This month marks four years of the Andrew and Lisa blog. Here’s a screenshot from four years ago:
Anyone remember that? I looked back and found that my first couple of posts were just sharing interesting links I found. The subject matter was diverse, and included a surprising amount of technical information. I posted about things like politics and Firefox, this cool new web browser I had just found.
At some point, I decided I wasn’t going to further the echo chamber that the blogosphere can sometimes be. I decided it would be more interesting if I only posted original content. I’ve been on and off of this wagon since making that decision. A lot of this original content has hovered around two topics: faith and terrorism. Sometimes I mixed topics. I can’t easily point to a cause for this, except that these things happened to be on my mind.
Some pieces I’ve written are, no doubt, embarrassing when viewed from the distance afforded by time. That’s the hazard of writing in a searchable, accessible, archived medium. Bonus points for you, Shinnfans, for posting links to the poorly-written, immature, or embarrassing stuff in the comments to this post. As a matter of fact, I’d love to have you share links to your favorite posts, as well.
We’ve done movie reviews, humorous pieces, and lots of serious stuff. This was my first posted piece of original material of any length, and is still one of my favorites.
There have been months that I haven’t posted very often. But I’ve always returned to blogging. When I’m truly honest and listen for God’s call on my life, I often suspect that the most important thing I’ll leave behind when I die will be a piece of text. That’s one of the factors that keeps me returning: I suspect that someday I’ll have something very meaningful to say, and I want to have a pre-cultivated platform ready for the endeavor.
Many of my recent posts have been like some of the first ones: someone’s funny video intead of the early off-beat web links. I’ve posted a lot of pictures, and I’m starting to get into original video. What kind of material would YOU like to see as we continue on into the future? Should I keep going with this blog?
Most of all, I’d like to thank all of you who read on a regular basis. After 414 posts in 22 categories with 184 tags, you’ve left 811 comments. If you’d never commented, I wouldn’t have continued blogging. Comments are like food to a blogger’s psyche: when you put up a blog post baring your soul, the worst response you can receive is an apathetic silence.
Can we make a deal going forward? If YOU don’t let my psyche starve, I’ll try to be as responsive as possible and post the kind of material YOU want to see. Let me know if you’ll agree to this deal by leaving a comment below.
Thanks for a great four years!
I have liked the new video blogs. Although the balarina video was a little disturbing. Keep up the good work.
Keep writing! I also loved the “post-9/11” post. Nice to read it again, along with my comments reminding me of the way I felt when I first read it.
Interesting that you still have your old blog intact. Look where ours points:
http://www.rachandjon.blogspot.com
Some nice pictures of Kathmandu!
You said, “I’ll…post the kind of material YOU want to see.” This, imho, goes against the purpose of blogging. To me, blogging is a place for the author to air all of their thoughts, whatever they are. Too many journalists are bound to publish what their corporately-owned news source tells them to publish (which is, of course, determined by advertisement dollars). Truthfully, I think you should just keep posting what YOU are interested in.
That said, I check your blog mainly for pictures of your family, particularly the updates on Liam. In fact, often – and I trust you will not take offense at this busy-mom confession – I don’t even read the more lengthy articles.
I always find it fascinating to see what is running through your mind for two reasons. First, I appreciate your perspective and what you share. Second, I feel closer to you. I miss my grown sons and the closeness I knew with you when you were with me at home. You’ll know what I mean one day. I am proud of the strong and thoughtful men you have become. My joy takes new shape to see you express yourselves so eloquently through this and other media. Keep it up. Love Dad S.
Thanks, you guys! It’s meaningful to know that my sharing means something to you.
@rachel (the other one): Interesting thoughts. I do self-censor quite a bit because I know not EVERYTHING I think will interest y’all. For example, I watch the Yahoo-Microsoft merger (Microhoo, anyone?) with great interest, but I fear if I blog about it I’ll leave stretch marks on your attention span. I’ll continue to self-censor, but I appreciate your permission to vomit my thoughts up here once in a while!