…really!
20 Years On
Today, March 6th, 2024, marks 20 years that I’ve been doing a blog. I thought I’d write a little something about that to celebrate.
This was my very first blog post, on Blogger…
“Here I Am!
Yes, my little potato pancakes, Uncle Doc is doing the blog thing now. Hmm…maybe fiction. I’ll think on that for a bit.”
Why did I start blogging? Well, social media was not what it is now, and despite years in the 90’s of doing monthly zines for Alarums & Excursions, I had stopped doing that. I kind of missed writing about life, so when I saw so many of my friends with blogs, I decided to jump on board.
For the first couple of years, my blogging, like most everyone’s, was just about my daily life and things going on in the wider world. Also, within my first 6 months of blogging, I switched over to LiveJournal.
But then, in May of 2006, I started writing little fiction pieces like this…
“Not A Real Timeline Of My Life
January, 1954: Born in a small village on the island of Madagascar, to an American father and a Eurasian mother. Father was an adventurer/pilot, Mother was a biochemist/spy.
March, 1954-July, 1954: Travels throughout Asia with parents
July 3, 1954: Arrived in San Francisco, capital of the Bear Flag Empire.
July, 1954-August, 1956: At home (in Northern California) with parents.
September, 1954: Leave for England with parents.
November, 1956: In London, with parents. Kidnapped by the nefarious Dr. Wu while his mother is giving birth to his sister. Rescued 3 hours later by an unnamed British Secret Service agent.
May, 1957: Leave England on the Imperial Airship Mark Twain, bound for China, with stops in France, Turkey, Africa, India and Tibet.”
And that was just the first fiction trickle. On August 9th of that year, I posted this…
The Doclopedia #1
My Earliest RPG Characters: Redbeard the Slayer
Fighter/Thief
Strength: +3
Constitution: +3
Dexterity: +2
Intelligence: +1
Wisdom: +1
Charisma: +2
Advantages: Cool Under Pressure, Lots of Friends/Contacts, Patron (Ool the Wizard)
Disadvantages: Hunted (by the Thieves Guild), Hunted (by Shandar Khan the Sorceror), Soft Spot for the Less Fortunate
Powers/Gifts: Incredible Healing (3X normal), High Magic Resistance (+3 vs all magic)
Primary Skills: Melee Combat (Great Axe), Missile Combat (Throwing Knives), Thief Skills
Background: Redbeard (his real name is a closely guarded secret), is a swordsman and thief of some reknown. He lives in a small suite of rooms on the fourth floor of the Purple Unicon, a “pleasure palace” located in the city of Ekarris. Redbeard stands 6’2″ tall, weighs 275 pounds, has long red hair and blue eyes. His primary weapon is a huge double bladed great axe, but he is well skilled in the use of most melee weapons.
Redbeard is quite skilled as a thief…skilled enough that his freelance exploits have earned him the wrath of the Thieves Guild. They have put a hefty price on his head. Now if any of them were brave or skilled enough to collect it…
The High Wizard Ool Mandragar is Redbeard’s primary employer, often sending the “redheaded scalawag” off on missions that would kill anybody without his phenominal healing factor. More than a few of these missions have pitted Redbeard against the mad sorceror Shandar Khan and his League of Wizards.
In his spare time, Redbeard enjoys whores, ale, barroom brawls, fair maidens, Dwarven baseball and women.”
I have discussed the evolution of The Doclopedia before so I’ll say no more about that. What I will say it that starting that bit of writing up of actual characters very soon turned to fiction entries and spawned other writings, including, but not limited to…
After The Change Came
Amnesia & Magic
Dungeon Diary
Dog/Cat/Critter Con Reports
Life On The Magic Bus
and many others, including the story that spawned the current “366 Days, 366 Paragraphs” theme on the Doclopedia.
It’s probably been over a decade since I used this blog for regular reportage of real life stuff, save for con reports and news of dog adoptions or deaths. Social media has taken over that. Indeed it has also been a home for my writing about my family adventures, which is an offshoot of the Dog/Cat/Critter Con reports.
Now days, I also do a weekly podcast and I’ve been thinking of doing some stuff on YouTube. Will they replace my fiction writing here? In a word, no. Podcasts and social media and vidcasts fill different needs, but not the need to sit down, bang on some keys, and let stuff out of my head to make room for other stuff. Even if nobody else reads it, I have to do it for me.
So, how much longer will I keep doing this? What’s coming next?
Beats the hell out of me. The Doclopedia will keep going on for years, I’m sure. I may revisit Life On The Magic Bus or even After The Change Came. There are ideas popping into my head all the time.
So, you know, watch this space.
Doc, 11:07 PM, March 6th, 2024.
The Dociverse Blog 