Blog turns 19!

Today marks the 19th year of my blog at thingelstad.com!

Over those 19 years I’ve written 8,186 posts totaling 493,751 words. My website is older than the iPhone, Bitcoin, and Instagram.

I love having my own home on the Internet.

Line chart showing annual blog post counts from 2000 to 2023, peaking near 820 in 2008 and ending around 250 in 2023.

You’ll note some posts from 2000 to 2003, but I don’t count them in the timeline as they were added later.

Today was Mazie’s last day of High School! 🎉 I took her out for our “last” last-day-of-school breakfast at Sun Street Breads before dropping her off at Washburn, and Mom welcomed her home with flowers to celebrate. 👩‍🎓

Man and teen girl with braces smiling together inside Sun Street Breads bakery cafe, baguettes and pastries visible behind the counter.Two people posing indoors, one holding a Congrats Grad balloon and the other holding a bouquet of sunflowers and red flowers.

Need a reason to get donuts? 🍩 Tomorrow is National Donut Day and #TeamSPS is enjoying a day early this year! First Donut Day since the pandemic. See also: 2018 Donut Day.

Eight open boxes of assorted donuts on a red table including glazed, chocolate frosted, sprinkled, and eclairs

Today micro.blog added cross-posting support for Nostr! I’ve been having fun playing with Nostr using Damus as the client. Now I’ll be able to syndicate my blog posts to my Nostr profile as well. 🎉

First round of Smashburgers on the flat top for 2023! 🍔🍔🍔

Man in plaid shirt and black apron cooking cheeseburgers on a flat top grill on a backyard deck surrounded by trees.

Move along quickly under the broken tree hanging across the bike trail. 🤞

Cyclists riding along a tree-lined paved trail, a large broken branch hanging overhead across the path.

Great day for a family bike ride to Dairy Queen! 🍦

Group of cyclists riding along the Sakatah State Trail past a mile 37 marker shaped like Minnesota, surrounded by green trees and grass. Group of adults and children smiling and holding Dairy Queen Blizzards and ice cream cones outside a DQ location.

We are UNITED!

Large illuminated UNITED letters outside a blue-lit stadium at night with people walking around them.

Levi and Tyler ran around after the Minnesota United game and collected signatures from: Bongokuhle Hlongwane (21), Sang Bin Jeong (11), Kervin Arriaga (33), and Joseph Rosales (8). They had an awesome time and the players were great! 👏⚽️

Minnesota United FC player in black kit signing autographs for two young fans at the stadium barrier after a match Two young fans smile near the pitch at Allianz Field as a Minnesota United player signs autographs behind them. Fans gather at the pitch-side railing at Allianz Field to get autographs from Minnesota United players after the match. Two boys holding autographed soccer jerseys inside Allianz Field after a Minnesota United FC game