In 2007 at the Keys Cafe in downtown Minneapolis, my pal Jon Austin asked Bruce Benidt and me to contribute to an ensemble blog Jon was calling The Same Rowdy Crowd.  I was reluctant.  The opening harumph of my inaugural post captures my sunny mood at the time.

I hate blogs. Self-centered., self-righteous, self-reinforcing, and self-promotional. self-gratification. Seldom right, but never in doubt. I’ve never posted on one, and only read when forced by a friend or client.

So why did I agreed to do this? They bought me beer. Lots of it.

I guess I do need a primal scream about the state of the world, and this is cheaper than a therapist. Anyway, it’s not like anyone is actually going to read it.

So, there. Now I officially blog. But I’m not a blogger. Those guys are freaks.

But over 1,700 posts later, I must admit ich bin ein blogger.  I am proud to have been a small part of the Crowd’s long-running rowdiness.

Just as not every cocktail party conversation is enlightening, not every SRC conversation was a thing of beauty.  But to my surprise, many kinda were.  Many made me refine or better support my shallow opinions.  Lots of them made me laugh out loud to myself.  A few even made me think about the world differently.  I appreciated every one of those gifts.

Maintaining a reasonably fresh blog is one hell of a slog, and the Same Rowdy Crowd party hosts finally ran out of steam.  Like other parties of my misspent youth, the SRC’s 7-year rager left me with dead brain cells, new friends and foggy but fond memories that I will always cherish.

Twenty-four thousand comments later, the Crowd is dead.  Long live the Crowd.

– Loveland