Hey, it’s my 1,000th post on I, Splotchy!

I’ll use this entrance into quadruple-digit posting to share some goodness that blogging has brought me.

For one, my brain is more alert. I used to (and to be honest, still do) suffer from Zombie Worker Syndrome, where during the week I am one of the undead going from home to work, work to lunch, lunch to work, work to home, home to bed. It’s an easy rut to travel in, but it’s not what I would call the apex of living. This blog has made my brain much more active. The juices flow. I can’t say I don’t stagger through my day from time to time, but I believe I’ve shed at least a portion of my zombieness.

Starting my negative space signage blog has pushed me out of the house on a self-created scavenger hunt. There have been some nice side effects of being on the hunt — I’ve noticed lots of interesting architecture, and have wandered a lot of neighborhoods and cities I have never been to before.

A Blog Of Notes has made me more alert to the sound environment we all move through on a daily basis. Yesterday my train was sitting still, and I noticed a freight train next to us start moving. The wheels of the train starting making this high-pitched musical squeak. I immediately pulled my audio recorder out of my backpack and recorded the sounds. During the two minutes the train went by us, a really eerie, haunting song unfolded for me, and it was all due to the fact that I was being alert and listening.

Eerie Freight Train

Link

And of course, I am very grateful for all the people I have connected with since starting this blog. I initially met people through Bubs, and then over the course of time I somehow knew a lot more people. It was neat how it just sort of organically happened.

Along the way I have realized how connectedness is something really important to me. A lot of the things I try out, whether it be 60 Second doodles, collaborative mix tapes, or adopting actors all have a way of connecting me with other people.

So, anyways, I don’t know that I’ll be doing this forever, but it’s been fun so far. I’ll try and hold off on doing one of these posts again until I get to One Zero Zero Zero Zero.