Evolution of a Blog

Today, I sat at work pondering important questions about life, i.e. if my undoubtedly disgruntled blog readers have indeed upgraded their Firefox to Version 3.0. I decided to do a quick check on my blog statistics, the hits of which were obviously depressing because of the lack of new content these days. But I did see that many people visiting my blog now are finding my site as a result of a Google search for a variety of subjects. I clicked on an old story that was the result of one person's search and read the blog of yore from 2005 and found myself pretty amused at the story and amazed that I had actually written something so witty and comprehensive. And it got me thinking on the elevator ride down and the bus ride home, what has changed? Is it the result of Tivo/DVR's proliferation into my household? The limited social life as a result of things like jaw surgery and leaving the center of the universe to move to a neighborhood that was uninspiring and where I didn't belong? Finally having a meaningful relationship with a girl? Or is it simply the evolution of a blog, the transition from something to record life's stories in into something to read and remember life's stories? Maybe it's a combination of all of the above. Clearly I can't blog as much about jet setting across the country for a weekend, a full weekend of debauchery, or about the nuances of being married, but there are plenty of new things I can talk about.

Last night we went down to see our free movie of the week, My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding. I thought back to when I saw it a few years back to see if I could somehow relate this to my experience in Peru but my memory of the movie was pretty bleak, like it is with most movies. But as we sat there watching it, I realized that there were many subtle things that Erika and I could relate to and we both cracked up about them. I asked her if she thought my parents would be like the "Miller" family in the movie - dry, boring gringos with little interest or knowledge about foreign cultures or customs. She said yes - and was very happy to learn back when she met them that my parents are nothing like them! After recently requesting RSVPs from my friends and family who initially planned to come to my wedding in Peru and realizing that very few are going to come afterall, I laugh when I think about the wedding scene in that movie where the bride's side of the church is packed with hundreds of people and the groom's side has about 10 people - that's totally going to be my wedding! (Side note-if you didn't get the RSVP request email and you want to come, you better email me because apparently I don't have your email address!) Anyway, we enjoyed the movie and had a nice little picnic on a beautiful night again.

Have you ever learned a foreign language on your own? I really need to get to work on my Spanish ASAP and am really getting bored with my Pimsleur speak and repeat lessons. Anyone ever used Rosetta Stone? I tried out their demo for Turkish and actually learned a few things in the five minutes I used it. I might have to give them a try, let me know if you've ever used it! I am using some of the Spanish I know at home and am learning new words from Erika, but they are mostly words that she says to me or about me, things like "susio" (dirty), "que asco" (disgusting), "tacaño" (stingy), etc. While these are valuable, I could use some expansion on my vocabulary and grammar ;o) .

J. Riley, doesn't anyone want to come visit us in New York other than some obscure Germans from the past?