I suspect I have a photographic memory. Now don't get me wrong, I am not suggesting I have the ability to tell you what the 13th word on the 237th page of War and Peace is, nor can I find your lost key ring. If it is a photographic memory, the photographs tend to be old, and cracked and blurred : a little like those I often feature on Sepia Saturday. But when I look back through the 1,000 posts that today make up the full News From Nowhere archives, it is the images I remember best. And once given an image I can start to reconstruct what the post might have been about. So today, to mark my 1,000th News From Nowhere post, I give you the images. Yes all 1,000 of them and a few more to boot (some posts had more than one image). To you it is probably a meaningless jumble but to me ..... I was going to say that to me it was the story of my life for the last five years, but in fact it is a bit of a meaningless jumble to me as well. But that is quite appropriate because my life has been a bit of a jumble - and I stopped looking for a meaning to it years ago.
I have managed to compress all those images into just three mosaics : think of them as stained glass windows in the cathedral of my soul. If you click on them they will become a little larger, but don't expect any meaning to emerge.
Philosophically, I would probably list myself as a bit of an hedonist - I enjoy enjoyment. And as I get no pleasure at all from seeing other people unhappy, frightened, dispossessed or unfortunate, I like to think that my brand of hedonism is inclusive and life-enhancing.
Looking back on the first 1,000 News From Nowhere posts, I have to say that they have given me great pleasure. I have thoroughly enjoyed blogging : both writing my own blog and reading those of the many other bloggers that I regularly follow. At the end of the day it is the interaction that makes it all worthwhile : it is in the comments and thoughts of all those who have read these last 1,000 posts that the pleasure lies. So as I go off to contemplate Post No. 1001 let me pause for a second to say ..... THANK YOU.
This is a lovely idea, and I like the thought of them being a window into yourself. I have a collection of images in a special folder on my computer - it's quite large by now - and I like to flick through them sometimes. They make me think of so many things and can be really inspirational. Sharing some of them through blogging is indeed a pleasure for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I definitely approve of your brand of hedonism!
That's definitely my kind of hedonism. Congratulations on hitting the 1,000 posts mark. Here's to 1,000 more!
ReplyDeleteJenny : THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteRoy : THANK YOU
News from Nowhere always leads me somewhere. That's to say, a visit to your blog is an all round entertainment. I've been enlightened, surprised and I've exercised my 'chuckle muscle' regularly. Keep it up, Alan - raises a virtual pint - Cheers!
ReplyDeleteThat's the sort of playing around with pictures that I like. Windows of your life... an apt description.
ReplyDeleteMartin : THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteValerie : THANK YOU
Congratulations, and I wish you a happy thousand or so more in the next five years. I look forward to sharing them with you.
ReplyDeleteCongrats of 1000! That is a ton and that must have took some time getting a pic from every single one, great display.
ReplyDeleteYou have a very refreshing attitude toward life. That you've compiled all these images of life is meaningful in itself, and a whole lot of fun it looks. That's a pretty good combination. Happy 1000th and many happy returns, as they say.
ReplyDelete1000 posts. An amazing accomplishment, to be sure, made even more impressive by virtue of the fact that these posts have been entertaining! We all have "off days," I suppose, but I seem to have missed yours, my friend! (Maybe those "off" posts are still in your Blogger drafts? I haven't read every published post, having only known you for 2-3 years, but if the recent reprints are any indication, that would be my guess.)
ReplyDeleteThe three collages were an amazing bit of work as well, I should add...
Here's to another thousand (as others have already said), and as many more as you care to bestow upon us.
Brett : THANK YOU
ReplyDeletePat : THANK YOU
Teresa : THANK YOU
Silver Fox : THANK YOU
What a wonderfully appropriate way to celebrate 1000! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your 1000th post, Alan! Setting up the mosaics was a brilliant idea. I recognize many, many of those pictures. Your posts are always enjoyable!
ReplyDeleteLiz : THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteBetsy : THANK YOU
What a grand idea, a composite of the thousand images in your thousand posts. Congrats on this milestone on your blog. I have been checking out the many photos and images. This is fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat a splendid way to signpost the landmark. It is so good, I hope you won't mind if I borrow it at some stage.
ReplyDeleteAs I've only just joined, I'll have the pleasure accompanying you and your readers over the next 1,000 posts.
TechnoBabe : THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteMike : THANK YOU (and of course I don't mind)
Look at the last image through almost closed eyes, squint a bit, and you can see an image of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteStained glass and mosaics, two of my favourite forms of art. Congratulations on your ‘Millefiore’ Alan and here’s to many more.
ReplyDeleteYour post has a valedictory note. I hope you're not leaving us, Alan??
ReplyDeleteLoved the pictures. Very effective.
Heartiest congratulations to you, Alan! News From Nowhere is a truly wonderful blog--great images, lively, upbeat conversation & deliciously recondite facts! Here's the the first 1000 & the many many more posts to come!
ReplyDeleteWhat a tremendous achievement. Congratulations Alan and well done.
ReplyDeleteCB : THANK YOU (Here's squinting at you)
ReplyDeleteNell : THANK YOU
Frances : THANK YOU (and I am going nowhere)
John H : THANK YOU
Bob S : THANK YOU
it's always interesting to look back. congrats on the 1000th!! s i've passed the 2000th mark, i've long stopped looking for a meaning too. i know i love a dose of prettiness, i whine a bit and even throw a tantrum once in a while; i am not humorous but some people think i'm funny, in the way i tell things. i'm just happy to blog. and i hope you stay happy too, for a very long time, as you do it so well!!
ReplyDelete:)~
HUGZ
Ticklebear : THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteI feel if I look for long enough I might find myself in there, so eclectic and inclusive is your blog. Always a delight to read, I look forward to the next 1000. Many congratulations - definitely a very worthwhile achievement.
ReplyDeleteHere's to the next 1,000, and the next, and the...
ReplyDeleteA neat thing happens as I look back at my own archives. As jumbled as they seem on the surface, when looked at from a longer-term perspective, they seem to be telling the story of my life. It's a very public journal, of sorts, but it's a journal all the same.
I'm glad ours crossed paths at this point in time, as I look forward to seeing where the next phase of your journey takes you. And us.
Jenny : THANK YOU
ReplyDeleteCarmi : THANK YOU
Congrats Alan! It is an accomplishment for sure! We never know where blogging will lead or to who..I feel lucky to have found you. I read back through some of your leading up to 1,000. I wish you many thousands more:)
ReplyDelete