Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Post 2000

It's a milestone, I guess -- this is the 2,000th post on Mr. Dilettante's Neighborhood.

There's always a little bit of navel gazing involved when you reach a milestone, sometimes followed by portentous (and pretentious) statements about How We Got Here. But that's not why you're here, I think.

The reason I hope you visit is this: it's worth your time to do so. Inside every blog and blogger is a little bit of the poetry slammer, the showoff, the failed stand-up and the street corner crank standing on a soapbox of pixels. But most of all, there's a desire to communicate and to connect.

And when I think about the 2,000 posts that have appeared here, most of which I've written, it's the connections that I've made that matter most. I have met some wonderful people through this enterprise, people who are intellectually curious, endlessly clever and worldly-wise. And I've also met Gino. I keed, I keed.

It's hard to say what the next 2,000 posts will be. I am hopeful that my fellow contributors will be able to write more, mostly because they offer valuable perspectives. As Benster and Fearless Maria learn and grow, they are developing voices that are well worth hearing. Mrs. D offers the one thing in our household that's often lacking -- the voice of reason. It's my guess that you'll hear more from them in the future. And my brother Mike, a/k/a the Stinger, is a very talented guy who hasn't had much time to contribute lately. I hope he'll continue to weigh in when he can.

Jean-Paul Sartre once famously observed that "hell is other people." I'm here to tell you -- Sartre was wrong, wrong, wrong. I haven't a clue what Heaven is like, but the joy in this life doesn't come from existential navel-gazing. It comes from the the experiences we share. Thank you for sharing your experiences, your wisdom and your support.

5 comments:

Brad Carlson said...

Dang, way to go, Mark!

You started around the same time I did yet I just passed 1,000 a few weeks ago.

Keep it goin'!!

Gino said...

i dont even count mine, havent a clue where it stands.

and well put,mark.

if it werent for the interactions, i would have stopped on the third posting.

oh, and we need more Mrs D.
better than that, she needs her own handle instead of the borrowed 'i'm with that guy' descripter.

what about it Mrs. D? break free from the shackles, be your own poster. :)

Anonymous said...

And more cowbell too!
Congrats.

Petercorp said...

I had always wondered where MH stole that I keed, I keed from, and now I know, and congrats.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Sartre was a fool, though maybe he was just describing his own friends.

Community: it's the ol' front porch in the neighborhood and/or Mr. D's blog.

While it is a big reason, it isn't sufficient. There's also curiosity (about the issues of the day) and just a bit of arrogance (that what we say matters.) This place, this proprietor, and these people have created a pretty good mixture.