Holy crap...I have been taking pictures of parks and coasters as well as writing about my adventures for twenty years.

I first realized this in February 0f 2019.  I have been slowly bringing my pages up to the current internet standards because when I began this little corner of the internet I had no clue that there were any standards.  In fact I had no clue how to code, no clue what HTML stood for, no idea what custom style sheets were (I don't think they had been invented yet) and no real clue how to take a decent photo.  While working through updating my massive amount of Holiday World pages I came to the first page I ever put up and I was shocked at the date of that Trip Report.  It was 1999.



Back then I worked in advertising for a cable company.  From time to time we needed photos to add to some of the commercials.  As my office was an hour drive from my bosses and coworkers the powers that be decided to send me a digital camera in order to do my work without having to drive the hour and back for a few snapshots.  I was given a Sony Mavica camera that didn't shoot on compact flash cards or SD cards or memory sticks.  This was twenty years ago and the camera stored its 440 x 300 pixel photos on a 3 1/2" floppy disk.  Management instructed me to learn the ins and outs of the camera so I could use it for work so armed with a fanny pack, a bunch of AA batteries, my Mavica and a box of floppy disks I headed off to amusement parks to take photos.



Back then I was a burgeoning coaster enthusiast after finding out through the brand new internet; that everyone was just starting to log into, that I wasn't the only one who liked to ride roller coasters and visit amusement parks.  There were two things that really kicked my coaster enthusiasm into overdrive.  The first was the discovery of a newsgoup called rec.roller-coaster.  To explain wast rec.roller-coaster was to someone who has no idea what Usenet is, RRC for short was kind of a primitive social network where people could write and discuss the topic of rollercoasters with others like themselves.  The second thing that kicked my enthusiasm to overdrive was the discovery of the American Coaster Enthusiasts club which brings coaster enthusiasts together and more importantly puts on special events at parks just for club members.

With my newfangled digital camera, the ability to find new places to go ride rollercoasters and new people to ride coasters with I was ready to go.



Then during a sparring session in my Kempo Jujitsu class something life changing happened.  As I was raising my right knee up to do a roundhouse kick I heard a sharp "POP" in my left knee.  All of a sudden the dojo's floor sped up to me and the worst pain I had ever experienced hit me.

I messed my knee up badly.  As a result in August 1999 I had surgery on my left knee.  I found myself limited to the couch for three weeks with television and my desktop PC moved out into the living room so I had something to do.  Rollercoaster Tycoon took up a large percentage of my time and one day when I wasn't in the mood to build another park my wife Carrie said the following:

"Hey you have all of those rollercoaster photos.  You should create a website."

So I did.



The name Negative-G came to mind as I am a huge fan of airtime and having a theme with photos in negative  would make a neat visual look.  With a digital homestead on Geocities, a few photos and my Hunter S. Thompson on coasters commentary style Negative-G was born on August 29, 1999 with a post announcing it on Rec.Roller-Coaster.



The first year of Negative-G I took photos of Holiday World, Indiana Beach, Six Flags Great America, Kings Island, Geauga Lake, Cedar Point and Six Flags St. Louis.  It was a lot of fun showing the world snippets of my adventures, tales of what happened and sharing what I love to do.  Doing what I do here became an extension of my enthusiasm.  If I couldn't be at a park strapped into a coaster I could delve back into my memories and share them with you.

So in the last twenty years of snapping millions of photos (most of them were deleted as they didn't make the cut) what stands out the most?



My coaster count went from under a hundred to over five hundred earlier this summer.



The quality of photos that I have taken have gone from absolutely horrible to being pretty good.  Being the type of person who constantly seeks to improve what I do can always be better.  Still looking back at where I began I do have to say that I am pleased with how far I have come.



Getting to not just watch The Voyage at Holiday World being built from the first bit of land clearing all the way through the opening day was a dream.



Being able to spend so much time with my son has been a massive highlight.



The rides, the parks, the media days and all of that have been fantastic but really what stands out from the last twenty years have been all of the amazing people who came into my life as a result.



There have been people tell me that they decided to build relationships with their children over parks like I have done with my son.  Others have told me that I inspired them to follow their passion and are now working in the amusement park industry.  Out of the blue at parks I have had strangers walk up and just thank me for taking my pictures and sharing them here.  Better than any compliment have been all of the people who came up to say hi; either in person or online, who ended up become lasting parts of my life.   I have never been one who cares about praise.  In fact anyone can do what I do here.  What I do care about is being able to have some of the most wonderful people in the world around me joining in on all of the fun and adventures.

 

Memories are what matter.  Memories are what last.  Memories are what we take with us.  This site is made up of twenty years of wonderful memories and I really can't wait for the next twenty years of memories with all of you.



Thank you for joining in on my adventures.

Thank you for visiting my adventures here.



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Copyright 1999 - 2025

Paul B. Drabek