Six years of sporadic life events

I started this blog on May 22, 2007 so as of today it is officially six years old. I haven't posted very much the last three or so years but having this blog always available to me if I chose is still kind of cool.

A lot has happened in those seven years. I initially started this blog because I was headed to Hawaii for the first time in mid-2007 as part of an award that I had one from my then employer Wells Fargo. I also felt I needed to start keeping track of my travel after attending the 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland the previous summer, a bi-annual international golf tournament that one of my friends suggested that we go to.

I thought it would be a great place to share my experiences there and post some photos of those two adventures. Looking back now I'm very happy that I started it. And reviewing my post today, I was happy to relive some memories of those events and be reminded of some events that I had forgotten. This blog's greatest value to me isn't as a place for me to become famous or to make money but as an online journal of my life.

Ironically, when I started this blog Facebook had recently opened to the general public and not many people were using it (or understanding it frankly). Twitter was started in March of 2006 but wouldn't come into wide spread use until a few years later.

So why do I mention Facebook and Twitter? Because this blog was initially started as a place for me to share my life with my friends, family and co-workers and initially it worked. The first year or so, I would forget what I had posted and it was strange to have people come up to me and mention something that they had read in one of the post, back then it was a bit startling and unsettling, but now everyone "blogs" through social media. I don't think it is uncommon at all for people to expect that you might know about their dinner, trip or family life from social media.

Moving forward my goal, as always is to post a little more often. Ironically, I'm not the best at sharing on social media, but for some reason this ability for a longer form post, with more context appeals to me. I realize that this spot on the internet isn't for site statistics, traffic, Google Ads sense or fame, but it is really a place for me to document, reflect on life and keep events in perspective.

In many ways it has been a difficult seven years (housing bust, loss of my employment), but reflecting back on some post this evening I realized it has also been a productive, interesting and fortunate six years.

A Favorite Old Picture

My parents were married on this day in 1950. Half-way around the world at 4AM on June 25, 1950, the Korean War started. Since Korea is past the international dateline, people in the United States learned of the invasion on June 24th. My parents heard the news at their wedding reception. So I thought a bit of remembrance today was appropriate...for my parents, not the war.

My favorite picture of my parents is one of them just finishing a meal together. There is no notation on the picture so I don't know when it was taken, but there are clues in the picture that reveal some information about when and where it was taken. First, neither of them are wearing wedding bands, and my mom doesn't have on an engagement ring. This clearly means the picture was taken before 1950. I don't know how long or on what date they were engaged but I'm guessing the picture was taken sometime in 1948 or 1949. Second, if you take a close look at the larger version of the picture, the letter "P" surrounded by olive branches is visible on the water glasses and the ash tray. This is the symbol for a hotel in downtown Chicago called the Palmer House. When I was in Chicago a few weeks ago, I had other family members staying there (it is still around and is very nice) and I took a picture of the hotel's famous "P" symbol. It matches the photo.

In any event, it is cool to think of my folks having a good meal, laughing together and then maybe going for a drink or dancing. Chicago was and is a great city, so it was fun to visit there and experience the energy of a large city like my parents.