1000 Posts

Grand

K

dimes

Those are just three slangy ways to refer to the number 1000. That number, 1000, looms large in today's post because after 999 posts, this is the 1000th post here in the Den.

It's taken eight years to get here. I started  this little endeavor in December 2007. It allowed me to lament the weather in the greatest city in the United States, Chicago, and get indignant over the pimp mothering stylings of one Lynn Spears (she who spawned Britney). Lynn now looks absolutely angelic compared to she who has assumed that throne now and forever, the horrific Kris Kardashian. What a difference eight years make!

In those eight years, the makeup of the Den has changed. The son-in-law Awesome and two grandchildren have added to the headcount. We said goodbye to my father. The Den took up new digs in Connecticutistan. I've changed jobs three times in the ensuing years. There have been graduations, both high school and university, jobs, internships, and that little matter of TMFKATB's two-fer mission in Mexico and behind the Zion Curtain in the heart of Mormon Mecca, Salt Lake City. Whew! A lot has happened over the course of these past eight years.

I've overshared plenty in these 999 posts, too. And what lessons have been learned in all of that? Let's see: I was an awkward teenager. My wife, the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML, deserves a medal. I'm proud of my family. I've rarely met a meal I don't like. I don't recommend getting sick on a plane. I'm terrified by the prospect of a Trump presidency. And you most recently learned that running tights can kill.

At the core of all this foolishness is a love of storytelling. That's what the Den is. It's the story of the life I know and love. We all have a story to tell and I've enjoyed telling mine. I have appreciated the comments over the years. There's a couple of you that seem to like this, so I'm going to keep chugging along.

So I hope your comfortable here. Settle in and enjoy the read.

900

900 posts

900. Have you given much thought to the number 900? Neither have I, but the truthsayers of the interwebs at Wikipedia have and here's what they report about the number 900:

It is the square of 30 and the sum of Euler's totient function for the first 54 integers.

Um, do you know what that really is? It is the reason why it took me two years to pass freshman algebra in high school. It is the reason I was the only senior in a high school geometry class full of freshmen (for only two weeks because I dropped the stupid class). It is the reason math is my Lex Luthor, my archenemy.

On a lighter note, the year 900 was when the Postclassic period began in Mesoamerica. It was the year that those tough Venetians managed to repel the pesky Magyar raiders. It was also the year that everyone's favorite Pope, Benedict IV, succeeded Pope John IX.

900 is also what this post represents. I have somehow managed to sustain this little blog thing for 900 posts now. What began as a place for me to overshare has in the last seven years evolved into, well, a place for me to still overshare. So not much has changed, has it? No need really to go back through and look at the highlights of the last 899 posts. That's why there's a 'search' box on the blog. Besides I go back and look at some of it and it reads like an entry into "Mortified Nation." Good times, people, good times.

As I have said in the past, I can't thank you enough, the Den loyalists, who have taken a seat on the sofa here in the Den. I'd like to think I'm doing something right because you're sticking around. I'm glad your my friends. Thank you.

Now, it's 100 posts to 1000. I've got things to think about because there are still stories to be told here.