I'm Still Here. Somewhere.

Why, hallo. You still here?

Thanks for still being here! I've been neglecting the poor old blog. I've watched my stat numbers slowly shrink away. I've gotten a few "you still there?" emails from those who logged on only to hear crickets.

Yes, I'm still here. I'm here, once again, pondering the natural life cycle of a blog.

We're a compulsive lot out here in the cornfields. (Well, not Rob so much, thank the higherpower.) We tend to binge on whatever activity we're enjoying at the moment. But what do those Newton people say? To every action there is an opposite and equal reaction? Um, ya. What's the opposite of binge-blogging?

*crickets*

I don't want to retire the ol' blog, I really don't. And yet I believe the life-force of a good blog lies partly in it's predictability - that when you want to have a read with your cuppa, it's there. You know it'll be there. You look forward to it being there. And while I do indeed have a lot swirling around in the ol' gray matter, I haven't been compelled to put pencil to blog lately.

I've been lurking around other joints lately. Some know I've been on Facebook quite a bit. I've reconnected with some old friends, even a former student (eek - fine line, there, fine line). Feel free to look me up there, where I'll captivate you with such status updates as "Laura eats a mint melt-away in 4 bites."

Now do you see why I'm not blogging?

I'm non-writing in other places too. Like, I'm experiencing a debilitating case of writer's block as I try to compose a chapter for an unschooling book. My submission is due any day now, and I honestly can't seem to bang it out. Weird.

And I sat down the other day to write my own unschooling manifesto, but nothing came out there either. Well, 5,400 words did come out - boring, poorly constructed sentences that didn't at all capture what had swirled in my head earlier that day.

It's one thing to have a "moment" and get an idea. It's another to stretch that idea into an essay, chapter, or book; to tie it all together, make it flow, add some wit, and hit it all home.

Maddening.

Life goes on here otherwise. Brady just completed his first college course and is excited to be taking audio production and video production next semester. We visited the recording studios and he nearly hyperventilated. Jonathan is very busy with all-things-Pokemon lately. He plans to enter a tournament in January; if things go his way, there are big things in our future.

Life is good. Thanks for sticking around.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled...

*crickets*