Eight Years of Scrubbles.net

8 Year Birthday FigurinePsst. I never notice these things until they’ve gone and went, but over the past week this very weblog has entered its ninth year of operation. Happy birthday to Scrubbles.net! To celebrate the occasion, I put on my best metaphorical party dress and cherry picked a few of my favorite vintage (don’t call them old!) posts.

Looking back, I’d venture to say that Scrubbles.net’s legacy (if there is one) might be that it was among the earliest of the “look at the crap I found” type weblogs. It’s always been my mission to write about whatever ephemera or pop culture catches my fancy, with a distinct lack of trendiness, and hoping what amuses me amuses others. Gotta admit that sometimes I come across popular, more thematically focused blogs and wish I had even half their traffic. But in the end I’d rather have a small, loyal audience than a large, fickle one. “Love me, love my quirks” is pretty much the dictum around here.

So sit down, grab a piece of cake, and savor the results of trolling the archives going all the way back to the beginning (note that the pre-2006 entries suffer from broken style sheets, outdated links, and a general look of krep). Behold, “Scrubbles.net: The Greatest Hits”:

09/11/01September 11th, 2001. A personal observation of what happened over the course of that day. For some reason, I could only process the horror of what I was feeling through the lens of pop culture.
09/27/01A floor-by-floor analysis of the break rooms at work. Quirky, navel gazing posts like this were unusual in 2001 but would become more common as the years went on.
06/13/02Introducing Discards. A cache of found slides becomes a little-known corner of the Scrubbles.net universe.
10/27/02On the groovy costumes in UFO.
01/28/03A rant against Frida Kahlo. Honestly, I forgot about this. Didn’t know I hated Frida Kahlo so much!
01/09/03Influential songs in my life.
06/26/03Recollections of ’80s Movies Filmed in Arizona.
10/31/03Seven Things That Frightened Me As A Child. Fun.
02/02/04A Yuppie Teakettle for Everyone. Musing on design for the masses.
04/22/05Illustrations of Charles Harper. Ladies and gents, the most visited page at Scrubbles.net. Had I known, I would have included more examples. Unfortunately, other weblogs still link to this page even as I’m coming up with newer, better stuff. Attention, Charles Harper fans: please read my new stuff. Please.
05/30/05Captured on Film. Screen shots and commentary on the glamorous Manhattan of The Best of Everything (1958).
06/02/05Wonderland in Chrome. An unassuming little post that got linked on Boing Boing and drove hundreds of curious clicks. Who knew?
07/10/05Off the Treadmill. On learning to enjoy a downsized life. I need to write a sequel to this one.
01/07/06Artistry In Motion. More Harper discoveries, given a nicer setting.
02/14/06Blogging Tips from a D-Lister. Somebody had to find that advice useful.
03/26/06White Lace and Promises. Ruminations on twenty different versions of “We’ve Only Just Begun.” May have been Scrubbles.net’s definitive “jump the shark” moment.
05/12/06The Exploding Plastic Inevitable. The first time embedded video was used on the weblog.
01/01/07Another Year of Couch Sitting. A self-pitying reflection on 2006, the year of lowered expectations. 2007 and the first half of 2008 followed right along in the same vein.
01/22/07What Makes a Making Of. I thought this was a nice post. I worked hard on it. It generated zero links or comments!
06/04/07Cheap Thrill: Joan Crawford on The Sixth Sense. This was fun; I have to do more “Cheap Thrill” posts.
01/21/08Cheap Thrill: Children’s Books 1957-69. Speaking of which. This might be the most real estate hogging Scrubbles post ever.
04/23/08WDW Day One: Epcot Future World. In which I bore my dwindling audience to tears with an exhaustive, five-part travelogue.
07/04/08Riverside, July 3.

July 17th, 2008 | Shoegazing, Floppies | Share This | Top

6 Responses to “Eight Years of Scrubbles.net”

  1. Christopher Says:

    Nine years a blogger, 14 years with me (poor thing!) and your 40th birthday just around the corner. Can your life BE any better than this? :-*

  2. Ivan G Says:

    Congratulations on your ninth Blogiversary, Matt. My favorite posts on the blog are always the mini-movie reviews…I love to read your opinion on films I have and have not seen.

    Sorry to hear about the 40th natal anniversary, though…but when we’re lucky, it comes to us all.

  3. jb Says:

    Nine years is profoundly impressive. I just hit four at my blog–and if that’s a thousand years in Internet time, nine years is a million. Keep up the good work.

  4. Vince Says:

    Congratulations on eight complete years, with more to come. And that’s a K-Tel worthy roster of greatest hits you’ve chosen.

  5. Shannon Says:

    Happy 9th birthday, Scrubbles! I’ve been enjoying your site for a long time, Matt. Thanks for the entertainment–and the Scrubbles cd mixes I’ve practically worn out!

  6. Dan Says:

    Happy Anniversary, Scrubbles.net! Matt, I look forward to more that you have to share with us!

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