The 50,000 Retrospective
Over the past day, my humble blog "Tranquility Lost" passed the 50,000 visitor mark, which began counting a few days after it's creation back in November of 2003. It's been an interesting project for me, someone who got this blog purely because I wanted it, not because I had to for a class. I was one of the first bloggers to sort of be floating out there in non-academia and at times I didn't think this thing would ever be read. Why would kids at school, and anyone else, read this when it has nothing to do with anything. I don't have a theme, I don't have a class or topic to constantly post on, it has basically just been a potluck of "whatever I feel like." Part satire, part tech journal, part conservative soapbox, part faux academic commentary, this poor little blog has been filled with a variety of things, all of which are distinctly me. There are folks out there who have done alot more with their blogs, people who have written more and have more comments, but I'm proud of my guy. Tranquility Lost has inspired debate, brightened some people's days, and pissed a number of people off... I'm sure many of those entries will be listed below.
I had seen this day coming for a few weeks now, and am taking this opportunity to post a sort of blog-folio or "Greatest Hits" list, featuring some of the entries I'm most proud of. So what follows are some of my favorites over the past year and a half.
• Windows Woahs My first ant-Windows entry, and also my third entry ever... glad to see things haven't changed much.
• Twilight Zone Tuesday One of the weirdest Tuesdays I can remember. I think there is a mention of Cookie Crisp in there as well.
• The Things I Do for the Cellar Dwellers One of my first big entries about the Cellar Dwellers and my involvement with them. This was during our first performance of "Deconstructing Santa", one of the most successful shows our troupe has ever produced.
• Deconstructing Santa A huge post I wrote about my experience putting together a show like Deconstructing Santa. There were only four of that in that show, and I can say that it was the craziest thing I have ever been involved with regarding the Dwellers. An excellent entry indeed!
• "The Year Ends NOW" or "Apocalypse Later" My first year-end wrap up.
• Big Brother Hates Speed Limits A post regarding the "Speed Enforced By Aircraft" signs on the Turnpike. I later found out that this posted was linked to by a car enthusiast forum.
• College Through the Looking Glass My analysis on Hollywood's portrayal of colleges, and how life at Seton Hill is completely different from all preconceived notions. Quite a number of "SHU Blog Allstars" commented on this puppy.
• Am I a 'Goofy?' One of the funniest posts I had written up until that point. A mock-research piece into the history of the Seton Hill "Goofy", a phrase that appeared on t-shirts around campus that year.
• Why MTV Needs to Die I think this is the first time I call for the death of MTV.
• ANGRY TEEN This post gets a number of hits from folks Googling about for depressing angsty poetry. Interesting, and yet my beliefs remain the same after all this time.
• Fighting Fire with Fines and Popcorn My account of one of the many fire alarm incidents in Havey Hall during my freshman year.
• Predictability and a Fire Extinguisher Two days later... another fire alarm, this time with a broken fire extinguisher and an evacuated building. I was not a happy camper.
• The Birth of Air Hockey I'd say a pretty popular post, especially since it's obviously made up. It even got a comment from an Air Hockey Champion from New York!
• 10 Reasons Why SHU Doesn't Need a Football Team By far the most controversial blog I think I've written. This was very surprising to me, considering all of the politics I drone on about. When I wrote this piece SHU didn't have a football team, they didn't have any players or students signed up for it, so I was merely protesting the idea. But I had forgotten about it, and then it came back to bite me when they football team this year discovered it. Then the phoned in threats arrived in my room and I had to watch my back until things cooled down. This post caused alot of debate, but in the end nothing more needed to be said.
• "Marble Madness" or "How Josh Pratt and Mike Rubino Conquered Everything" My thrilling tale of my 3D Design class and how Josh and I managed to get an A at the last second.
• Hamster on the Lamb The harrowing tale of Hampton's escape to the inner sanctum of my kitchen wall. This post appeared on Google when people were searching for solutions to get their own hamster out of their wall.
• She Ain't No Uncle Ben's Rice A satirical account of Condi Rice's testament in front of the 9/11 Commission.
• Slaying the Beast: The Last "Kiwani Step Outside" Show Another Dweller adventure, this time recounting the break-neck speeds I had to reach to get home in time to help save our "Kiwani Step Outside" show from being cancelled. Quite an exciting true story.
• The GO-Party - A full report A hilarious account of my adventure to my first Bush party at the Mountain View Inn. This is also the very event in which certain friends falsified their identities to a certain newspaper. This entry may have been mentioned in a journalism ethics class once or twice.
• How to Peel an Orange Very precise instructions for peeling an orange the Mike Rubino way. This entry is often found on Google when querying instructions for how to peel an orange (and not just the Mike Rubino way).
• Beaver County is on the Map Again The long and illustrious history of Beaver County in the celebrity spotlight.
• Michael Moore Should Stay in France I stand by these words.
• Never Retro 90's An entry about how no one is going to miss the 90's. This entry often appears on Google when folks are looking for a good haircut.
• Another Rubino Enters Politics; Succeeds in Pissing Off More Girls Danny is elected class president, and the masses cheer.
• The Best Restaurant Party... Ever Me and my friend Nick got a free ticket to WQED's Best Restaurant Party, and for a night we got to mingle with the elite (or at least mingle with the people who could afford the $80 tickets)
• A Mis-Adventure of Po-Dunk Proportions My adventure into the Heart of Darkness, known as West Virginia, to go clubbing with a few buddies. Read on to find out how things went.
• The Origins of the Greek-Catholic Union I love the fact that some people commented on this thinking it was real. Come on folks, there is a small amount of common sense required to read this entry.
• Sunday Un-Funnies My assessment of the current state of newspaper comics and how much they suck.
