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BJRography: Newsletter & Blog Archive

Bryan J. Rollins

Jul 28, 2019·5 min read

Recently a friend was immobilised, recovering from an injury — and I could think of no better gift than sending her links to my original newsletters.

Mostly I am writing this post for myself (recurring theme in this blog) so I have a page with easy links to all my early BJR Newsletter brilliance.

So, here it is — the historical archive of the BJR Newsletter (and eventually, blog).

The Newsletter Era 1995–2003

Upon starting my first job, I wanted a way to keep in touch with friends, or at least invade their privacy and force them to receive updates on my life. The dawn of the purely email-based “BJR Newsletter”, full of third person self-references and Dave Barry rip-off humor.

At one point the newsletter list was around 500 people.

The brilliance began with the very first newsletter in July of 1995!

  • 1996 — Life in Austin, working for Trilogy, a trip to Jamaica, and a project in Milwaukee.
  • 1997 — Leaving Trilogy. Two months biking in New Zealand. Moving to California.
  • 1998 —Two months cycling in New Zealand, co-founding Reactivity with John and Brian, living in the Bay Area for one year before returning to Austin.
  • 1999 — Moving back to Austin. Buying my first house. Getting married (in hindsight not such a great idea). Approaching Y2K.
  • 2000 — Reactivity Boston opens. Reactivity gets funded. BJR’s life begins to unwind.
  • 2001 — Losing Dad, Leaving Reactivity (the first time), and finalising my divorce. A 30 day trip cycling around Ireland, and a new job at a stealth startup that never needed to be stealthy (AlterPoint).
  • 2002 — Heads down at AlterPoint. The plot thickens. My sense of humour deteriorates.
  • 2003 — Selling the house and moving into the nicest garage ever. Back at Reactivity, living life on an airplane!

Blogging. It’s not just for breakfast anymore.

The first blog I used was LiveJournal. Not bad, but not great. Okay, the default look and feel was bad.

I started blogging because I wanted to record my experiences during my kidney transplant in 2004. I also wrote book reviews (meh) and posted transplant related articles, both of which I’ve tried to omit here and just keep the personal stuff.

The blogging starts on Dec 11th with two failed attempt at surgery (Catastrophe), then follows with the lead up to the transplant (The Transplant, The Days Before Surgery), the big event and aftermath (Surgery, ICU, Dunn 4 West) and then the final chapters (The People, Released)

2004 Newsletters — The newsletter continued. A roller coaster year, with Diagnosis, Disease, Dialysis, and Deliverance. The purchasing of an urban loft in Austin!

Life post transplant. Joining MessageOne.

  • I blogged my dramatic exit from the hospital, in Recovery Fiascos, listed all my Drugs, and in February, 2 months post transplant, I declared I Couldn’t Be Doing Better.
  • The 2005 Newsletters were relatively benign, with updates about professional life and personal life.

I managed only four blogs, though I love the titles: The Five Jackasses You Meet In Heaven, What I was thinking over two years ago, A few bits of humor and introspection and Brokeback, Enron, Speeches and Zen.

I snuck a single newsletter in just before the end of the year with The Runaway BJR.

In 2007, my blog titles at first became much more terse, and the content was much less entertaining: Muse, London Calling, and Paris. But then rage inspired my writing in License Plate TX 338 SHB, I will find you and Homeless window breaker, i will not find you. My sense of humour filled a Donkey Suit, and I discovered the angst of maturity in Blues and Jazz? What’s wrong with me?

The first 2007 newsletter, For Whom the BJR Tolls, could not have had a more prophetic title for the coming mistake (getting married again, BJR Wedding Newsletter).

Despite leaving MessageOne (Last “day” at Dell), and having plenty of time on my hands, I only managed a single newsletter, Dude, You’re Getting a BJR.

The blog went out of control. Almost microblogging at times.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood was the usual BJR fare, but a short 10 miles shows that I didn’t always love running the way I do today. A weird happiness after a slow triathlon came in Slow Happiness and an off-balanced team appeared in Austin Marathon Relay.

A lot of posts were for the Lone Star Circle of Life bike ride around Texas:

And a handful of other blogs:

I traveled to India to see a friend’s wedding get blessed. Our flight boarded just hours after Pakistani terrorists had murdered tourists at the Taj.

And a trip to Mexico: Part I , Part II, and Conclusions from Mexico

In 2009, a trio of BJR Newsletters were worth a chuckle: BJR is Just Not That Into You, We’re Looking for a Few Good Organs and The BJRs Choice Awards

The addiction to triathlons continued, with If at first you do not succeed, Cap Tex Tri again and Austin Triathlon: First Place!. And, my First spin class after 15 years of cycling.

Other blogs: What I’ve been up to, Looking your best, Chugiak High School Class of 1989 20th Year Reunion and Why I’m named Bryan

Near the end of the year, October brought another Lone Star Circle of Life Bike Tour, with blogging daily: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8

The End of the Newsletter

In 2010, I switched to Wordpress, and you can see everything on Wordpress, by just clicking a single link (and scrolling through about 8 years of blogs… enjoy).

And now, I’m currently using Medium as my blog platform of choice.

But a few pieces of writing that I’m proud of from 2009–present:

Bryan J. Rollins

A man. A plan. Subscribe via email at http://eepurl.com/dhhmvr

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