"Lock the doors and close the blinds -- we're going for a ride..."

This month is extraordinary for me.

February 21, 2005 is still a milestone I have yet to reach. But when I do, I will have accomplished something special.

That's right – in just a few weeks, I'll be celebrating my 20th blogaversary. Twenty wonderful years blogging with Mindsay. It's simply amazing seeing how fast the time goes by when you've been blogging so much!


For those of you who can remember it, think back to February 21, 1985. There had recently been a second inauguration for President Reagan. There was a focus on the plight of millions affected by the famine in Ethiopia. Michael Jackson was playing with someone older than him – Paul McCartney. Interest rates were up, and so were the collars of our Izod shirts.

(Yes, per the Bowling for Soup song, we rocked out to Wham! -- however, there was no ass-shaking on Whitesnake's car until the video was produced two years later. Sorry to disappoint those of you waxing nostalgic through contemporary pop radio...)

Some of you folks, such as cas, wishhopedream and drumgirl weren't even alive yet. Others were still growing up. Tattooedjen was not yet tattooed (God I hope not!), allaroundpsycho was only somewhat around psycho, and I was 12, almost ready to turn 13. And jimschweizer was only in his mid-30s at the time.

Imagine our collective surprise when a toddler and a pre-schooler joined forces to create an unprecedented trend. Adam and Brian's project? A blogging community called Mindsay. True, nobody really knew what blogging and the Internet were, but their presentation – which used crayons, finger paints and Duplo blocks – knocked the venture capital people off their feet and out of their wicker sandals. Mindsay was a go.


That's inaccurate, due to a tragic corruption of data which took place when the Mindsay staff decided to upgrade to version 2. Nineteen years of blog entries lost...

Or were they? Fortunately, I was able to find some backup copies of these blog entries! Treasures from the past two decades. I even have a screenshot of an early entry – as you can see, Mindsay had a very different look back then...



You see? Not even a place for the Crazy 40 to rear its head! My oh my, those were the days...

Twenty years to celebrate. Twenty years of memories. Of course I didn't blog every single day of those twenty years. And some of the entries were a tad personal. And private. And some of them certainly aren't fit for public consumption, lest folks from other blogging communities see this as an example of Mindsay being less than “the standard of integrity and an atmosphere of fellowship that we want to maintain.” *snort*.

But I do have lots to share. So much so, in fact, that, for the next twenty days, I'll be sharing some old Mindsay entries I've been able to salvage – one day for every year I've been part of this wonderful community. You'll see how shiny.mindsay.com has progressed – from the immature ramblings of a 12 year old chubby little kid to – well, the immature ramblings of a 32 year old chubby little man.

Enjoy the celebration!

Tomorrow: Year 1 – and my first post to Mindsay. Ever.