Since I can no longer remember the exact date, we’ll
simply pick one somewhere around the midpoint of 2014 and say that, in one form
or another, TIAH (or “The Issue At Hand”) has been a part of my life for twenty
years!
“The Issue At Hand” began in 1994 as an APA and Fanzine
column and, in 2008, became a Blog. It
ran in four different fan-publications over the years. Its final paper installment occurred in 2012,
and (for better or for worse – you decide) blogs on to this day and
beyond.
Twenty years!
Step back and think about how many things any of us have
done consecutively and unbroken for twenty years! …Anything that doesn’t involve “watching THE SIMPSONS”, that is.
Just in my own life (SIMPSONS, notwithstanding) it’s
difficult to find many things that have been the constant that TIAH has, over that twenty year span. I lived somewhere else, worked somewhere
else, and was even married to someone else.
…So much for “Life’s Big Three”!
Heck, there was even a period along the way where I didn’t
watch THE SIMPSONS, so TIAH may indeed be it!
Okay, there were some runs of comic
books that I may have bought faithfully over a twenty year period – assuming they
ran consecutively for a “straight twenty years” – but there’s no comic book
title over the period of 1994 – 2014 that I can say that about. 
 |
| Note the "Number of Cents" this comic cost! |
And, before the age of “TV on DVD”, I can’t
even say that about a TV show – because there would be periods where a particular
show simply wasn’t being run.
TIAH has continued and solidified old friendships, and
provided me with new ones. It has
influenced others to write, and later to Blog.
I’m tremendously proud of that.
And, I’m both gratified – and, frankly, grateful – that so
many of you continue to stop by and make this endeavor “The Great Fun Thing It
Is”, with your input!
In defiance of the expected cliché, I will not promise “another
twenty years”, but I WILL just keep doing what I do, and hope that you all continue
to visit!
Congrats!
ReplyDeleteChris
Thank you, Chris!
ReplyDeleteSince you were there for every moment of it, it’s fitting that yours should be the first comment.
Awwww :D Congrats Joe! Quite the accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteAnd here's to the next 20 when you'll be talking about how the 2034 Apple iMindPic™ (it shoots 4D movies directly into your head) version of "Luck of the North" got the waves in Gladstone Gander's hair going the wrong way.
Well, that ... and that he's now a cyborg with probability-warping powers.
And I hope you’ll be here when it happens!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Joe! I wish you another 20 years (at least!). Your blog is a source of not only info and enjoyment but also inspiration. Most of the rest us can only aspire to be as prolific as you. Jim
ReplyDeleteThank you for those very kind words, Jim!
ReplyDeleteI always thought that, as time passed, life would somehow get “less busy”, but it’s been just the opposite. Though, I try to make time for regular Blog posting because I enjoy it so much.
As I’ve said elsewhere, a Blog is a “harsh mistress”, and the Blog Beast needs to be constantly fed!
I figure, on posting frequency, that if I can remain squarely between Mark Evanier and David Gerstein, I’ll be all right. :-)