It’s all about connecting the dots. A phrase made popular by Steve Jobs in his Stanford commencement speech, from which I also learned about a whole new world of the Whole Earth Catalog and it’s origins through this other phrase: Stay hungry, stay foolish.

These two phrases stuck with me ever since. They also represent two guiding principles for me: Make sure you never lose that youthful enthusiasm and eagerness about the future. And cast a wide net of interests and people around you to see what happens next.

Due to work and needed rest in the evening, I tuned out of the web this week, so I missed Dave’s big birthday bash for the 30th anniversary on his Scripting News. The oldest running blog in showbizz. Dave is the OG Blogfather. The Natural Born Blogger. His palmarès includes his pioneering work on outlines, content management systems, web services, scripting, RSS and podcasts. There are few people who have had such an influence on me to keep writing for the web as Dave had and still has. He is still going strong with his work on connecting WordPress to the bigger Fediverse.

Dave is still positive about the open web and caring for your own mothership as he writes

Blogging is kind of lost, and I would like to see that change. Every time you post something you’re proud of on a social media site, how about taking a moment and posting it to your blog too. And while there, if appropriate, link to something from some part of your post, even though the social media sites don’t support linking, the web is still there and it still does.

Also make sure to read this wonderful piece by John Naughton on Dave, Scripting News and the bigger blogosphere.

Thanks to Dave’s work and his enthusiasm, I keep on blogging. I keep going, no matter what. When I browse through my archive of blogposts since 2000, I am surprised by some of the things I wrote myself. Building your own library of thoughts, a collection of dots to connect. It is thanks to blogging I have my Frankopedia.

Happy birthday Dave. Blog on, still diggin'!