Today marks the 10th anniversary for this blog.
I remember it as if it were just yesterday. This blog had at least 3 different drafts brewing for the entirety of 2013 but I was more preoccupied with moving from Japan back to America and also more on being an anonymous commenter/trader than being a blogger.
Eventually I settled on a theme, blog title and a blog post I could stand behind as my first and Cervin' Up Cards finally launched on the last day of 2013.
One decade and a name change later, Torren' Up Cards still stands. Not as active as before and probably with a ton more snark and cynicism (though I'm trying to cut back on that), but still here.
I am a little surprised that I've been able to keep at it for this long. Card bloggers who are both older than me and younger than me have come and gone. Some got busier and couldn't keep up with blogging, others just stopped collecting entirely. Now that I'm also a member of a workforce with a growing number of responsibilities (and an alarmingly ever shrinking amount of space) every year I very much understand.
But I think I've been able to keep at it because I've never felt this blog was a burden or really all that time consuming. This blog is a reflection and log for who I am/have been as a collector, and to a smaller extent me as a person. It's transitioned and switched up just as often as I have because it's an outlet for whatever happens to be on my mind, and because of that it's very easy to maintain.
To give a brief timeline/recap, in the early years of this blog the key subjects were the Staten Island Yankees and T206 Highlanders. Then came the switch to the Torren' Up Cards era where the focus primarily shifted to Luis Torrens and Yankees prospecting. Then eventually came the gradual decline in interest for both. My interest in Yankees prospects basically stopping around mid 2022 and my interest in continuing my Torrens collection really slowing down in early 2023.
There were other things involved during that time like the Chunichi Dragons, New York Rangers (Filip Chytil in particular), Thairo Estrada, Anthony Davis, Star Wars, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Aldrick Rosas, etc... a bunch of stuff. Naturally most of those are a thing of the past now too although I do look back fondly on what I have left from those eras.
The only real constant during that time were TTMs and IPs, and I've pretty much put the kaibosh on both. Although moreso IPs since TTMs are still a bit easier if/when the mood strikes me.
Right now my current collecting interest is getting stuff out of my house. Most recently Kyle Freeland was a fun little collection I was building too but big shocker that's approaching the end of the line as I've assembled a big chunk of what I've wanted.
What comes next? I honestly don't know, the posts after this one will hold the answer though.
I would also be remiss if I didn't take time to acknowledge that another aspect that's kept me going this long is the small but very kind community of bloggers, collectors and commenters I've come to know over the years. I know I don't interact with many and I've lost touch with several, but there is still a part of me that's very happy every time I put up a post and when I check how it's doing I see that it's gotten one comment from an old friend. Maybe they're just happy I'm still alive, but just so you all know, I'm happy you are still around and (hopefully) doing well too whenever I see that. When I sign off my posts with "take care" I mean it. Thanks to every last one of you.
So yeah, 10 years of rambling and babbling about nothing. Thank you all for following along on my twists and turns. Who knows where this next decade goes.
As always thanks for stopping by and take care.
