Two Years and 500 Posts!

This is my 500th post. I hit the two-year mark on March 30.

Hard to believe it’s already been a year since the first anniversary – and how quickly things change. In my very first post, I declared I would blog exclusively about writing, but it wasn’t long before I opened it up to any topic under the moon. Since then, I’ve switched gears from writing to AI, which has worked out pretty well.

I haven’t stopped writing, of course. The Forty-Minute Stories have continued, ranging from the serious to the absurd to the pretentiously literary. I’ve even thrown out some poetry. You’ve endured these trials bravely, Hypothetical Reader, as is your wont.

I’ve tried your patience further with a slew of philosophical excursions. I abandoned Zen enlightenment and meditated on Van Gogh. I asked whether Star Wars is sexist. I explored miswanting and fired a shot at Pascal’s Wager. I looked for the foundations of ethics and the roots of logic.

In between these musings, I dabbled in many arenas. I took up calligraphy, tried my hand at post-election analysis, extracted hydrogen from water and set it on fire, showed off my animation (ahem) skills, and attempted Celtic knots. And I made some arts, including a steampunk Triforce, a Halloween spider, and a pumpkin of terror.

When I wasn’t busy practicing these dubious skills, I pretty much just rambled on about every topic imaginable. I explained that Armageddon is a place. I listed every book I’d read in the past year. I explored the taxonomy of clouds. I showed how to make secret files on your computer, and I gave you a glimpse of the war on Christmas Island. And I did, um, this.

If you like photos, we’ve got those too. I went to Scotland, and also to Ireland. I dressed up as Two-Face for Halloween. To say nothing of other horrors.

I did two themed week collaborations with my friend Ben Trube. First there was Fractal Week (with lots of groovy maths), and then we did AI week (chock full of robotic goodness).

On the personal side, I’ve made strides toward conquering my needle phobia.

And somewhere in all of that, I managed to get Freshly Pressed. You can read my advice on blogging, for what it’s worth.

Now, it seems – as only a writer can – I’m in danger of rambling about rambling. So I’ll cut it short and say the really important thing:

Thank you.

Thank you for reading, thank you for being interested. Thank you for caring. Thank you for coming along on this journey to Somewhere.

In celebration of this milestone, I therefore declare this post an official de-lurking post! If you’ve never commented before, leave a comment now! If you’re not sure what to put in your comment, just write “Sasquatch.” I won’t judge you, Hypothetical Reader. People in glass blogs shouldn’t cast stones, or something like that.

Non-lurkers are also welcome to comment, of course.

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations – and you may as well stick around a while longer. We’re not done yet!