Somewhere recently I heard the comment, "2006 called, and they want their blog back." It was 20 years ago in late December 2005 / early January 2006 I joined the blogger trend. Now, blogs are primarily extinct dinosaurs; social media is trending as the popular means of human interaction. While I don't update this blog as frequently as I did in earlier years, I still maintain it regularly as an enjoyable hobby. I happily exist among other blogger dinosaurs: we are the 8-track tapes of social media.
Words cannot express the depth of gratitude I have for the millions of people that have visited Beggars All over the past 20 years. This blog has always been a hobby... a selfish hobby. That others have visited here and have benefitted from my hobby has brought me joy and a profound humbling gratitude: feelings I cannot fully express in words.
It is through this blog that I have met amazing people... some well-known, some that should be well known! This blog has given me long lasting cyber friendships with people that I have never met in person but feel like close friends. Technology often rightly gets a bad rap, but yet... thank God for the technology that has given me invaluable cyber-friends!
This blog has also given me a number of amazing opportunities: writing articles for well-known websites, YouTube interviews, doing research for other authors, and even mentions in published books. These opportunities sometimes feel to me like I'm a theological Chauncey Gardner, Being There. For those of you that have asked me countless times over the years: why haven't you written a book? Yes, there is a book written. I'm not sure when it will be released by the publisher.
What is the future of Beggars All? I don't know. I'm surprised the blogger platform still exists. I expect to open up my browser one day and discover Blogger has been retired or changed to some sort of pop-up nightmare of advertisements. I've also yet to work through the most recent changes in technology, that being artificial intelligence. I've interacted with a number of people on social media that are using it as a primary source. For instance, I asked more than a few people about reading a quote in context, and I was provided with AI screenshot overviews as proof. In one bizarre instance, AI created a fake Luther quote. I spent hours looking for it, only to be told by a defender of Rome it was generated by AI. Then there's ChatGPT: I've never used it, and I abhor it. I will not use it on this blog. My writing warts will be visible to all.
Again: to all my friends (and yes, even my cyber-enemies) ... thank you for 20 years of cyber interaction!
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