A Year Later

One year ago tomorrow -- 366 days ago, in this "bissextile" year -- I opened this blog and posted my first entry: A photo of me sitting pensively on a haystack, wondering what I should write about.

This is my 102nd post since then, just a couple shy of averaging two posts a week. And what did I think of that I could write about? A little bit of everything, it seems -- whatever amused me, puzzled me, amazed me, or made me angry. A lot of politics, some book and movie reviews, some letters from a friend in Australia, some brooding on the sort of things that happen to people as they go through life. Some people and events that inspired me. Thoughts about the seasons and about the passing of time.

Some posts were crap. A few, I'm quite proud of. And most were reasonably workmanlike and able to convey adequately whatever I hoped to convey.

A review of a local commercial theater production (by ACT Theater) received a compliment from ACT's publicity department, together with access to photos of their play that they make available to the press. My review of a book by Peter Cameron, a well known author, resulted in a link on his own personal blog. Those were highlights for me, the closest I came to public acclaim. Also satisfying were the occasional "comments" that relatives and friends left -- but never as often as I would have liked -- on various posts. And always appreciated were those interesting, challenging -- and often barbed -- remarks that a precocious Colorado high school student aimed in my direction.

For the curious, I'm listing five posts which, even in retrospect, strike me as well written and interesting. They aren't necessarily my "best," I suppose, but they're far from my worst. Another day, I might choose another five. Curiously enough, the posts I liked best often received the least interest and attention from my reading audience. But, then, in real life I've found that's also true of things that interest me!

With a Song in Her Heart (May 24, 2007)

Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) (July 30, 2007)

Nostalgia (August 30, 2007)

A Cruel Gift (October 19, 2007)

Ash Wednesday (February 1, 2008)

And so, tomorrow I begin my second year of writing. I feel burned out at times, and at those times my rate of production begins to flag. But then something new and startling comes along, my mind is boggled, the juices flow, and the keyboard keys begin clicking anew.

This blog still has legs.