I was thinking on my way to Group how far so many bloggers have come from where they were -- in style, substance, voice, even personally -- since we started ths little exercise. This now noisy bunch for the most part started out a little timid, whimsical, unfocused, then took the lid off and never shut up.
So, how did we sound back then, in the beginning?
Denise Howell: "...It's my blog and welcome to it (I can't be the only one around here with a latent Thurber fetish, can I?"
Frank Paynter: "tap-tap-tap. hello hello. can you hear me in the back of the room?"
Gary Turner: "It lives! If you find yourself reading this you are either: (a) Lost (b) Out of medication (c) Already clicking the Back button (d) I've become famous and you're tracing my rise to success."
RageBoy: "Finally finished the "review essay" for HBR. Look for it in the November-December issue. That is, if you're inclined to shell out for the paper edition or pay for it on the site. These guys don't seem to believe that ASCII wants to be free. And they wouldn't let me use the word "suck" -- can you fucking believe that?"
Andrea Roceal James: "There are two things that have interested me most about the diaries of others: the intimacy and familiarity of tone, and the fact that the diarist manages to find something to say about the smallest of everyday things. I find it a good writing exercise to attempt to come up with a unique perspective on my world on a daily basis."
Elaine: "My mother lives across the hall from me -- a situation I swore would never happen. But life happens, and death beckons, and sometimes the better parts of us win out after all. But she still drives me crazy."
Tom Matrullo: (estimated--probably earlier posts): " 'For the last twenty years neither matter nor space nor time has been what it was from time immemorial. We must expect great innovations to transform the entire technique of the arts, thereby affecting artistic invention itself and perhaps even bringing about an amazing change in our very notion of art.' " -- Paul Valery, "La conquete de l'ubiquite"
Halley: "So what's the deal with THE STORY of the Ford Thunderbird with it's luxurious Nudo leather seats?"
Stavros (oldest one located): "As promised : I was in the toilet, from whence many of my best thoughts seem to emanate, and the phrase 'cultural cargo cult' sprang, fully formed, into my mind. It was early in the morning, and I see no real connection with my dream about the Irish Monk who required that I bring him the largest lettuce leaf I could in order for him to fashion a cloak from it, for me. The leaf I managed somehow to unwrap from a perfectly normal head of lettuce was not only purple, but approximately the size of a bedsheet."
For too many blogs--especially the old radio blogs--it's nearly impossible to find out how far back posts go. Add to that fact that too many of you have moved to new blog tools and homes without leaving a "from whence you came" link back to your old sites, means that we've lost the connection to the old-new you.
If I missed you and you don't want to be missed, leave a link to your first post from a few years back here, in my comments box.
We were a funny lot. Now we're just a lot.
