I went back through the ol' archives last night. I'm happy with the quality of my writing generally; I just wish I could turn out a bit more of it! The first few months saw a fair amount of output. The past year has been sporadic, with a few good posts out there nonetheless.
Can't believe the blog has been around two years!
I don't know if I've written of it in this space previously, but my dad used to tell me: "Son, if you don't ever want to worry about making a lot of money, just major in English or Philosophy." Incidentally, his bachelor's degree is in English.
Interestingly, I predicted my current career situation during my very first month of blogging ("Amateur," January 28, 2005). Lately I've come to realize there's an element of self-fulfillment involved in that prophecy. I'll just say, I've learned a lot about myself the last year. There's been plenty of genuine hardship to boot, so I can't take upon myself all the blame. There was just no way of predicting some of the things that happened.
When I learned about the features available in the new blogger beta, I chose to convert to a private blog. When it all started, I freely and cheerfully distributed the address among my friends and family. I was secretly disappointed in the lack of response. Now I believe it quite probably that my in-laws have read it and will continue to read it. They have proven to be quite vindictive and I have no desire to have contact with them. I don't think they deserve to know anything about my family; and yet I find I do not wish to deprive myself of an outlet.
I toyed with the idea of changing the URL of the blog, but an internet search for my daughters' unusual names would undoubtedly unearth it. The only other option would be deletion, and I'm unwilling.
Here's to my new and lucrative career (whatever it might turn out to be), and to a time when I can once again publish in public, and to good blogging in the coming year!
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3 comments:
(1) I should have guessed it had something to do with your inlaws.
(2) Mary P. is considering a switch, either to Wordpress (because I think it's wonderful — I've discovered even more good features since I wrote this post) or to the beta version of Blogger. What are the good features you mention, other than privacy?
(3) Your Dad could have added theology to his list of degrees that don't lead to remuneration — but perhaps it goes without saying. If you want to make money, you need to aim lower. The less meaningful the contribution to society, the better the remuneration.
Stephen, I don't know if I told you or if you've guessed it - but after I graduated from high school, my Dad went back and got his Master's degree - in theology. LOL!
Remuneration is in inverse proportion to meaningfulness, eh? Let's see - drug dealers, CEO's, lawyers, and career politicians seem to get paid the most ... skilled tradespeople and the self-employed are in the middle ... teachers, counselors, social workers, caretakers, and pastors are lower. Food industry and sanitation workers are near the bottom. Yup, seems to be a good observation. Go figure.
As for my switch to beta blogger: it was easy and it saved me from having to delete the blog. I haven't really investigated Wordpress because I haven't had the time.
I haven't really investigated all the different features of beta blogger. The interface is more streamlined. New posts and changes are instantaneous. I like it.
Oh, and I can add categories to posts now.
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