New Day, New Blog
I started blogging in 1997, I think. I “coded” the site with Microsoft FrontPage, and hosted it on a Linux server, in my house, on a DSL line, with the FrontPage extensions for Apache. Then I wrote an actual, custom blog engine in PHP, to learn PHP. Then I rewrote it in Ruby on Rails, to learn Rails. Then I converted the site to WordPress, because I was tired of maintaining both code and content. Each time, I carefully rolled all my content forward to the new platform.
Over the past 20-plus years, things have changed. I’ve had 3 kids. I’ve moved between companies and work roles. I’ve worked for some absolute jerks. I’ve worked for awesome people. I’ve lead people, and seen that side of it too. I’ve helped build a new church, and then been utterly betrayed by my former pastor, mentor, and friend.
My thinking and my approaches have matured. My opinions have softened on many issues. So I threw almost all of the old content away, and I’m starting over. At 50, I’m just not the same person I was at 25, and it’s not fair to either one of us to try to bring that person forward in time, and present him as me now.