Thursday, December 04, 2008

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*

8 comments:

Kez said...

Just go with the life-cycle. No point blogging if you don't feel like it! Having said that, know that people out there enjoy reading your posts :)

debra said...

All things really do have seasons---the dominant culture may deny it but it is true.
Be good to yourself--it's ok. The Universe will continue.
xox

Stephanie said...

Bah. Don't worry about writing here. We'll still be here.
As for the other - sounds annoying. I don't at all like that "want to write, need to write" space, and coming up with nothin'. Hmmph.

As for the statcounter - yours is the craziest damned thing I've ever seen anyway, half the time it says 2, (I exaggerate, 526, I think it really is) and the other half it says something thousand- no worries about that. It's because if we follow, we know when you've updated, and if you're in our roll then we know there, too. :) See? We're still there.
Just waitin' for the mood to strike you.
xxoo
Steph

Oh - and congrats to the boys!!

kelli said...

Totally can relate, I think there's a few of us feeling the same way. :)

Mine turns into a picture blog.. as you can tell ;) if I even get that up. take care and happy winter holidays!

Heather's Moving Castle said...

I get your blog update from my blog. I love your humor and hope your writer's block will pass in regard to the book. I hope it is a huge success.

~Heather in Iowa :)

dharmamama said...

Here - this is for you:

http://www.tartx.com/blog/?page_id=233

And I totally spelled that "four you" before I fixed it.

piscesgrrl said...

dharmamama - thanks! This is great!

Cap'n Franko said...

Boy! Can I relate to the writer's block! My comments about the experience of preparing an unschooling essay and my pathetic effort totalling 6500 mostly-peripheral words are here.