23 Skidoo

Hey, Chat GPT, 'sup?

You said:"Looking through the archives of elayneriggs.blogspot.com, generate a blog entry celebrating 23 years of Pen-Elayne on the Web."

Celebrating 23 Years of Pen-Elayne on the Web!

Wow, 23 years! That's a milestone worth celebrating! It feels like just yesterday I was kicking off my humble little corner of the internet with Pen-Elayne on the Web, a place for me to share my thoughts, observations, and little bits of life that I hoped might resonate with you, my readers. Fast forward to today, and I find myself reflecting on the many wonderful moments, conversations, and connections that have made this journey so special.

When I first started this blog back in 2002, the web was an entirely different place. Blogs were still a relatively new thing, and social media hadn't yet exploded in the way we know it today. It was a time when every post felt like an intimate conversation with a small, but dedicated, group of readers. My aim was always simple: to share my love for the things that made me excited, whether it was comics, TV shows, books, or just the experiences of everyday life. I never expected this little site to grow into what it has become, but I’m so incredibly grateful for the journey.

One of the most rewarding parts of this adventure has been the incredible community that has formed around this blog. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of connecting with so many wonderful people who share my interests, and some of you have become good friends. We’ve had discussions about pop culture, comics, the writing process, and even just life’s little challenges. Your comments, emails, and support have always been a constant reminder of why I do this—because it’s not just about me sharing my thoughts, but about creating a space for all of us to engage in meaningful conversation.

Over the years, Pen-Elayne on the Web has evolved along with the internet itself. I’ve explored new formats, experimented with different ways of expressing myself, and even taken a few breaks (because life happens!). Through it all, my goal has remained the same: to share something meaningful, whether it’s a deep dive into a comic book series or a lighthearted post about a favorite TV show.

As I reflect on these 23 years, I can’t help but think about the future. What’s next for Pen-Elayne on the Web? Well, I’m excited to keep evolving. I’m excited to dive deeper into new topics, explore even more diverse interests, and continue growing this community that means so much to me. Whether it’s through more in-depth articles, fun reviews, or even experimenting with new formats like video or podcasts, I’m always looking for ways to make this space even more engaging for you, the reader.

So, here's to 23 years of blogging! Thank you for being part of this journey. Whether you’ve been reading since the beginning, or you just stumbled upon this little corner of the internet, I appreciate each and every one of you.

Here’s to many more years of sharing, laughing, and connecting! Let’s see where the next chapter takes us.

With gratitude and excitement,
Elayne Riggs

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Um, no thanks. Go home ChatGPT, you're hallucinating.

 

No wonder corporations love this stuff, it all sounds like corporate-speak! In fact, whenever I want to write something at work that requires jargon I actually employ AI (plus the company has mandated that we use it regularly) then rework it into my own words. But the above self-hagiography is too peppy even for me ("because life happens!"). I've been a writer since I was 13 years old, and I'm not nearly ready to outsource my creativity.

 

But sometimes the siren call is hard to resist, particularly when every app I open at work (and even at play, Blogger keeps trying to be helpful by employing this latest iteration of Clippy to ask if I want to add links and such), and particularly since we humans gravitate towards laziness. After all, 'twas intellectual laziness (among many other factors) that led to trusting DOGE-hackable voting machines over pen, paper, and human tabulation, and then to the election and pseudo-worship of a serial rapist/racist reality show thug with negative curiosity and absolutely no empathy. Better to have someone or something else think for us, even if it goes against lived history, scientific validity, and even reality itself. And so the head of HHS hallucinates, the orange sh*tgibbon hallucinates, everyone who slavishly follows them makes a show of hallucinating right along with them, and now our machine friends hallucinate as well.

 

And I admit, the older I get the lazier (or is it more tired?) I'm prone to becoming. There have been times with this blog that I've reverted to becoming a Silly Site repository, or a "what I had for breakfast" monologue. I have nor need no excuse for that, it's my playground after all. But it's also my prerogative to be creative if I want to be, to rant and rave if the mood takes me, and to not be confronted with "helpful" virtual assistance that serves little purpose than to feed its own gaping maw which will always get things wrong anyway because It Can't Think. We can think. We can, dare I say, engage in meaningful conversation unprompted. And so, with gratitude and excitement, I welcome our AI Overlor-- no wait. I thank all of you for continuing to inspire and encourage me. Onward to year 24!