hey everybody,

this is ryan. so this is my new website. obviously, it’s blog-driven, but i’m including a couple other little things. feel free to browse around and acquaint yourself with my little website.

honestly, i really don’t have an objective for the blog. my posts will range from really heavy meaty stuff to the ultimate in ridiculousness and frivolity. enjoy both. i’m hoping to foster some form of community on here. you can help by doing a few things:

1. leave comments
2. read other people’s comments
3. tell other people how cool my blog is
4. remind yourself daily how cool my blog is
5. leave a comment telling me and thus, alerting others as to how cool my blog is

seriously though, leave some comments and interact. it’s more fun for everybody that way (and i don’t fall into a state of clinical depression when nobody leaves comments on my blogs…). on a quick final note, i only have a few rules:

1. don’t take things too personally. i’m not a jerk and i’m probably not talking about you. (unless i specifically mention your name…in which case there’s a good chance that i’m talking about you.)
2. look, if you disagree, that’s ok. just don’t blow a gasket. voice your disagreement in a civil way and let’s talk about it. i like to disagree and have a healthy conversation.
3. understand that in matters of theology, politics or other weighty issues, i value when people can see that we’re on an evolving journey of learning and discovery. i embrace that. if i seem to contradict myself or question a past value, it may not be a fault or mistake.
4. have a good time. seriously, most of the posts will probably be light and not too important in the grand scheme of things, so just have a good time.

alright, so there you go. take off.

so, that’s how it all began. since that night on may 20, 2008, i’ve written an additional 308 posts. that, of course, comes out to just under 1 post a day (.84/day, to be exact). originally, i figured i would write at least 1 a day, so i pretty well kept with that. my blog production has been much slower in 2009 due to general busyness, but it’s still held fairly steady (in 2008, i wrote just over 1 post a day).

so, i thought i would take a look back at some of the more significant and memorable posts of the last year. i’ve chosen 10 that i don’t know are the “best”, but they were significant for various reasons: milestones, controversial, funny, etc. here goes (these aren’t ranked, but are in order of date published):

1. smoke in the air-6/15/08: this recounted the story of when our friend lightning bolt decided to burn down our house. thankfully, mr. lightning bolt didn’t succeed.

2. honeysuckles in branson-7/26/08: wow, this was a real classy post, penned in branson the day before christen and i were headed to springfield, mo for a church conference. i include this for two reasons: 1.) it’s hilarious and 2.) it was the first post i ever wrote that caused a bit of controversy. apparently, jokingly referring to old people as “blue hairs” is shocking and scandalous…

3. screw it: the story of a man, an elevator and a burkha-8/14/08: this was one of those stories/moments where i really couldn’t wait to get home to blog about it. it was very surreal and very hilarious.

4. like a mini horse in a china shop…-8/15/08: literally the day after the funny ‘screw it’ thing happened, one of the most hilarious blog stories i’ve ever shared occurred. i include this not only because it’s funny, but also, strangely, because one person sorta called me out about it being offensive and tasteless.

5. a generous paradoxy-9/7/08—9/13/08 (post 1, 2 & 3): this was the first time i ever tried to do a multi-post series. it was a play off brian mclaren’s book, a generous orthodoxy and it just explored some paradoxes that i have observed.

6. the most profound mystery-9/12/08: this was a late-night post that gets all weepy and awkward…well, hopefully not awkward, but definitely weepy.

7. god hates blogs: demigods and scurvy dogs-9/19/08–9/23/08 (post 1, 2, 3 & 4): this was my next attempt at a multi-post series covering one of the most colorful and interesting events i’ve been a part of in the last year. the day the ‘god hates fags’ people showed up across the street from our office was a memorable day and led to several memorable posts.

8. why i can’t not vote for obama: a manifesto of hope-10/31/08: i think this, by far, has caused the most controversy of any post i’ve ever written. it got so bad, i actually had to take down all the comments. i also found later that some people—in conversation with others—expressed that this was sort of the straw that broke the camel’s back in terms of finally “cutting me off” personally and professionally.

9. gone in 60 seconds: the story of olive grace-11/21/08: nothing has been more significant in the last year than the birth of my second child. not only did it give the play-by-play of olive’s birth, but i think it turned out pretty humorous.

10. introducing eikon church-1/19/09: this was a huge moment for me because, whereas i had had many personal conversations with people about the church, this was the first ever public announcement and many people found out about the church this way.

so, there you go. that’s my blog year in review. stick around for the next year for more hard-hitting beingryanbyrd content. 🙂