• My Political Dealings Pt.2- Electric Boogaloo Photos and a summary of the huge Bush party I hosted in Beaver County. Not only was it the biggest one in the county, but it also was the most technologically advanced, featuring a huge projection screen, wireless internet, and a streaming broadcast of Laura Bush's conference call.
• The Shortest War in History This is probably the most popular blog entry I've ever written. More people have discovered this entry through various links and Google searches than anything else on the site. I especially enjoy when one of the following two things happen: 1) someone thinks this is real and decides to use it in a research paper (this has happened at least 3 times according to comments and e-mails I received) 2) when someone doesn't realize this is a historical parody and flips their lid, calling me an idiot for trying to pass something like this off for real. Definitely a keeper!
• The Photo Gallery A collection of photos from my cruise vacation.
• Bucs Win! My experiences during the last Pirates game I attended. As you can tell by the date of the entry, it's been a while since I've seen a game.
• Laundry List for SHU's Internet Because my list about the football team was so successful... The upside is that this list, which features a bunch of complaints regarding the internet and IT department at SHU, is now coming true in many regards. I don't know if I had a hand in any of that, but I always enjoy seeing what I complain about get fixed.
• Third Bush Party's a Charm A humorous account of our exploits at another Greensburg Bush Party, this time on the evening of GW's speech at the Republican National Convention.
• Dubya Visits Latrobe Bush stopped for a speech at the Arnold Palmer Airport in Latrobe, and me and a bunch of CR's were there... with cameras!
• Social Ettiquette Vol.3- Don't take dogfood from strangers I ate dog food, and here's why.
• Zell Miller, Melissa Hart, and Scott O'Grady Walk Into a Bar My amazing experience meeting Zell Miller and other politicians at a GOP rally that I was able to perform at with Mike Hinzman. We portrayed John Kerry and John Edwards in a satirical vaudeville act, and ended up performing it a few more times before the election.
• Pink and Black in 2007! How I was the sole person who came up with the class colors for the 2007 graduates at SHU, and how the Boss Posse won the vote!
• I Heart Halliburton- "Meeting Dick Cheney" Man, talk about a streak of good political blog entries (well, I guess they're only good if you agree with me). This is about the night I got to meet, and shake hands with, that handsome devil: Dick Cheney.
• The Decisive Pro-Bush Argument Every debate point I had for the re-election of President George Bush.
• Bush Wins! Liberals move to Canada! And two days later, I posted one of the happiest posts I made all year: we won the re-election, ushering in a new era of pissed off liberals.
• Arafat Dead... or is he?! A little post about Yassar Arafat's crazy half-death. Of course, as we all know, he ended up dying a little bit later, and his casket was wrestled between hundreds of screaming Palestinians.
• My Stint in Organized Sports After attending a few of Danny's indoor soccer games, I found myself reflecting on my once-althetic self.
• National Radio... Geek I was called a "geek" on national radio.
• "Over Coming Insurmountable Odds" or "The Legacy of Hampton the Hamster" The obituary for our beloved hamster: Hampton Rubino.
• The Wisdom of the Barber's Chair The gruesome tale of my experience at the barber, which involved frog on frog violence.
• Mr. Mike Goes to Washington Part 3: The Photo Album A photo journal of my trip to Bush's 2004 Inauguration in D.C.
• Spy Kids Hack Blogs! A very interesting post created less than 24 hours after the Seton Hill blog servers were hacked by South American hackers. This post is still viewed quite often when folks Google on the subject of the Spy Kids hackers.
• Permit the Child My online blog-petition that led to my brother eventually getting his driver's permit! We had over 20 comments from people I didn't even know declaring that Danny has the right to drive. Of course, now that I've been in the car with him while he's driving... I'm not so sure how good of an idea that is.
• "Strengthening Social Security" or "Hey, I got to talk to Dick Cheney" The Social Security Reform meeting that I got to attend, and ask the Vice President a question. This got me on a number of local news stations as well as a few of the city newspapers. Ya know, I do what I can.
• You Call This Coffee? My investigative op/ed piece on SHU's coffee that is served in the cafeteria. This article also appeared in the Setonian.
• Crazy Folks Behind My House: Entry 1 My prose piece about the crazy folks that live behind me.
• This Guard's Got Holes My research on the history of the Swiss Guard, the very folks who are guarding the Holy Father at the Vatican.
• SHU's Moral Compass Points South I guess you could say this was a tad controversial, but I found that many people I talked to agreed with me on the subject. An op/ed piece I wrote for the Setonian regarding the scandals that happened on the Hill.
• Looking Back at PVT. Wars A summary of the rehearsal schedule and performance of the student directed play I was in during this semester. Not only was it a great time, but I walked away from it with a healthy case of mono! Yeehaw!
• Thank You Epstein-Barr Speaking of mono, here is my complete coverage of my disease!
• Williamsburg Review (with Pictures) The table of contents for my series of blog entries written during my vacation this summer. I blogged every day from my hotel in Williamsburg, giving you up to the minute coverage on... colonial... Williamsburg.
• Making a Buck on a Cracked Skull At my grandfather's wake, I discover my mom's terrible plot to make quick cash on the bumped heads of babies!
• Flea Hollister My disdain for Hollister, mixed with my love for flea markets.
• Gray Power: A Cellar Dweller Adventure My latest adventure with the Dweller gang, this time on a trip up to Franklin PA.
And there you have it... I picked what I thought were my favorites of what I've written so far. There were alot of other cool entries, but I had to pick and choose. Anyways, I hope you enjoy these. Think of them as OnDemand blog entries for whenever you get bored. Or don't. There are going to be plenty of fresh blog entries for quite a while to come.
Posted by MikeRubino at August 5, 2005 4:52 PM | TrackBack