It's almost 20 years since I wrote my first blog post.

It wasn't called a blog then, but that's what it turns out it was.

I've been thinking about how to mark the occasion, thought of possibly having a Bloggercon, somewhere, but that hasn't happened, it takes time to plan those things.

Instead I'm thinking about which pieces, after 20 years of blogging, have the most value.

I posted a link to one of them a few minutes ago, Transcendental Money. It's an idea I got from my uncle, Ken Kiesler, who asked me that question once, and it really made me think. So I passed it on.

Then there was Don's Amazing Puzzle. That was a good one. Or Bill Gates vs the Internet, if only because it represents raw epiphany, and no hesitation. I just wrote it, published it, and let the shit hit the fan. It was a liberating experience. And that was the point. No one needs to approve these things. Blog posts are from a single person at a moment in time. Like a fresco painting. Not a lot of fussing or editing, or even thinking. Just say what you see. Turns out what I saw in that moment was exactly right. For that moment in time. Later on, the cruft would come back, and then be ripped up, only to come back yet again. This is a lesson the tech industry keeps re-learning. Maybe it's more than tech, maybe it's what we do as a species.

There's way too much in the archive to read between now and October 7. But if you have a piece that meant something to you, send me a pointer, to dave.winer@gmail.com. Or you can post a comment here. I'll have a look, and give it some thought. Even better if you write about it on your blog, and send me a pointer to that. I'm still an old-fashioned web idealist. After all these years.

Favorites

Jay Rosen likes Edit This Page (1999).

Michael Rubin likes Accept & Respect (1995).

Vitor Conceicao likes Platform is Chinese Household (1994) among others.

Tim Strehle wrote a blog post linking to a couple of more recent pieces.

Bill Soistmann likes How to make money on the Internet (2000).

My choices

Home page: "People come back to places that send them away" (2005)