Benjamin Franklin

I made it. 100 posts. If you exclude the first week of this blog’s existence (aka the Beta), I managed a post every weekday for 20 weeks. Now I know this isn’t particularly monumental compared to 4 years like some esteemed bloggers, but this thing is still in its infancy. Either way, this has been quite the little experiment, I’m not sure if I’m willing to say that it got out of hand since I am the one responsible for the text. However this slice of the Internet certainly has grown into something I couldn’t have possibly imagined on that dreary New Years Night. Anyone up for a trip down memory lane? I promise it will be brief.

I didn’t really know how I wanted this post to work out. I really didn’t want to do a retrospective kind of thing. But if I wont embrace the opportunity for another cliched-meme, what’s the point of having a blog? So I offer you some thoughts, and some gratuitous self-linkage for some extra *umph*. Pingbacks FTW.

Before I started this blog I had been following a decent number of D-Blogs for a few weeks. I had been more active on twitter. And most importantly, I had taken firm control of my Diabetes. I really don’t know what it was that compelled me to think that anyone would care about what I had to say…about anything. It still amazes me that I have eager-readers. I do know that one of my initial goals was to see if this thing could be a form of therapy for me. Not having many opportunities to really talk about what was on my mind, I figured typing it out would be slightly less weirder than keeping a pen-and-paper journal. I’m still not sure if this blog is really the right way to finding a better version of me, but it’s a start. The first step is always the toughest with me.

One of the things I wanted to do from the outset was embrace my Diabetes. Part of that involved getting an outside perspective. I asked the people that have either lived with me or known me both before and after my diagnosis to offer some thoughts, surprisingly I got a response from everyone I asked. While I’m not sure if I gained any new insights to my Diabetes specifically through those Spotlight posts, I think it serves as a good reminder that I’m not the only one dealing with this thing. It might be 99% on me, but there’s still that 1%.

And then there’s the gaming posts. I’ve made it abundantly clear that gaming is as much a part of me as Diabetes. Of course, by choice, and by expense, not by some awesome internal mutiny aboard the USS Spartacus. In looking at the traffic stats, it still doesn’t surprise me that my weekly post about a gaming topic that caught my interest hasn’t really resonated with my primary readers. The blog is called ‘A Consequence of Hypoglycemia’, I imagine people have already prejudged what they are getting into when they come here. I’m sure some of those random search hits were in for a real shock when they saw that header image. But I still feel strongly about video games. So with my TWiGs (The Week in Gaming) I had at least one guaranteed post a week on a preplanned topic. Most of my posts are the result of a fluid thought process resulted from what has happened in the past 24-48 hours. I like to keep it fresh. But the gaming posts were always planned out ahead of time, based on the latest news in the industry. I took time constructing my arguments and assertions. Determined to get more feedback on my words, I started posting my gaming blog posts on Talking About Games. While I never thought I would get responses beyond a few comments here and there, I was soon recognized with ‘Blog Post of the Week’ honors…twice. And eventually given a spot on the writing staff. It’s amazing to think that this little experiment has opened up an opportunity like this. I’m still in a bit of disbelief, but it is certainly the start of something awesome.

In my first 100 I’ve had quite the variety of post topics. Some fun, some slightly more serious, almost all with a post title that is probably too clever for my own good. For example: Exhibit A, Exhibit B, Exhibit 3, and Exhibit Delta. Don’t worry eager-reader, there’s plenty more where those came from.

What really bakes my noodle is the fact that I hated English class. I hated writing papers. I hated being forced to be creative (math was my preferred subject). Now look at me. I’m sure some of my high school teachers would be shocked to learn that I have cranked out 1200 word epic journeys on a somewhat frequent basis. All while maintaining some kind of grammatical integrity. Who knew?

But this is only the first 100. I still have a long way to go before I accomplish whatever it is I hope to accomplish. Deep down I’m naive enough to believe that through the simple act of blogging I will help lead to the fabled “better version of me” but I think it’s more than that. I think it’s the act of being honest, being open that might make a difference. Ultimately, this isn’t about Video Games, this isn’t about Diabetes.

It’s about me.