So, Sue tagged me with the Blog Evolution Meme – basically to write about how your blog has evolved over time. It’s an interesting question, because obviously I have evolved & adapted to numerous changes since I started this thing – and the truth be told, back when I paid attention to my Geocities site, I blogged about my knitting projects & even had some rants & raves on there – that goes waaaay back! So it’s always been a mixture of humor, stories – both memories and current events, ranting and raving, and knitting. After last year’s grueling journey of losing my father rapidly to cancer & grappling with the ensuing grief, I’d say that’s probably the biggest change here. All the grieving and the weeping and the clawing at the pain. Not necessarily a high-readership sell, I know – but in the end, even with a small audience, I can’t mask who I am and what I’m going through.

This particular blog has been around since July 2004. I was blogging only for me in the beginning, and maybe Kristin, because she was the only person I knew who read my blog. Then I made a comment on Dooce, before she “went pro”, and got some readers who actually have stuck around. (Keeses!) I didn’t even tell my husband about my blog at first, maybe because I wasn’t ready to have a Real! Live! Audience! I had to face at night. Now it feels comfortable, and he even chides me if I don’t blog. I think it’s good to always feel like there’s someone else out there who’s going to read this, because a blog is not a diary. It can be, but it should be called “Word” on your computer and not published, unless you want the fallout from such a thing. We all have those things we’d like to say, and things we’d like to write, and dark mean thoughts that are covered in grimy motor oil and they stain everything they touch. That’s why putting those things out on the internet isn’t the greatest idea, because the written word is a lovely, lovely thing – but it still is subject to great interpretation, and people spend lifetimes dissecting the meaning and symbolism behind the written words.

Anyway, I’ve rambled on and on (another thing that HASN’T changed!) and I should probably quit. If this has gotten you to think about your blog & you want to write about your own Blog Evolution, run with it! It was a great question – and I’ll be interested to read your thoughts, too!