It’s been about a year and two months since I started this blog. When I published a recent post, I noticed I was close to 150 total posts. I thought it’d be a good time to pause and reflect.

149 posts on this blog, plus another 106 on the three topic-focused blogs I split off from this one about four months ago. 255 holds significance to me because I grew up using old computers like the Commodore 64, and 255 was the upper limit number in a lot of programs.

So with this post, I hit 256 total. Take that, C64. You can’t even count that high!

Along the way, there are about 170 of you who said “I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this person’s writing.” Though I know there are probably many duplicate readers, my other three blogs each have about 100 people willing to have my posts spam their inbox, twitter, or Facebook.

This is my moment to say Thank you.

I have a number of family and friends who express surprise at my willingness to get along with people who are very different from me – especially those who are antagonistic and provocative about it. “How are you still putting up with that person?” “Why do you bother reading what they post? It’s always crap.”

My experience has been that there’s always a unique quality in every person we meet. There’s something about that person worth discovering. While I may not be a huge social butterfly, I love watching the way people interact and learning some of what motivates them. Like different spices or flavors of ice cream, I enjoy the variety, especially when they can open up my eyes to perspectives I’ve never had before.

That’s what this blogging experience has brought me. I check out the writing of almost everyone who follows me or comments on my page. I browse the Reader, looking at different topics and Freshly Pressed. I get to see what you all share, and invite you into the parts of my life that I’m willing to share. Windows open into lives I’ve never known, and I want to enjoy the view.

My blog experience is no success story. But for those of who you who have joined me in this little corner of the internet, I am truly grateful.