Diary of a Dorkette: Five Years!

Dear Diary,

You turn five today! Let's go for some ice cream and Dr. Pepper! My treat.

-Miss M

As I sit here trying to figure out what to write about with my blog turning five, I am reminded of my ex-husband. Some of you know this, but for those who have just stopped by, I started this blog in part to find some connection in my life. I was married and I knew I had made a mistake. It takes a special kind of man to be with a woman who most of the world would view as a hoarder. And when the things she is hoarding are toys... well like I said it needs to be a special super hero of a man to even remotely get it. My ex-husband did not. 

So when I started this blog with the hopes of meeting like minded people over our shared love for toys both past and present, he was not exactly thrilled. He didn't get it. He thought it was silly and a waste of time. He tried reading it once but just couldn't get into it. Which is fine. I've always said Diary of a Dorkette is not for everyone. However it was all mine. It was something I was incredibly passionate about, it brought me some happiness. 

Now that I look back, I can't help but be proud that I stuck with it. Without this blog I would have never gotten to know and befriend so many wonderful and amazing people. This past year alone has been one I never expected. I mean come on, I have gotten to know and write about Justine Dantzer, the woman who created my most favorite toy line, to say nothing of the other beloved toy lines she was a part of that hang about in my room. I never thought I'd get to experience that back on July 29th 2011. Never. The biggest of thanks to Jordan Hembrough for making that happen. I will never be able to thank him enough.

This past year I also got to talk with people I have long looked up to. Thanks to the Eclectic Mayhem podcast I was able to join Derek Ash, Brian Farrell, and Jason Roberts to talk with Shawn Robare about Jem and the Holograms. His fiance Jaime Hood also got to jump on for a moment which made my night. I adore their love so much, and was so excited when they got together. To be able to speak with them, I was simply fanning out. They are both really cool people.

Other people I fanned out over was during the Eclectic Mayhem episode where we discussed the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack and mixed tapes with Stacey Rader. She is another person I have long admired because she is just a bad ass plain and simple. Oh and before I forget, we got to talk twice this past year! We both were guests on the Recurrent Events (thank you for inviting me Jason Gross) podcast so it was a total double dose of fun to be able to converse with her. Aside from her individual badassery she also makes a great team with her husband (Brad Rader) and like Shawn and Jaime I just really love their love. It's so refreshing to see dorky fun people get together and embrace everything about each other.

Another person I got to talk to that was really special was William Bruce West with the Thrifting episode from Eclectic Mayhem. He is a very thoughtful writer with an incredible amount of things to say both funny and serious. He is another person I really admire for his work and any chance we have to tweet each other is a total blast. It's not usually all the time but just enough so that when it happens I am thrilled. This makes me sound like I'm some deranged lunatic but I promise I'm not deranged. Why, what have you heard? 

I've also managed to somehow continue with All My Toys. I don't know how many people truly enjoy that or not, but I am tickled pink that I play with my toys and get to share that on here. My knees and hips still hurt from rolling around on the ground with all those vehicles for that unofficial Mad Max toy tribute. I love it though. My boyfriend Jason (not to be confused with Jason Roberts, two different people) helped contribute to some of those toy characters as we attended a convention with tons of toy shopping last August. He has helped me look for things and gets in on the fun. It's rather refreshing. 

Those were some major highlights over the past year as a result of starting this blog. I'm so glad I did. I could have stopped this a long time ago and probably made my ex-husband happy, but I would rather be celebrating five years of all my toy talk and adventures than wondering why I felt so alone. I feel like I have made friendships with like minded people and that is ultimately what this Diary was to be about.

So what next? I have more fun things in store. I'm waiting on a final draft to be complete for my interview with Justine about her creation of the Princess of Power toy line, which is going to be an epic read. I'm also planning on posting more things about the real me and not always so heavily based on toy stories. However, All My Toys will continue on. Toy Miss M will be working on the set of Jaws 5. Oh you haven't heard? Oh yes, there is a Jaws 5 in production and the coolest toys around are making it happen. I also have plans to bring more people from the real world into the toy world. I adore Chris Gaida, Brian Farrell, and Nick Moose so much that they soon won't be alone. I'm auditioning toys right now for the parts of Derek, Jason (both of them), Carly, Evan, Erik, Cal, William, Dinosaur Dracula, Jay, Aaron, Stacey, Paladin, Chris L, Omar, Sarah, Laura, and many many more. I love telling stories so why not have people I adore be a part of the fun too? I'm really looking forward to finding an Evan figure, with the idea of us meeting in a bar and him being a damaged man from the effects of watching Solaris. It's going to be epic. 

Finally I want to also thank you all for the past five years. I have gotten to know so many incredible people. I still get to know incredible people. Every now and then someone will follow me on Instagram or Twitter and say, "I've been reading Diary of a Dorkette for so long and have never said anything until now, but I think you are so much fun." And just like that I make a new connection that I am so thrilled to have. It's just a great deal of fun. So thank you, thank you, thank you. Diary of a Dorkette is a passion of mine that I do for fun and a way to escape from this crazy world. Thank you for escaping with me. Also I want to say a special thank you to demoncat. I have no idea who you really are behind the user name, but you have been a consistent reader for so many years and I really appreciate that. Most people who comment I know in some capacity, but demoncat has been a regular and I am very grateful to comment with you even without knowing too much of who you are. 

I hope you guys are all doing well! I am going to conclude this post by sharing some of my favorite photos I've taken over the past five years! (They've come a long way.)

 

 

This photo was created by friend Wes Grogan, thank you!