On Dec. 5, 1998 I started blogging with these inspiring words:
So I’ve decided to cement my daily thoughts in immortal type, and plaster them here on the world wide web for all to read. What kind of an idiot am I?
Ten years later, I’m still an idiot. In that time:
- I’ve written 2,537 posts, which works out to an entry every one and a half days.
- I’ve received approximately 2,700 comments. My banana allergy post is still the all-time winner with 263 comments. (And to be fair, I’ve only had commenting for five years.)
- The blog has been hosted on five separate sites: Bethel, ReAL Magazine, Blogger, Monkey Outta Nowhere and now KevinDHendricks.com.
- The blog has had four different names: Daily Ponderings, ReAL Thoughts, Thoughts and whatever the heck you want to call it now (Kevin D. Hendricks? Worst name yet.)
- The blog has been powered by five different platforms: NotePad with straight HTML (shudder), Dreamweaver, Blogger, Movable Type and now WordPress.
To celebrate one decade of blogging I was going to comb through the archives and pull out some gems. But that’s a lot of work. Besides, nobody wants to read the introspective and completely incoherent ramblings of the early years, or sift through the years when I used only Simpsons quotes as entry titles, or have to struggle with the countless typos, botched em dashes and half-missing entries that come from switching platforms multiple times.
Mike, The Cat
Instead I thought it might be fun to share my first ever book: Mike, The Cat. I’ve talked about the book before, but now I’ve made it available in PDF in all its terrible glory.
I wrote it in 1986, nearly 22 years ago, as a first grader at Scotch Elementary School. I hope you’ll forgive me for reveling in the past like this, but it seemed more entertaining than just digging up old entries.
Thanks
Thanks for reading my blog. I should give a shout out to Ben Tramm who inspired me to start blogging in the first place. Yes, you can blame him. I should also give a shout out to anyone who’s been brave enough to read along since the very beginning (fess up in the comments—we’ll get you some therapy).
It’s been a fun ride. Let’s see if this thing can survive another decade.
Kevin:
Congrats on the milestone. If you were blogging HTML-style out of NotePad, then you’re more than an early adopter. You’re a Neanderdopter.
I look forward to reading “Mike, the Cat.” I guess, 9 years from now, on my blogging anniversary, I have to publish “The Adventures of Little Elf.”
Do I win a prize for reading since day 1? I think I should because not only did I read all those rambling posts but I made you explain what you were talking about…
Wow, nice work. Congrats. Can you imagine going back to hand-editing and managing blog posts?
Quite an accomplishment, congratulations! I can’t even imagine blogging in Notepad. You should get some sort of award for that. I’m also a fan of your “typesetting” in the book. Here’s to the next 10 years…
I’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again: you’re a true pioneer. I respect that immensely.
I have also been reading since the beginning! (Though I’m sure I missed some entries here and there, especially before RSS.)
Of course you can survive another decade! What’s the other option–go silent? Never!