Evolution of a Mind

Memes have a survival of the fittest of their own: only the best memes survive. I’m hoping this particular meme does.

Breakerslion tagged me (shh!) to post the evolution of my blog via significant posts. Here goes:

1. First Post. In 2004, I was unable to start a blog due to my commitment to various projects (what with weekly e-mails and bimonthly viewspapers). However, one day, on a whim, I decided to start a blog anyway. My first few posts (months even) were rather short and different than the style I eventually evolved to. They were also rather silly, random, arbitrary and infantile. So obviously, I loved them. The whimsy of blogging lasted so long, that I still make posts about it. I am perennially enthralled by the new arenas the internet opens for communication.
   Were You Aware: I only told my friend Tai about my blog (and that was because she already had a blog of her own). Furthermore, every other post I wrote that month was dated 29 Nov. as a lark. I wanted to see what people would think if they ever perused my archives. November 29th is exactly 6 months after my birthday (29 May) and is my friend Frank’s birthday.
2. I, Kid. Even though I can understand why it would look like a crazy position from the outside, I still stand by every word of this post. The reason I don’t have a child now (besides the lack of a willing mother and absolutely no interest in furthering my genes) is because I could not be a very good father right now. This post assumes a possible world in which all my time and energy would go into raising a hypothetical child. I predict he would grow up to be intelligent, wise, healthy, moral, hilarious, sociable and unique. One person didn’t like my approach and proceeded to call me a disgusting fuck, child abuser and a sicko. Thankfully, this earned me a wonderful fan and mad props throughout the blogosphere for how I handled this and subsequent attacks. As a result, I was more careful in my writing from then on, which meant I still argued the same points, I just didn’t assume universal agreement.
   Were You Aware: Not counting goodie grab bags, this post has had the most sequels: 4.
3. Goodie Grab Bag I. When I don’t immediately write down an idea, sometimes I can never get it back even if I know what it is. After not being able to blog for a while, I had a bunch of half-formed ideas that I combined into one post. I loved the concept so much, it permanently altered the structure and format of my blog. Instead of the whimsy that had carried it through the previous 10 months, I saved my whimsical, witty quips for group posts. This may or may not have been a good idea.
   Were You Aware: Seth and his friend Aeger also started writing grab bags soon after. We even came up with an ill-fated carnival.
4. :((. Don’t mention people by name and be aware that everything you write will eventually be read by someone you don’t expect. It’s a hard lesson, but I had to learn it at some point. As a result of a few posts earlier in the year (you can find them if you’re interested, because I’m not), I was passed up for a job and eventually fired. This made me delete my Myspace account (sort of) and cancel my Web hosting plan. As a result of this post and surrounding controversy, I temporarily blocked access to certain parts of my site. I also wrote my Manifesto which specifically said I would not block access to parts of my site. As soon as I graduated college, I reopened all of the blocked content and made sure not to let anything that silly occur again.
   Were You Aware: After a wonderful phone call from Alacaeriel, I calmed down a bit and reinitiated my hosting plan.
5. One*a*day. Transferring away from Yahoo! was hell. However, it proved to be just what I needed to reboot and begin writing regularly again. This post forced me to do so and got my creative juices all worked up again for the first time in 18 months (it was a bad 18 months creatively, though otherwise fine).
   Were You Aware: My blogging fluctuates with my work cycles? Eighteen months of terrible blogging was equal to 18 months of 40-hour a week jobs.

Hmm.. I like my choices. I think I did a good job. Go me.

Memes have a survival of the fittest of their own: only the best memes survive. I’m hoping this particular meme does. Breakerslion tagged me (shh!) to post the evolution of my blog via significant posts. Here goes: First Post. In 2004, I was unable to start a blog due to my commitment to various projects…