Before I push forward towards the future of Critically Correct, I am taking a moment to look back at some of my favorite moments in the past four years. While I started blogging in July of 2005, much of Critically Correct's first year was a mess of emotions as my relationship with Lacey ended. Come late 2006, however, my writing turned from a constant personal sorrow to a genuine desire to share with the world new fiction, essays, and reviews.
Without further ado, I present to you my favorite posts from the first four years of Critically Correct:
February 2006
If I wrote my 100th blog post today, it would have been a look back at the previous 99 posts. Instead, my 100th blog post in early 2006 was par-for-the-course; a routine description of my week. However, at a time when I was still deeply rooted in sorrow from my failed relationship with Lacey, my 100th post reaffirmed that there was more to my life than girls. I enjoyed writing, and I enjoyed my new blog. Getting to 100 posts was proof that I could accomplish something serious if I really gave it my all.
June 2006
After a short writing stint as a music critic in high school, I came to love reviewing media - movies, music, games, etc. - and my blog was a great avenue for that type of writing. It was not until June of 2006 that I finally got around to writing my first serious review, and as would become common on Critically Correct, it was a game review.
November 2006
Three-Double-Zero
While my high-school-era essay series "Just a Crush, Or True Love?" was long done and over by the end of 2006, I still felt the desire to write about love and sex. Rather than write a new formal essay (with structure, flow, and all sorts of formalities), I opted to let my mind wander free with the relaxed format of my personal blog. What came of this were back-to-back entries that read like a snapshot of my personal views on sex in late 2006.
Three-Double-Zero
November 2006
2006 was a busy year for Critically Correct, and with my writing career taking shape at BGSU, I opted to celebrate my 300th post on my blog with a rant and review of my blog's life thus far at that point in time. Unlike my 100th post, three-hundred was a much more solid number and a reaffirmation that my blog was not going anywhere. I was writing Critically Correct for the long haul, and for this I had plenty of reason to celebrate.
2006 was a busy year for Critically Correct, and with my writing career taking shape at BGSU, I opted to celebrate my 300th post on my blog with a rant and review of my blog's life thus far at that point in time. Unlike my 100th post, three-hundred was a much more solid number and a reaffirmation that my blog was not going anywhere. I was writing Critically Correct for the long haul, and for this I had plenty of reason to celebrate.
April 2007
As a big fan of the Nintendo DS in 2007 I wrote a short-but-detailed article summarizing what I thought would comprise Nintendo's next version of the DS, always and still dubbed the "Nintendo DS 2." About a week after writing this, I sent an email to the staff of the IGN Nintendo DS channel and asked their opinions of my ideas. Rather than reply, they simply linked my blog from their DS front page for a week. Critically Correct's traffic quadrupled, and I gathered over two-thousand unique hits from IGN in a week. For the first time in my blogging career I entertained the idea of taking Critically Correct commercial.
April 2007
After my success with IGN linking to my blog, I set out to recreate that with another gaming feature, which did not garner nearly the attention that my previous article had. Even so I found that I greatly enjoyed pouring considerable time and writing resources into an article such as this one.
The Flashback Songs
July 2007
Among my top ten favorite posts; I chronicled all of my favorite songs from year to year since I began listening to music in 1998. I plan to update this list every couple of years.
December 2007
This was to be a post filled with a little bit of everything - reviews, notes, and... I guess sadness? Either way, I ended up devoting 90% of my words to a review of Valve's The Orange Box, which included my personal favorite Portal. This was also the first time that I tried writing short-form reviews in order to get a better turn around time on my reviews.
The "What If..." Post
December 2007
This is one of my favorite pieces of writing on Critically Correct. I combined the personal nature of my blog, my tendencies to reflect upon the past, and my love of creative writing to wonder "what if" key moments in my life had happened differently from how they really played out. I intend to revisit this "What If..." as a themed series of articles in the near future.
Five Double Zero
October 2007
My 500th blog post was a moment of celebration for me. "Five Double Zero" was a solid reflection on the past two years of blogging, as well as a mixture of newer content, including notes on the current week and a review of one of my most-played DS games, "Rune Factory."
Five Double Zero
October 2007
My 500th blog post was a moment of celebration for me. "Five Double Zero" was a solid reflection on the past two years of blogging, as well as a mixture of newer content, including notes on the current week and a review of one of my most-played DS games, "Rune Factory."
November 2007
Asus' first Eee PC 701 was a milestone in the computing industry, essentially creating the modern netbook market; a new category of small, cheap, and lightweight laptop computers. I was floored by this concept, and I purchased a launch unit from NewEgg and dumped my notes and first-thoughts in this article.
"The Lion King" has a been a massive influence in my life since I was ten years old, and in 2008 I was able to see "The Lion King" musical in Toledo, which brought every emotion in me pouring out as I was transformed into a ten year old boy for two hours on one awesome Saturday night.
The Best of Spring Break
March 2008
March 2008
As my last of five spring breaks came to a close at BGSU, I reflected upon each of the five major breaks and chose my favorite. Plain and simple, right? Turns out a few of my spring breaks were among the most unique and memorable experiences in my entire life.
Just about every song in my nearly 3000-song collection has a connection or memory tied to my past. I wanted to explore both the breadth and depth of what I could recall by picking a bunch of random songs from my library and remembering what each song means to me. It was a fun exercise that I intend to revisit in the future.
Audiosurf Review
August 2008
Audiosurf came out of nowhere for me. An action-puzzle music game unlike any other, it blended my love of Guitar Hero with something quirky, creative, and addictive. I wrote a fairly lengthy review of the game and gave it glowing, gushing amounts of love. While the same high praise does not stand quite as strong today, it is still one hell of a game.
My Legend With Zelda
November 2008
On the ten-year anniversary of the release of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" I published one of my favorite articles - a look at how my favorite gaming franchise came into my life and how it has influenced me over the years.
A Literary Type of Change
February 2009
February 2009
I continued to tinker with creative writing even less than a year out of college, and at the beginning of 2009 I began to study creative writing on my own more seriously than before. From that came this short article about why character change is important in fiction and a brief summary of where my fiction would be going in 2009.
March 2009
While relatively fresh out of college, I had learned several important lessons in my years at BGSU and in the months following graduation. I felt that I had enough educated experience to share with anyone still in college or considering going to college.
Ten Years Strong: True Love Is Back
June 2009
June 2009
Sometime in 2009 I became intrigued by the idea of reviving old writing series, and "Just a Crush, or True Love?" was at the forefront of my interests. With an updated, expanded, and matured view of true love, I wrote the sixth entry into this series with the intent of bringing it back as a regular, annual feature.
The Decade In Review: Ten Years of B3
December 2009
My newest and my personal favorite article on Critically Correct, "Ten Years of B3" is a look back at my life between 2000 and 2009, covering my freshman year in high school through my moving to Findlay post-college. The girls, the games, the jobs, the fun, the drama, the misery: I touched upon every aspect of my life and left nothing off the table.
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