kids get to middle school or become teenagers. Your kids don’t want you to share their stories, or you don’t want to share their stories. I’m not going to write about Individual Educational Plans or how my kids are doing in school. Sure, I might write about my 7th grader's recent break-up but that was because of the absurdity of the whole situation. If he was older and really in a significant relationship, that’s not something I would want to share or would be comfortable sharing. It’s not my story.

So what’s next for Sean’s Ramblings? Nothing. I think my quest for a writing award is over after the 2023 Pittsburgh City Paper's Best of PGH and Washington DC chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists contest debacles. I’d still love to get media credentials for a sporting event or awards show, but even if I get selected to be on the red carpet for the Grammys, I don’t have time to travel to LA for it. So I’ll just continue to write what I want to write about and when I have time to write. No big goals or resolutions. Just keep going and becoming the only blog around to turn 20. And then maybe a big celebration for 20…or 21!

(Any post about the number 19 must include a picture of the 19th US President, Rutherford B. Hayes. Did anyone ever call him Rutherford Hayes without the B? Or just Ruth? Photo from the White House website.)

It's Not A Blog

Go ahead and say this title like Arnold would.

A few months ago, I wrote about being nominated in the Best Blog category of the Pittsburgh City Paper's Best of PGH 2023. I explained at the time that I thought you should vote for Sue of Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents or Virginia of Breathing Space. Sue and Virginia finished second and third respectively. As a tangent, Sue is going through some personal "things," so please support her if you can. In addition, Virginia recently published a book called Nothing. Everything. that I'm looking forward to reading. Go check it out!

Back to the post. When I wrote about being nominated, I included this statement about one of my fellow nominees Uncle Bob's Magic Cabinet or UBMC not to be confused with UPMC, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center:

This nomination actually bothers me. This is a website promoting a mother and daughter's podcast about magic and mythology. There are no posts on the website. A nomination in the podcast category would be appropriate but not in the blog category.

UBMC ended up winning in this category which boggles my mind because IT'S NOT A F!&%ING BLOG! It's a website for the podcast. There are no posts. Pittsburgh City Paper interviewed the mother-daughter duo who also won in the Best Podcast category. There's no mention of a blog or writing in the article. You know why? Again, it's because IT'S NOT A BLOG!

Look, I know some people might have an issue with my nomination since I don't live in Pittsburgh anymore. That's fair. I would counter that I've been part of the Pittsburgh Bloggers Facebook group for years, contribute to the Ya Jagoff website, and often write about Pittsburgh topics, most notably Pittsburgh sports teams. However, Sean's Ramblings would be eligible as a blog because this site is a blog.

Okay, I'm done thinking about this. Maybe the City Paper can screen its nominees a little more next year.

Best of PGH 2023

There are many times when you watch an awards show like the Oscars or Emmys and everyone knows who is going to win in a particular category. Some nominees may hold a glimmer of hope that they might win, but they know this is unlikely and truly are honored just being nominated. That's me in the Pittsburgh City Paper's Best of PGH 2023 in the Best Blog category. I really am honored to be nominated since I know that I won't win and don't deserve to win.

Let's go through the five nominees:

Iron City Paranormal

I wasn't familiar with this site until I saw the list of nominees. Derrick and Daniel lead a paranormal investigation and research team and write and share videos of their experiences at different sites around Western Pennsylvania.

Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

Simply put, Sue runs an important website. She's a great writer who shares experiences and stories of Pittsburgh's LGBTQ community and also spotlights horrific violent incidents particularly against transgender individuals. She's won several awards for her blog since its founding in 2005 and deserves all of them and more.

Sean's Ramblings

Hey, that's me! This blog has and always will be all over the place. I write about Pittsburgh sports, followed by a post about running a 5K with my kids, or the battle over stairs in my neighborhood. For every "serious" post about current events, there are many more that might make you question why you're reading about how I saved money at Kohl's or if you really needed to see a picture Ed Sheeran meeting Cameron Heyward.

Uncle Bob's Magic Cabinet

This nomination actually bothers me. This is a website promoting a mother and daughter's podcast about magic and mythology. There are no posts on the website. A nomination in the podcast category would be appropriate but not in the blog category.

Breathing Space

You can't have a conversation about this history of Pittsburgh blogs without including Virginia Montanez. As PittGirl, she wrote the hugely influential Burgh Blog and That's Church, and there was huge speculation about the identity of the author (probably mostly from former Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl, who was last seen in Dark Knight Rises). Virginia now writes Breathing Space under her own name, and I look forward to receiving emails with her posts each week.

This should be the place where I tell you to go to the Best Blog category under People and Places and vote for Sean's Ramblings. If you want to vote for me, fine. However, you really should vote for Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents or Breathing Space. The quality and importance of both sites is remarkable. Sue and Virginia are such great writers and deserve to win. 

Voting runs from now until July 30th. 

(Based on the last 10 seconds or so, this video is NSFW)