Last Day of Summer 2025

Happy September 22, 2025!

I had some relatively lofty notions about what I might write for this post. Some of the ideas I considered involved waxing sentimental (an increasingly easy posture for me these days) about a leaf or a bug or a cow or something, or possibly contributing my exceedingly valuable insights to the socio-political travails that bedevil our fair culture, or maybe even complaining about the fact that I turned 40 years of age with very little warning. 

Instead, I'm going to write something short, boring, and maybe half a measure ironic: I miss blogging. Not necessarily my own blogging, but I miss that halcyon moment in time during the earlier reaches of web 2.0 when the principal method of engaging with the nascent scene of social media was to write an essay of some sort. Of course, it's very much the provenance of the elderly to reflect fondly on the less potent technologies of their youth and ponder only its joys and none of its drawbacks, but I don't mind playing into stereotypes every now and then.

When I was an undergraduate, there was a cohort of friends and acquaintances who populated an unofficial webring of hobbyist authors who would jot down their poems, essays, insights, and half-remembered histories into the simple but able platforms of Blogger, Xanga, and MySpace. Reading a new post felt a bit like an event, similar to how receiving a much-anticipated periodical in the mail probably still feels to some of the old souls out there. 

Social media now is way better, of course. That is to say, its usage is more streamlined and its effects more inescapable. To consider for too long how a tool that allows us to stay connected with loved ones across the globe is more famously used to insult strangers and sell lies is to cast a furtive glance into the abyss. The problem with old folks like me bemoaning the inexorable march of technology is that it invites the classic question, where would you draw the line? Where would you tell technology, "Here you may go, but no farther"?

Anyway. God loves you and so do I. I hope your summer was good but I love the fall.

This Blog and You is 20 years old, I think.

-Ryan