Timey Wimey (A brief {Not so brief} history of Stranger Things Have Happened)

It just occurred to me that I should probably look and see when I started this blog. So I did. I went back to the first time I posted and discovered that I started this blog in July of 2012, or at least, that was when I wrote on it the first time.

Back then I had a blue theme and my header had a wolf on it. At the time, my blog was called The Alpha's Thoughts: Insights on Life, Politics, Media, and Society. I had a wolf thing going on at the time, so naturally I incorporated wolves into the design of my blog.

The first post I wrote was (is) titled, Stuff Disney Has Ruined. If I recall correctly, I had just happened upon an episode of Jonas LA and had watched it to see where they were in the series. I was expecting a sitcom full of shenanigans and a few jokes and gags. I wasn't expecting the change in tone and pace. Jonas LA had taken a turn for a serious and dramatic feel. Things weren't as upbeat and energized as they were before. I didn't like what they did to the show (obviously since I wrote about it in a post about things Disney has ruined). So I sat down and wrote a short (seriously, it's three sentences) post that echos Jimmy Fallon's thank you notes.

I actually wrote two posts that same day, both about stuff I thought Disney had ruined. The other post was Stuff Disney Has Ruined (pt. 2). That one was about couples and how they turned out (it was also longer than three sentences). I still don't like how Disney handled the couples I mentioned and I don't like how the shows ended either (ok, American Dragon ended sorta okay but Sonny With A Chance kinda started to fall apart towards the end).

While I did post a few more things, it wasn't until December that a thought crossed my mind. Did people read this blog or was I talking to myself? So what do I do? I wrote a few sentences along with the question and posted it. It never occurred to me to look at the stats to check how much traffic and views my blog got. January rolled around and I tried to maintain my blog, which I did sort of, not really. Hey, I had posts so it was updated. Things went on like that for a few more years.

This blog got brought back from the dead in August of last year (2015). Senior year was starting and things were happening. While I didn't make a post until September, The Alpha's Thoughts got a well overdue makeover. The first thing to go was the title. I really didn't like the title any more and I wondered, still wonder, why I named it what I named it. So I did some thinking, read some fan fics, and watched some shows, and I came up with Stranger Things Have Happened. The title and subtitle eventually was changed from The Alpha's Thoughts: Insights on Life, Politics, Media, and Society to Stranger Things Have Happened: An eclectic collection of various things at random moments.

Then I had to change the url to reflect the revamp. I didn't want to just make the url Stranger Things Have Happened, so I went with something that I thought I might never have to really change again, just me just sanders. So the sound of the blog had already grown up some, but I still had the old look. It took me a few weeks before I settled on the background that my blog has now, and it took even longer to get my header right. Finally, the revamp was done and Stranger Things Have Happened was ready to roll.

This blog started out as a place for me to rant about who knows what, it still functions as such a place now. However it has evolved into something that means a lot to me and is something I hope to keep for a long time. This blog now functions as a place where I can go on about the random things in my life, a place where I can share things that I've come across, a place where I can be me and it makes sense to be me. I've grown as a person and this blog now reflects that. I'm proud of the person I've become (even though I'm still growing and changing) and I'm proud of what I've turned this blog into. The point of this post has changed since I typed the first sentence. I started it thinking it would be brief and to the point. But then it evolved into a brief history and next thing I know, it's not even a brief history, it's more like the evolution of this blog (the headline of this post reflects the changes) and to a degree, the evolution of me. I started this blog in 2012, my freshman year. My posts started as quick posts that were to the point. They stayed that way until junior year when I decided to write about an essay given to me by my English teacher the year previous. I only wrote one post that year, mostly because I was being put through my paces at school. I reverted back to my short-to-the-point post style in January to write something for the new year. Now, in my senior year, I'm writing more and longer. Maybe it's because I have something more to say. Maybe it's because I'm more secure in who I am. Who knows. I certainly don't. But I don't care. I'm enjoying writing on my blog and that's all that maters. Sanders out.