17th Anniversary

 

February came and went.  I wrote twelve bloggy bits which is well above the average all the seventeen years I have been doing this.  But it was less than half of what I had done in December and January.

One thing I did not do was to write an anniversary piece which I do every year.  February marked the 17th Anniversary of This Side of Fifty.  

I began sharing my writing in February 2004.  It began with a monthly e-letter.  I had been keeping a journal in which I was writing a page a day, approximately 500 words a day, since June 25, 2002.  I started that journal, that regimen of daily writing, on my 49^th birthday.  The idea was to turn it into a book which I had what I thought was a rather catchy and clever title, An Attempted Midlife Crisis.  The premise was supposed to be a thoughtful, insightful, engaging, and comical documentation of a guy doing what he might to turn 50 on a good note.

That did not work out as planned.  There was no book.  The writing just wasn't thoughtful, insightful, engaging, or comical enough.  In February 2004, I did start sharing my writing on via a monthly e-letter which I sent to friends and family.  I modeled it after a more famous monthly letter inspired by the noted Armenian lawyer Aram Kevorkian.  I used to email these letters to a mailing list that grew about 350 people.  The e-letter was titled This Side of Fifty with a subtitle of A Monthly Letter of Musings and Meanderings.  My friend, morning commute train mate, and a natural marketer, Marilyn Zavidow, was instrumental naming the e-letter.  She The story is summarized nicely in the first e-letter simple titled:  February 2004. 

In January of 2009, I transitioned to a more convenient and easier to share blog format.  I kept the same name and subtitle, and continued to write a lengthy monthly letter through that year.  In 2010, in the depths of the Great Recession, I started to write more than once a month except for in June.  From 2012 – 2015, I wrote at least twice a month.  2016 and 2017, my writing really waned at the expense of “my day job.”  2017, was so bad, only 8 posts the entire year, that I really thought I was going to quit altogether.  It would have been a good thirteen-year run.   But, I got a second wind in 2018, which has lasted to this day. 

This past December, I was concerned that this blog is not really focused on a theme like many others are.  My writing was all over the pace. I was wondering if I should try to find a theme.  I do believe I completely forgot the subtitle, musings and meanderings.  I do have a theme and I am pretty true to it.  I see no reason to change.

This is my hobby along with playing music.  It has been fun and mind expanding.  Based on the feedback from people I respect, I believe I am an above average writer.  Most importantly, I am happy with my style.  I am also happy that I want more from this including constantly honing this craft and perhaps writing a book or six.

Thanks for all the support and encouragement these many years.