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.)

Sean: A Professional Journalist?

Although I'm not a professional journalist, I like to think that I abide by journalistic standards, I'm not just going to write a blog post to spread unconfirmed rumors or gossip.* I give credit when quoting other articles or using photos taken by someone else. Sure, I received a cease and desist notice from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette years ago for using one of their photos, but I did give the photographer and newspaper credit before removing the picture from my blog.

I mention this because I entered the Washington, D.C. chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists' annual journalism contest earlier this year in the blog/online news category. The general guidelines state that work entered must be of local interest or about the workings of Washington, D.C. and the greater DC metro region. Since I write about a wide variety of topics, including many about Pittsburgh, I entered my May 2022 post about the end of the Celebrate Fairfax festival, which was the largest annual festival in Northern Virginia but is now extinct.

SPJ announced the winners at the recent Dateline Awards held at the National Press Club. Since I was not one of the three finalists, I did not attend the ceremony/dinner. I later learned that the winner was WTOP.com. Although I knew that I entered a category in an open division, to quote John McEnroe, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!

WTOP is a radio station and institution in DC. The station delivers local news and gives traffic and weather updates every 10 minutes 24/7. The website is a companion to the radio station and probably has dozens of employees between writers, editors, photographers, web designers, marketing staff, and more. How can Sean's Ramblings compete with that? The answer: it can't. 

It was nice thinking that I could be in the same category and room as professional journalists, but I guess I really haven't reached that level. Yet. Now if I can just get a media pass to a Washington Nationals game or the Oscars or Emmys, maybe one day I could be considered a professional journalist. 

* Please don't look at my previous 3,300 blog posts to see if this is accurate. If I did write a post spreading unconfirmed rumors, it was probably in an attempt to be funny and was not intended to be serious.

State of The Ramblings

This blog can vote! It can buy lottery tickets and fireworks and tobacco. It can gamble in some places, donate blood, join the military, and even get a Costco card. Yes, Sean’s Ramblings is now 18 years old. This is ancient in the world of blogging where blogs are seemingly non-existent, replaced by quick videos on Instagram and TikTok. Even though I wrote fewer blog posts in 2022 than in any other year since this blog began, I'm still here. Time is clearly the biggest reason for me not writing as much as I'd like. Who knew that you have to spend so much time with your kids? Between baseball, basketball, Cub Scouts, religious school, swimming lessons, and other activities and events, I feel like I’m constantly on the go taking the kids from place to place. My sleep schedule is also a mess, but I'll write about that in a separate post.

In the meantime, let's look at Sean's Ramblings in 2022. Yes, there were fewer posts, but hopefully it's quality over quantity. I wrote about getting a colonoscopy and new glasses and organizing a pickle taste test for Hanukkah. I wrote two new posts in my series of hills I'm willing to die on regarding Jayson Werth and not rooting for the Steelers to lose to get a better draft pick. I visited Austin, Texas and Columbus, Ohio and went camping. I learned that seeing women's volleyball live is amazing and discovered that I've been telling a lie for nearly two decades. I also wrote about the end of Celebrate Fairfax and got a Cameo by Sean Foreman of the musical group 3OH!3. Lots of quality!

 

So what's next? I'm considering joining the Society of Professional Journalists, Washington D.C. chapter and submitting my blog for the annual Dateline Awards. I mean, I'm not sure if a category even exists for this blog, but I'm sure the judges would definitely consider my work favorably against writers from The Washington Post, WTOP, etc. 

 

There were three people I contacted for interviews in 2022 and while none of them happened, I'd like to try again with these individuals and maybe others for 2023. Plus, I always enjoy my collaborative posts. The World Cup and 2022 election predictions posts had mixed results, but I'm sure I'll try again for something or other in 2023.

 

That’s a wrap on the State of the Ramblings. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this post and any of my other posts over the last year or beyond. Now, it’s time for the blog to buy some Mega Millions tickets!

Photo by Seattle Post-Intelligencer Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle.