1,825 Days Later

I once had the idea that when I got to my 5th anniversary on this blog I would have reached 1,000 posts and would have back-tagged all of my previous posts and have some wise words to share. Three strikes, and here I am. I have posted 964 times, which if my math isn't too shaky means I have posted an average of almost every other day for five years. I never knew I had that much to talk about. And loyal readers know I probably didn't.

But a lot of stuff has happened in five years. Both of my kids are grown and out of the house, I had a significant job change after sixteen years, my movies finally started coming out to a DVD shelf near you, and a lot more.

Five years ago AMONG US was in the can but had yet to be released, I was working in fits and starts on THE PAYBACK MAN for director Ivan Rogers, had just polished RAZORTEETH and was starting on DEMONS ON A DEAD END STREET, the fourth script in a four-feature package with Polonia Brothers Entertainment/Intercoast.

I had just got back from GenCon 03 in Indianapolis and was enthused about CrossGen Comics. I was reading WAR MEMORIALS by Clint McCown, THE SMILE ON THE FACE OF THE TIGER by Loren Estleman, and THE GANGSTER WE WERE ALL LOOKING FOR by Le Thi Diem Thuy.

I was just starting on the Microcinema Scene website with Jason Santo and Gary Lummp, which is still going today under Christopher Sharpe's tutelage, who I would one day work with on SEX MACHINE (and I think landing that rewrite job was directly correlated to Chris having read this blog). I was excited about two microcinema features I had just seen, HARDCORE POISONED EYES and HALL OF MIRRORS. Thinking on this today, these are still two of the best microcinema features ever.

My mom was freshly retired, my dad was yet to be diagnosed with cancer. The thing that strikes me the most when I read back over the old posts is that a good friend, prolific b-movie director John Polonia (who I collaborated with on several scripts), was still alive. He died suddenly this year and took a lot of good future projects with him.

I wish I could remember why I started blogging, who I read early on or who egged me on to start up. All that is lost in the dustbins of history. But it is interesting how much it all has grown and changed. I just got back from a blogging/social media conference in Indianapolis Sunday, and it doesn't seem that long ago that one of my students was showing me what email was.

Thanks to literally tens of thousands of readers (and I would have never thought I would be typing that) who have peeked in over the years; unless it was just my brother logging in from tens of thousands of IP addresses around the country, then thanks to him alone. If you'd like to stroll back in time, check me out in the Wayback Machine here.

Give me a yell at johnoakdalton@hotmail.com.