Tripping Through Time

January 24, 2006

This post marks a milestone of the project that just won’t die: the 100th post to this blog. I was surprised when my one-year blogging anniversary rolled around. As I stated then, I can’t believe I’ve kept it up. I suppose it’s hard for other people to understand exactly why I continue to be surprised with myself and my continued upkeep of Reader Meet Author. So you’ll just have to take my word for it. It’s no small feat.

On this milestone I’ve decided to revisit a few posts from the past and ask myself those questions I’ve asked on here at least a couple of times… has anything changed? Have I learned anything?

What’s the Big Deal About Love?
posted July 12, 2004

This was the second post I made and the one that set a precedent for how I would approach the majority of the things I write about here. Instead of writing about what I did during the day… or what I ate… or who I spoke to, I used something that happened during the day as a springboard of sorts into a bigger question. The question at hand here was whether friendship or love was the “better” basis for a relationship. I decided that friendship was the winner of my fight scenario.

While my opinion has not changed drastically from its original position, I have come to better understand the power that love can hold over us. Over the last year and a half I think I’ve learned to be a little more tolerant of the affliction of love in others and the side effects of that affliction. I’ve seen the good side of love… and the bad. I am still resolved to the idea that love is the cause of more ill feelings than friendship. But I also understand that, for some, the benefits of love outweigh the possibility of devastating ruin.

The Need to Vent
posted August 25, 2004

In this post I put the actual medium which I was using under the crosshairs of examination: the blog. Why, I asked, are blogs popping up all over the place? Why did I start one? My answer back then was simple:

“Through the web log, we can still get the satisfaction of venting and sharing without the fear or wonder of what will happen with the information we present”.

My thinking was based on the fact that no one I knew in person visited my blog. However, that is not the case anymore. At least a dozen people that I know are now readers of Reader Meet Author.

Has my take on the blog phenomenon changed? Only a little. I still think that writing is an extremely therapeutic way of transforming thought to word. I have more experience with the whole blog thing than I did then and I can say with certainty that, for me, this little corner of the web has been a most excellent way to vent and get things out. However, the one thing that I didn’t consider during the original post is the reason that blogging continues to be the fastest growing segment of the Internet. It makes authors out of us all. No editors to check, change, or strike our words. No publishing companies to answer to. No worries about ending up in the half-off bin at Borders. We are all free to express and write and publish whatever we want. Information exchange, baby… it’s what makes the net great!

Why “Why?” is Not Your Enemy
posted December 11, 2004

This post continues to be one of my favorites. Perhaps because it really is so indicative of who I am… or perhaps because it serves as a reminder to myself to keep asking that question that annoys so many people. It reminds me why I keep writing here. It reminds me that there is an eternal scientist and explorer inside of myself. And that fact that I wouldn’t change a word of it reminds me that, while asking the question is a good idea, I realize that it is one that can never be answered fully. So I must trudge on and keep asking over and over again.

My Everyday Strangers
posted March 23, 2005

I’ve actually made some progress since posting this examination of the way I interact with the strangers I see every day. For one, I actually speak to most of the people at the gas station I mention several times in the post. I even saw one of them at Wal-Mart a while back and stopped to have a short conversation with her. And I’ve started spending time outside of work with some of my “at work” friends (even though I don’t work there anymore). Heck… just yesterday I went out with my sister and some of her friends. My new job requires that I not only talk to strangers but also that I get to know many personal details about their lives. I’ve ever found myself caring a little about a few of them (*GASP*). Oh… and yeah… I know what my neighbors look like now. I even speak to the guy whose head I sleep next to every night. Haha.

Even with all of these advances, I still consider my social life only a minor blip on the radar. I still haven’t branched out enough to put a check mark in the “getting to know people” box. It’s a slow and steady progression, but it is by no means a done deal. I’ll check back in after another 100 posts and we’ll see if I’ve made any more progress.

Ready to Give Up? Just Get Married!
posted May 25, 2005

No time travel through Reader Meet Author could be complete without this one. I’ve received more email, more hits, and more all-around feedback from this post than any other to date. I personally reference this post more than any other when I’m talking to other people about their relationships, engagements, marriages, etc. I knew that I would. I even mention as much in the post itself. I’m surprised it’s been read as often as it has been. It’s one of the longer posts here (and those of you who read often know that I get a little windy sometimes… so that’s saying a lot).

That being said, I’m still standing firm by my assessment of marriage. I know a few more married folks these days. A few more of my friends have gotten married since then. And with my new job I’ve seen a few more instances of marriage gone wrong. Dreadfully wrong. I’m not advocating isolationism. I’m advocating informed, thought out, and carefully examined coupling. Some will say that rationalizing something like love and marriage kills the mood of the whole thing. But so does divorce. So does wasting and/or ruining a portion of your life that you’ll never get back. Enough said.

Dumbing Down America
posted October 8, 2005

Just yesterday I was reminded of this post. I was reading an article at CNN that claimed a recent study showed a whopping 75% of college students were unable to understand and follow a simple list of instructions… rendering many of them functionally illiterate. While I’m not one to jump on a single study’s bandwagon, the fact that even one study was able to present such numbers only further reinforces my assertion in this post: “Dumbing down the entire academic system will eventually make it’s entire purpose moot… if it hasn’t already”.

Look Ma’… I’m Dead
posted January 2, 2006

This recent post caused a bit of an uproar. Given a little more time, I assume this post will overtake the above mentioned marriage post as the one eliciting the most feedback. Most of the responses have been exactly what I’d hoped they’d be: personal experiences with the subject of suicide and the aftermath of its wake. I received an email just a few days ago from an anonymous reader who said he was still trying to figure out why he’d tried to take his own life more than a decade ago. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one who doesn’t get it.

This post also served another purpose for me. It showed me that even the most personal and “touchy” of subjects are worth exploring. Unless we experience something directly, its hard to understand the dynamics of it. There are many things in the world that I’m curious about that I would never want to experience first-hand. The approach I took here is the best I can hope for: different people’s experience and ideas on the subject. I am thankful for every bit of feedback that I received from this post. I know it’s hard for some people to tell a complete stranger their innermost thoughts. I just regret that a simple miscommunication led to the alienation of long-time reader and fellow blogger. Perhaps in time this, too, shall pass.

Conclusion
There you have it. Some of my favorite posts. I’d say I’ve learned a lot since the beginning of my blogging experiment. For one, I’ve learned that I really do have the staying power I always doubted was there! But I’ve also spent a lot of time going back and reading what I’ve written in the past. And I think that’s one of the benefits of writing that many of us overlook. It’s easy to keep writing and writing without a single thought of the past. But history is where knowledge of the future lies. For every new and awesome thing we experience, there is something of the past within it. The past cannot be changed. What’s done is done. Mistakes are made and things go wrong. Opinions change. But as long as we learn from what we’ve done (or written)… as long as we grow and evolve into something greater than we were yesterday… progress is made.

Here’s to another 100 learning experiences!

Posted in Blog Related, Noteworthy, Personal

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