are we having fun yet? happy birthday, steven rubio's online life
Monday, January 06, 2020
Today, this blog turns 18. Man, that number is both delightful and bizarre. Back in 2002, it was on Blogger. I apparently moved to TypePad because Blogger's site was always down in those days. (I think I moved in late 2003.)
Here is an excerpt from what I wrote on Online Life's 14th birthday:
This blog began 14 years ago today.
Who the hell does anything for fourteen years?
There is something old-fashioned about persisting in a format that has long been overtaken by other forms of online presentation.
And there is something odd about continuing to write for the smallest of audiences.
But think of this: my blog has never had advertising. I’ve never made any money from it, unless you count published writing that had its root here (i.e. I was “discovered” via my blog writing ... of course, much of my published writing has been unpaid/academic). This allows me to pretend my writing is “pure”.
Changes have occurred over time. I used to write about a broader area. I hesitate now to write about things where I know people who can do better jobs, so I rarely write about politics, and I write less about sports than I did in the past. The blog has become an arts site, where I write about TV, movies, and music ... and admittedly, when someone has asked me to write for publication, it’s those areas that come up.
I know there is some good writing buried in the past fourteen years, pieces where I happen to read them by accident and don’t always know they are mine until I’m finished, and I think, “I am good enough”. The published stuff, which doesn’t appear here, is of varying quality ... I think my piece on punk cinema for Nick Rombes was good, ditto for my Bugs Bunny Meets Picasso essay for Michael Berube. My Battlestar Galactica and King Kong essays might be the best of my Smart Pop work. Point is, the form is shorter, but I occasionally reach those heights on this blog. Maybe for 2016 I should find a way to foreground Past Classics.
What I hope to avoid as much as possible is the type of naked confessional I am far too capable of indulging in. It’s worth repeating every once in awhile the motto for this blog, Kael’s “I’m frequently asked why I don’t write my memoirs. I think I have.”
Here is the #1 song on Billboard's Hot 100 Chart for January 6, 2002:
Here is an ... interesting? ... piece called "A FAR TOO FORENSIC ANALYSIS OF THE VIDEO FOR NICKELBACK’S HOW YOU REMIND ME".
Some things last forever. I don't know if I'd say that about this blog, but it would seem that Nickelback will never die. Here is a Saturday Night Live skit from 2018 (!):
Happy Birthday to my favorite blog! Even when I don't have time to write on my own, I still try to make time to read yours.
Posted by: Tomás | Monday, January 06, 2020 at 11:51 AM
I appreciate it! And one thing about a small readership is that I can picture you and a few others in my mind as an audience.
Posted by: Steven Rubio | Monday, January 06, 2020 at 01:22 PM
Happy blogiversary! The first time I typed that autocorrect made it "happy biodiversity," so that too!
Posted by: Jeff | Tuesday, January 07, 2020 at 05:03 PM
I can live with that!
Posted by: Steven Rubio | Wednesday, January 08, 2020 at 11:35 AM