Blog history

I began publishing my Mumpsimus blog in early 2005, using a plugin for the IPB forum system. This proved an awkward, proprietary system, so I moved to the WordPress platform in late 2011 and began this Scripturient blog. By early 2026, I had posted more than 1,650 entries with more than 3 million words and more than 2,300 comments. I can’t seem to stop writing, even with my recent bout of cancer and knee surgery occupying my time and energy.

Since I began blogging, I have written about Collingwood Council, science, morality, faith, politics, history, human rights, Darwin, egregious stupidity, skepticism, language, grammar, the environment, computer games, technology and software, my family, SUVs, book and film reviews, music, ukuleles, Tibet, Quebec, motorcycles, taxes, chess, elections, media, leadership, Mexico, tequila, bad drivers, local media, other bloggers, urban design, social media, debentures, pets, prostate cancer, critical thinking, mortality, Machiavelli, Chinese philosophy, Trump, Harper, Scheer, Trudeau, retirement, baking bread and making pasta, lichens, Jordan Peterson, and philosophy. I debunked creationism, homeopathy, flat earth, angels, fad diets, and other pseudoscience nonsense. And of course, there was more.

My older, Mumpsimus posts from 2005-2011 — another million words — are currently offline. Most are outdated now, especially those about local politics, contemporary issues, and films, so they aren’t relevant anymore.  A few I have resurrected here because they are not time or event-sensitive.

My old site also contained the database of many personal posts, about family and genealogy. I restored some of these older posts to this site, but many were irrelevant or outdated.

The Blue Agave Forum remained active for those wanting a calm place to discuss tequila until the spring of 2018. I decided that the tequila community was better served by the many new and more informed aficionados online, and my site was less connected to social media as some newer platforms are, so I shut it down after 15 years of operation.

This blog was on GoDaddy for a decade but it was not a happy or technically agreeable experience. I suffered several technical problems, seriously broken migration, and increasing steep prices for mediocre speeds and tech support. I moved to HostPapa in 2022.