Friday, January 09, 2009

My Sixth Bloggiversary

Six years ago, on January 11, 2003, I wrote my first post for Inn of the Last Home.
This is it. Welcome.

In case you're wondering about the title, learn about it here.

Who am I? I live in Knoxville, TN. I have kids, and a good job. I figure the blogiverse needs someone to reach that middle-ground, family-in-the-suburbs, church-going, theatre-loving, liberal, sci-fi-watching, politically-naive demographic. That's me.
A lot has happened in six years. We've had two presidential elections (in which the online community had significant influence), I've joined a semi-successful band.

I lost a good friend in a senseless, tragic way. I also remembered another friend who was killed in another senseless, tragic way - the irony is I never actually met her.

I've performed in or Music Directed eight shows around town (Company, Jacques Brel..., Annie, Honk, The King and I, Suessical, Grease, Peter Pan) and one in Florida. I joined the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Theatre Association, and recently became Community Theatre Chair. My goal of actually getting to direct plays continues to frustratingly elude me.... I directed a children's show in 2002, and that's my only credit thus far despite a number of requests and offers to direct. That is, and always has been my main goal in theatre and I am unsure as to why I have not found an opportunity thus far.

My kids have grown up around me in spite of my attempts to keep them at three and six. Tink is now nine and a fourth grader, and BrainyBoy is twelve going on thirteen in the seventh grade. My "conversations" with Tink (then known as GiggleGirl) began here and are quite humerous (follow the tag).

My job situation on the face is unchanged. I continue to work at the same place, for the same folks and with pretty much the same folks. I don't and shouldn't blog about my workplace in any detail for obvious reasons but I will say that my frustration and feelings of being marginalized have about doubled every year since I started the blog. I need to find something new and quick - but I've been needing to do that for several years now, with no results. Similar to theatre directing, the opportunities for change, growth, advancement and satisfaction continue to elude me. Enough about that.

I've made 2,276 posts since I started this blog (counting this one). That averages about 379 a year or almost a post a day. Lately that count has dropped precipitously (like my big words?). A significant reason for that has been my increased use of Twitter. A lot of my style fits twitter better than blogging, with quick thoughts and random replies. Other than a few political posts I made in the last few months my posting has slacked off a good bit. I think if you look back in the previous paragraphs it will give you an indication why: sameness. Job - same. Theatre career - same. Not that the details haven't changed, but the sense of growth and moving forward have remained the same. When there's growth, there's creativity and spark. When I'm constantly going in circles, I don't feel as if there's really anything to particularly unload or talk about on this site.

I've also noticed in the last couple years the continued rise of a style of blogging I dislike - the hyper-political blog. These are blogs where politics is king and the actions of political figures are elevated to celebrity status. In the past, tabloid magazines and TV shows exploit the every movement and thought of various movie stars, models and other performers. Political blogs do the same with political figures, but in a different way. They elevate to extreme the people they like (i.e. from their own party and way of thinking) and denigrate everybody else (all those not in their party). It was bad enough during the Bush/Kerry campaign in 2004, but much worse in the McCain/Obama campaign of this past year. As I said before, the online community had a huge impact on the recent presidential election - but I don't feel it was a particularly positive one. Little attention was paid to highlighting issues and beliefs each candidate stood for, but more for their personalities, faults, intelligence, background, etc. When Sarah Palin's ability to see Russia from Alaska gets more blog coverage than McCain's economic policies we know we're in trouble. And when know more about political activists Obama was linked to 30 years ago than Biden's foreign policy experience, something's wrong.

But that's what was popular and any other noise was drowned out. So I didn't feel I had much of use to contribute. That was a big factor as well.

So what do I have to contribute to the blogging community? I lean way local, with a lot of Knoxville/Knox County/Tennessee related posts. I also lean personal with discussion of my family, my... (what would you call my theater and musical pursuits? They're less than a career but more than a hobby. An avocation?) Anyway, the stuff I do on the side. I don't rant, I don't pontificate, I don't throw things against the wall to see if they stick, I don't run things up flagpoles and see if anyone salutes, I'm not a curmudgeon, I'm not a rabble-rouser or an activist. I'm not a mommy-blogger or self-actualist. I don't claim to know the truth, the skinny, the dirt, the lowdown or the real story.

I am what I am. I live in a medium sized town in a southern state. I love music and I love theatre and Lost and Star Trek and Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica and Jurassic Park and Back to the Future and dragons and spaceships and transporters and Civilization III and World of Warcraft and Agatha Christie and Christopher White and Stephen King and The Beatles and Huey Lewis and the News and Jimmy Buffett and Carmina Burana and Beethoven's 9th and To God Be the Glory and Amy Grant and hot, sunny days in the Caribbean and cool days in the Smokeys and Walt Disney World and EPCOT and Neyland Stadium and LP Field and spring church softball and bottom of the ninth. I'm blessed to be reconnected and continue to connect with old friends from high school, college and elsewhere. I can't wait to be around the people I have met doing theatre. I adore my wife. I'm continually proud of my kids and want to see them grow up well. I'm thankful for my parents and my in-laws. I love God and want to do his will. I have opinions like everybody else. I want to succeed, do things that people will be proud of and above all do the right thing.

Is any of that blogworthy? I guess I'll find out. I have a few bloggiversaries to go :)

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