A power walk down memory lane

I never know how to start a reflection without sounding sappy or corny:

• "I thought it was going to be horrible, but (insert activity/topic) turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life"
• "I learned so many new things; not only about (insert activity/topic), but also about myself"
• "I can't believe the time has flown by so fast. It seems only yesterday when I started (insert activity/topic)"

You get the picture, and I know you've heard all of those lines before. So I'll do my best not to say too many phrases like that during this post.

But let's look back, shall we?

My first blog post. Frankly, it screams "inside joke". I hate inside jokes. They were funny in middle school. Now I hate them; nobody wants to be the one left on the outside of the joke. Saying inside joke is just a way to make yourself feel important. But it just makes you seem pompous (I suppose there are exceptions because there always are; just in general, though). So I don't care for this post very much, but it's in my history, so I don't want to delete it. It will remind me to avoid such things in the future.

Well, that got way off topic. Sorry, readers!

My first real blog post. I ended this one with "Did I do it right? I'm not sure." That pretty much sums up my feelings for a blog. I had never seen one- and had heard about them only in the context of people sitting with their laptops in coffee shops. So I felt a little bit like a baby bird tossed out of its nest to learn how to fly. This blog was wishful thinking- I used an article and commented on my thoughts. It's not a terrible post, just the expectations it set were too serious for what I wanted to do.

My first (and best) rant. Yes, I was (and still am) against ranting to the world constantly. But I have grown to accept that perhaps it is entertaining for readers to read complaints that are interesting (and not completely self-centered). And it's not boring to write, either. This post also had my first video (a now common theme among my posts).

Blog with the most comments. I got three comments on this post- a record for me.

Blogs total: Counting this post, I will have 84 blog posts. I can't believe that! It really doesn't seem like I've done that much, but it seems I have.

Overall, blogging had its moments. Some months I blogged like crazy (in April '09 I had 20 posts alone). Other times there were spells of writer's block (like this post and this one and this one). But I think it has been a good experience so far. It forces me to write a little better than normal, knowing that other people have the opportunity to read it. Will I keep blogging after this year? Not as religiously, but yes. I like the idea of having a website of my own (even if its not visited that much). And I feel technologically savvy (something I'm not used to, because I'm just horrible with computers).

But enough about me and this blog. It's a great day out; you should go and have a picnic or something.