Blog post number ONE THOUSAND!!

Two years ago on this very day – August 25, 2009 – I accepted Michael Huber’s offer to move from my teeny weeny blogspot.com homemade blog and join the Times Union blog portal.

That was nine hundred and ninety-nine blog posts ago.

And I’m still here.  Haven’t missed a day.  Not a one.  That included two Christmas blog posts and one post that was “timed” to go live while I was under anesthesia.

One thousand blog posts.  What an incredible number.  That includes covering at least four Elbo Room trivia tournaments; it included trivia games all around the Capital District.  It included the start and the demise of the game at Revolution Hall; it included the start of the game at UNO and the loss of the game at Old Chicago – and its rebirth as the restaurant Wolf’s 1-11.  It includes gaining two incredible trivia teammates along the way in Jeremy McNamara and Alexis Curry; the wins at Trivia Bowl 6 and the first Summer Bowl.  What a long road that was.  Yes, it also included my ill-advised decision involving a map; it included our complete collapse in the 2010-11 winter Elbo Room tournament, and a few other highs and lows in the trivia community.

In this blog, I’ve  shared my successes as well as my failures, my dreams and desires, my depressions and my desolations.  I’m not perfect – heck, I’m about as perfect as a five-cornered square – but whatever you get out of my blog is pure and unvarnished.  I’ll stand behind what I write; I’ll take the lumps if people don’t like what I’ve written.

I’ve brought my love of music to you with my “K-Chuck Radio” series – ten music video clips arranged around a specific theme or concept.  I’ve also shared which albums I want to take with me to the next world – and right now the casket’s getting kinda crowded.  May have to convert all these recordings and stuff ’em in an iPod.

I’ve serialized The Robins of Iverhill, my college creative writing thesis, into a full-length novel – and then added four more Christmas stories to it.  Yes, there are plans for more Christmas stories in December 2011.  And in fact, if you want to read The Robins of Iverhill or Christmas in Iverhill, go to this link and you can read chapter by chapter and story by story.

I’ve used this blog to improve my photography skills, to experiment with both digital and film product, to work with cameras that are older than me, to create pictures that will outlast me.

I’ve dealt with painful issues from my past by examining them in this blog.  Writing this blog – and the responses, both good and bad, that I’ve received from you – has helped me through some very tough times.   We’ve celebrated together; we’ve cried together; we’ve gotten angry at each other and we’ve forgiven each other.

I’ve had bad experiences with some companies – hello, Rocky Mountain Film Lab? – and fantastic experiences with others – hello, Hobby Lobby?  I’ve mourned the loss of a beloved automobile, and celebrated the acquisition of a newer and better automobile.

You’ve seen how my blog has evolved from a guy who just likes to take pictures, to someone who actually tries to create something special with each photograph.  Whether it’s climbing on top of the Arnoff building to snag a photo of Nipper, or sneaking into a cemetery to capture a stunning star trail photograph; whether it’s spending a rainy Easter Sunday evening photographing Albany’s most iconic movie theater, or a chilly Christmas morning photographing a church, or trying to make a 70-year-old camera do something it’s NOT SUPPOSED TO DO… whether it’s a short story or a caption project or a quick response or an in-depth discovery, I believe in my readers and I appreciate every one of you.

My sincere thanks to Michael Huber for his guidance in helping me set up this blog.  He’s been there when I have had a question or concern about running a particularly sensitive blog post, and he’s been a great sounding board whenever I have a new idea that I want to create for this blog.  We’re all part of the same team, he’s said to me many times.  Which is why I’ve always followed the mantra of “bloggers support bloggers” – whether it’s photographing Kevin Marshall as he completes his first 5K run; attending Amanda Talar’s opening night at a comedy club; assisting Jen Smith’s co-worker on a photography project; or standing up for my fellow bloggers Zan Strumfeld and Jason Purvis when someone wrongs them.  And the feeling is mutual – like the time when Teri Conroy let me use her Llama Land property to capture photos of a meteor shower; or when Bethany Parks wanted some people to attend her fundraiser for African child relief.  Bloggers support bloggers.  It’s not a hard concept to follow.

Mike Huber’s also said to me that it’s okay to take a day off.  I don’t have to blog on Saturday or Sunday, he said.  It’s not totally required.

You know what I say to that – .  Oh yeah, I have Huber to thank for that little green graphic.  Besides, I used to take days off when I wrote my old blogspot.com weblog; in the span of two years, I penned 193 blog posts.  Kinda skimpy by today’s comparison standards.  But then again, it was a homemade blog and I wrote when I felt like it.  My TU blog is a daily commitment.  You expect something new every day.  I won’t let you down.

There are people that read the Sunday paper, just as much as there are people that read a Sunday blog.  And besides, my next goal is to post at least one blog a day until at least May 9, 2012 – give or take a day – which will be my 1,000th consecutive day of TU blogging.  No other Times Union blog, community or employee-written – with maybe the exceptions of the Capitol Confidential blog – have gone for that many consecutive days.  You know that’s a new challenge.  And I intend to achieve it.

And thus begs the question – hey Chuck, if you started blogging in 2009, how come I see blog posts on your blogroll from earlier times?

Well, I did write a blog post in 1970 – actually, I time-stamped the blog post for 1970, January 1st to be more precise.  I threw a couple of other blog posts from the past in there as well, just to see if it could be done.  And it can.  And this is good.  I may use this for another “time travel” blog post here and there.  Gotta have my fun while I can.

My sincere thanks to all my blog compadres, both at the TU and in the blog diaspora.  Where else can one experience the wonders of a llama farm, the excitement of college life, the unvarnished world of Troy culture, improving and maintaining your health, improving and maintaining your fitness, raising a baby, raising a family, raising a video camera, raising your intelligence.

Never thought I’d reach 1,000 blog posts.  In the thirty years of writing for print media, I don’t think I’ve published 1,000 articles.  So this is an achievement in itself.

Oh, I forgot something.  This is blog post number one thousand for the Times Union.  One thousand blog entries.  Don’t tell anyone… but it’s also my blog page’s second anniversary with the TU.  Happy 2nd anniversary!!

Okay, that takes care of the anniversary post and the 1000th blog post.  Now I can go out and celebrate my 48th birthday today.

Uh oh – did I leave the blog portal open and just tell everyone that my 48th birthday is today?  Dang, that wasn’t supposed to get out.

Oh man, this old age is getting to me… 🙂