500!

Given that I've detailed our Mayo Clinic trips from July I did last night ponder about which subject should be the focus of today's entry.

Then on my Blogger dashboard I noticed I had just posted entry number 499.

Made the title of this one a no-brainer.

Wow.  500 posts on this blog.  Given that I'm not a writer by profession and lately have suffered from both lack of time and some loss of creative energy I think hitting this mark deserves mention.

Which then gives me the true subject of today's post.  This blog isn't dying, nor is it going anywhere.

I will keep writing until I die or unless I suffer a life change which prevents further entries.  Can't say the same for so many blogs that had their genesis around the same time as this one.

Why the drop-off in blogging for so many?  Several reasons.

1)  Lack of drive.  I sometimes am guilty of this myself and one has to be self-disciplined in order to keep any blog going for the long haul.

2)  Creative energy goes bye-bye.  I hope that's never the case here although I certainly give myself breathers.  That might tie in to reason number three:

3)  Lose passion.  Some people blog around very specific things and sometimes we lose interest in a hobby, cause, or interest.  Since I've kept this blog very much around the happenings of my life (and including my family) I don't lack for material or suffer from waning interest.  Plus I've engaged in a couple of new interests in the last few years and these are making more of an impact here in my corner of the Internet.

4)  Social media.  I don't know how many casual bloggers allowed their sites to go fallow when they got a Facebook account.  But I figure it's a lot.  I can't blame a lot of them, after all Facebook makes it much easier to do things and one doesn't have to put in quite so much of one's own creativity.  Adding a post where you like the latest viral video is much less difficult then sitting at the keyboard and generating prose.  Plus the obvious (and quick) feedback from others far outweighs any comments seen on a blog such as this.

And this last one leads to another subject.  I do not have a Facebook account, nor will I ever have one.  My wife does have one and my conclusion after all these years is that the advantages of a Facebook presence are minimal compared to the downfalls.  Advertising aside I find it annoying that some people's incessant postings are comparable to the annoying idiot who talks nearly non-stop and has no filter.

Here's a reality check for the aforementioned:  I don't care what you think about this political issue or that candidate for office.  I don't care about what online game you are playing.  I don't care which restaurant you patronized for lunch yesterday.  I don't care to see the latest YouTube video meant to evoke pathos.  I don't give a rip about your mental anguish over national and international issues over which you have not one iota of control.  Shut up already!

While that last paragraph sounds harsh I think it's something that certainly needs to be said.  A few folks reading this might privately agree.  And remember I'm not projecting the above on all Facebook members, just those who see it as in end in itself.

As one last point I also enjoy the control I have over this blog.  I have the ability to weed out comments that are not legit.  I have the power to decide whether or not I will let Google advertise on this page.  (Guess which way I went on that one??)  I have latitude to decide how this site overall will appear on the 'Net.  And I like all of these things.  Can't say that for a Facebook wall.