Movin' On: A Look Back on Keaton Thoughts

Well, I just can't believe it. Keaton Thoughts is coming to an end. Time has just flown by and already I am looking back on more than five months of Keaton Thoughts. It is simply shocking. This is a Keaton Thoughts Retrospective. Tonight I am going to recap some of the history of this blog. In doing research for tonight, I was actually surprised to see how many posts there have been and how long it has been since I started the blog. One thing is for sure, it has been a very fun experience.

Way back in February, I was talking to Jill and Chad Roper about their blog. I had been interested in doing one for quite some time but didn't want to do something too hard because I hate hard computer things. After they assured me that doing a blog was easy, I finally decided to do it but I spent a long time deciding what it should be about. I wanted the blog to be funny but I was worried because I thought it would be a total failure. (Fortunately, I have good friends that would humor me each week by reading. I will be forever grateful) After thinking long and hard about what I could write about, I finally made a decision and on March 17th, 2008, Keaton Thoughts was born. I'm sure many of you remember what the first post was about because it has been a constant recurring gag throughout the blog. Arby's.

I decided at first that I was kind of going to just attack different things each week and try in a funny way to encourage people to boycott them but as time went on I kind of just wrote about whatever I had been thinking about that week. However, a couple of things did manage to return to the blog time and time again to be mocked. (i.e. Lifetime Original Movies, Seattle, Almond Joys and so on) but I think most will agree that the most classic theme of the blog that would return often was the "ongoing war against Arby's". I have to admit, after the first post, I never planned to return to the subject but I was surprised by how much people mentioned it. After I talked about Arby's on the blog, everybody started cracking jokes about taking me to Arby's and so on. In fact, everybody that has ever came up to me and told me that they read the blog has always mentioned Arby's.

The next big thing that developed was the TOP TEN list. I can't remember when I decided to rip off David Letterman but it has become a staple of the blog. In fact, the final post of Keaton Thoughts before the Farewell post will be the final TOP TEN list. I think this might have been the one thing that made people want to read the blog so I tried to do them more often.

The other thing that I really had fun doing was the two "Decades Weeks" we had. First came 90's week in late March and early April, then 80's week in June. And although it took a long time to get the posts and the music to work, I think it was worth it.

Well, before I knew it I was running into people I have never heard of and old friends who I hadn't talked to for years that were telling me that they read the blog. I was thrilled! I never really thought that anybody besides my family would ever read it but I guess I was wrong. But usually there are always people to thank for success and this time is no different. Here are couple people who deserve my thanks.

-The Ropers. The ones who convinced me in the first place! Many people have told me that the reason they found the blog is through Chad and Jill's website so thanks guys. Also, Jill is always the first to comment. You rock.

-Kyle Charlesworth. Always was my comedic indicator. After each post he would always give me on opinion an weather or not he thought it was funny. Thanks Kyle!

-Amanda Christiansen. For always being the first to read and comment. Thanks AC!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the retrospective. Before I leave, I will share some quick facts about the blog. Remember, I will do a final TOP TEN list and then a farewell post in a couple days. Be sure to check back then!

-Total number of posts after the final two: 31.

-Total number (including the final one) of TOP TEN Lists: 11.

-Keaton Thoughts Retrospectives: 2

-Total Run of Keaton Thoughts: 5 months, 10 days.

As always, thanks for reading! Peace.