Monday, July 27, 2009

One Year Anniversary of Blogging

It's amazing how fast a year can come and go. The one year anniversary of my blog has arrived and I am making note of the occasion to reflect back on some of the year's activities.
The first post I wrote was "Ten Things I Dislike About Brad and Angelina". I haven't changed my mind about anything I wrote that day yet some of my cohorts were a bit taken aback by my vitriolic display of negativity. I guess one of my reasons for starting the blog was to have my own forum to say what ever I wanted and that is basically what I've been doing. You can't write honestly if you care too much what other people think.
I haven't been able to observe any trends or themes which I was somewhat surprised about really. There appears to be attempts at a sense of humor which probably took a bit of effort to compose. I'm not known for my spontaneous wit but there are times when I think I'm quite funny. My post about "License Plate Slogans" had some humor to it as did "Innies and Outies and "My List of Lists".
When I decided to initiate my blog the title "Confessions Of A Hope Fiend" was borrowed from Timothy Leary's book of the same title . I do see myself mostly as an optimist and wanted to express some of my thoughts, feelings, and ideas. It was never my intent really to write for anyone else except myself. If you start to allow yourself to get too distracted by what other people think about your writing it changes things. I think I've stayed rather true to that but admittedly my candor is more on the mild side and I haven't taken that many risks. This has lead me to consider starting a third blog and keeping that totally anonymous but already having two blogs seems like it takes up enough of my time already without devoting more of my free time to the keyboard.
There really is no difference between "gaf 85" and "Confessions Of A Hope Fiend" they could probably be consolidated into one blog but since they are separate I 'm just going to leave it that way.
I've met some truly nice people whom I admire, especially their creativity, and honest self disclosure. It takes all kinds and I have enjoyed reading a cross section of other people's blogs.I still visit other blogs randomly from time to time however most of my activity revolves around the other bloggers who read my posts and I in turn read there's, basically forming a loose group of associates.
To all of you I say thank-you for all your constructive comments and sincerity in your responses to my posts. I guess I'll keep doing this awhile longer until I get bored with it at some point.

3 comments:

underOvr (aka The U) said...

Good morning gaf85,

It's looks as if I'm the first to offer congratulations!

Unfortunately, I haven't read a year's worth of your posts but I am glad that I'm on board with you. I consider you my friend (as defined in "The U's Virtual World of Friendship").

Two of your posts which come to mind featured your views on
1. Various license plates from different states.
2. Cutting the lawn

Certainly there were others too. What I admire most about your blog is your ability to look honestly at a topic, view or experience and provide a perspective that hasn't been considered. This will often lead me to leave a remark that is a borderline post itself.

You keep writing I'll keep reading (I make no promises regarding my comments because I enjoy being engaged in conversation by you).

U

Madame DeFarge said...

Congrats on the first anniversary, hope is the first of many.

I enjoy your blog for its honesty and insight and your take on life and what you see around you. It challenges me and that makes a nice change.

gaf85 said...

U, I really appreciate your feedback and comments, and of course our virtual friendship. Although we may come from different perspectives and experiences I think we have some commonality including our love of baseball and our dislike of the Borg.
I have gained inspiration from your creativity.

Madame,Thanks so much for the kudos. I think you have a sharp wit and a killer vocabulary.I often look forward to your posts wondering what you'll come up with next. Your followers are awesome too.