1000 and counting…

This is my 1,000th post on this blog and I’ve been putting off actually writing it as I’ve been really unsure what to write. Do I mention it in passing and move on, effectively taking up the 1,000th post slot with a filler? Do I engage with it totally and have a retrospective post about how awesome I am? Do I write about where I think the blog is heading? Do I just ignore the arbitrary nature of these milestones and move on as if nothing has happened?

The answer, of course, is a little of all these but in the briefest way I can think of because, as you may have guessed from the sporadic nature of my posts, I’m far more time challenged than I was 1,000 posts ago when I had a simple 9-5 job and no kids. In all that time this blog has been my gaming centre, sometimes more important to me than the games I was blogging about, helping me expand and increase my gaming pleasure in ways the games never could – this is why I generally end up writing stories about the games and characters I’m playing rather than reviews.

1,000 posts ago this blog was a place for stories but the sad fact is writing stories takes time and energy and gets in the way of playing. As with everything in life a balance has to be found, a compromise reached and it is not always possible to write compelling stories, play the game inspiring them and still hold down a job and not ignore the family.

A while back (200 posts or more ago) I found a balance I was, and still am, happy with. I don’t bulk write and schedule posts any more. I don’t worry about keeping content going. I don’t sweat about saying something just to be heard. Now I just write when I can do *and* want to and it works for me. Sometimes I have a splurge and will post a lot for a few weeks but that never lasts long these days and the blog goes quiet again. I still have posts running about in my head but either the opportunity or the desire & energy are missing and this, if I’m honest, is the only source of regret I ever feel about the blog. The sense of missed or lost posts bothers me but only slightly, after all I don’t write anything of any worth so the sum of human knowledge losses nothing if I never get around to sharing my thoughts on a game mechanic that will never come to be in a game that will more than likely be gone in the next ten years. I know it’s hard to accept, but the world will keep turning without my wisdom.

So I guess I’ll reach 2,000 posts because even though games will come and go, my desire to play them and then write about them will remain. I suspect this blog will be with me for a very long time indeed. In the coming posts I’m going to keep doing more of the same because, at the end of the day, I’m writing this for me. I’ll try to be less ranty and think before taking cheap shots for easy laughs, but I’m a fiery sort and can’t promise too much because, at the end of the day, saying “bollocks” is always to make me giggle 🙂

Happy 1,000th to me!