It was one year ago today that I posted my first blog on this website. At the time I had no idea what I was doing or whether I would like it, but I was bored and I needed something to keep me occupied as we were in the early stages of what looked like a long and arduous pandemic. Here it is a year later and I am still enjoying it.
My goals at the time, which have not changed, were to write about leadership (or lack thereof), life as I see it, and stuff that was important to me. In the beginning I tried to avoid the political rhetoric that was taking place at the time. I wanted the blog to be a safe place to hear from all sides of an issue. Although my political views come out in my blog, I have tried to write about what was said or done and not attack the person. For the most part I have accomplished my goals.
I decided early on to not market my blog or sign people up for the blog without their approval. Thus, I continue to share it on facebook and twitter (although I have few twitter viewers) and allow others to share it as much as they like. If people want to sign up for the blog and have it delivered directly to their email, they can do so by using the sign-up/subscribe button on the bottom of each days blog.
I have implemented changes based on suggestions of my subscribers. Incuding a subject matter in the title, writing about more than one subject per day, adding a quote of the day and adding the orchids and onions for the day were all suggestions from my subscribers. Adding a daily picture was my own idea. I know that a few of my subscribers are watching for my spelling and grammar errors because they provide me with feedback sometimes. I try hard to avoid them, but my editor is usually half asleep when it is time to post my blog.
One of the hardest things for me early on was wondering whether anyone was reading the blog or if anyone really cared what I thought. I found myself checking the site stats two or three times per week. If one of the days had bad stats I would feel bad. Recently, I have come to the conclusion, I could care less about the site stats. I realize I am doing this for my own fulfillment.
I look forward to staying up on current events and looking for issues that I may write about. I try to have a good balance of sources of information for my blog. I find the discipline of writing a daily blog keeps my mind working, which at my age is important. I love it when when one of my subscribers or facebook followers sends me suggestions to write about or makes recommendations for quotes, orchids or onions of the day.
Early on, I avoided writing too much about sports, but I have since decided I will no longer do that. Sports has always been a big part of my life and as a sports official and former coach, I bring a perspective that many people do not have. I love sports for what they do to build character in the participants and how sports teach many of life’s lessons.
When I started this blog, I was writing the blog seven days a week. Although I enjoyed it, I found that it was too much and it was interferring with some of the other things I enjoyed doing. As a result, I now only write the blog on weekdays and even then I will take a day-off if life gets in the way. I have found this to be very helpful in keeping me fresh.
Stay safe. Wear your mask properly. Social distance. Wash your hands regularly. Schedule your vaccine.
Quote of the Day: “I just want to say it was a great run, and a very disappointing way to end, In the game of basketball, one or two possessions can either help you or hurt you. For us, we came up short. But I’m very proud of this group. We’ll learn from this and grow from it and definitely all get better, starting with me first.” Juwan Howard.
A second Quote of the Day: “There’s got to be a middle ground somewhere. It’s not likely to be found in Georgia.where Republicans just enacted sweeping voting reforms….. Had the two parties worked together, they could have crafted a reasonable bill that would have worked to restore badly damaged trust in the electoral process.” Nolan Finley, Detroit News.
Orchid of the Day; My two grandchildren, Alaina and Nolan, who were very well behaved today as Leah and I took them on a field trip to the Kensington Metro Park Farm and Nature Center, followed up with a stop at a playground and then takeout for a late lunch.
Onion of the Day: To the referree who called a three point shooting foul against Michigan that should have been called a non-shooting foul. I disagreed with the call at the time and I disagreed with the call after seeing the slow motion replay. Even Jimmy Jackson, the color analyst on the TBS prodcast agreed that it was not a shooting foul. At the time, I thought the three points that were gained on the foul shots could make a difference in the game. It turns out I was right.
Thanks for doing your blog. Look forward to it each day. Keep up the good work.
Keep up the good work Tom. I look forward to your blogs.