Hi Folks,
Thanks to all who've kept up with this blog over the years. I wish I'd done a better job with it myself.
To be honest, I've been going through a bit of an existential crisis lately about what to do about the blog, nearly eight years after the first post. There are a few reasons.
1) It feels odd to say you "have a blog" when more than a year passes between posts. For the first time, there've been two posts in which more than a year has passed. A year & a half between this post & the last one.
2) In fairness to myself, I've been quite busy. I'll exhaust all of us if I list everything. It has included writing for other sources, including academic conferences and magazines. Lets just say I'm more busy than when I was writing here regularly (which included posts apologizing to you all for the delay between posts, usually a matter of a month or so).
3) It's also strange to receive notifications to approve or disprove a comment that relates to something I wrote all those years ago, no longer feels relevant, one I don't remember the details of, don't have time to go back and review and take on the comment (if its an angry one, of which there are a few) which may or may not be totally irrelevant to how I view certain situations today.
4) I'm grappling with the "free economy," being a mere "content generator" and the idea that ones creations are just content to be shared with everyone forever. Don't get me wrong, I've been overjoyed to share all these posts with you all. Its helped me develop a writing style and even led to some solid writing and speaking gigs. But that doesn't mean I need to leave all posts up there eternally, especially ones that I may save for a future book or ones that no longer feel relevant.
5) Blogger's format has changed several times. Links have stopped working, comments have been lost. But It is what it is. Still, I've kicked myself for starting SkolNotes on Blogger and not Wordpress.
I confess I've recently thought about deleting the blog (saving all the content). However, going through and seeing all your great comments and interactions was moving. And I hadn't noticed the page views (often in the tens of thousands). Then I remembered some of the waves we've made and controversies caused together. All of this has caused me to reconsider.
So instead, I'm cleaning house!
I'm only leaving a few selected posts up at any given time. Feel free to let me know any favorite posts and I'll either repost them from time to time and/or consider them for future publication. And I do have some new posts in mind that you'll probably see soon.
Thanks for understanding and thanks always for your support!
Alex
Alex, how bizarre that I haven't visited your blog page in quite some time until today. It was well over a year ago when I found it, I sat down with a cup of coffee (or two), and read the entire library of posts. Every damn one, including all comments! I loved it so much. I craved for more.
ReplyDeleteI follow you on Facebook and Twitter, so I am aware of how busy you really are. But there is something about this blog that is special. You seem to express yourself much deeper here than on the social media outlets. My hope is that you continue this blog, but what I really desire is for you to follow your heart and instincts.
Thanks, Unknown. It's really good to know how much the blog has been read/appreciated. I didn't even share this latest post elsewhere, its really an exclusive for the blog readers. I'm getting excited again about creating more posts. Thanks again.
DeleteSo happy to see a new post! It is really special as it is a great forum for you to delve into a breadth of subjects that I rarely see other people doing and have these great conversations with your readers. Many comments through the years have been thought provoking and/or funny. I imagine it must be difficult fitting it in as you have so much on your plate!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Its great to know how appreciated it all is. Looking back, its amazing the hours that went into a few of these posts and with so much going on in music lately, I understand why I "drop out." Hopefully I can ease back into it...
ReplyDeleteI miss your blog. As you (well) said : we dont have more time to spend full time here, not only you, but your loyal readers too, and you see this when stop lo listen all posts !!! I really think that who´s apreciate you, your posts and as you write understand perfect - see that im here 2 months after hahahaha, maybe this is irrelevant, but is real. Facebook put you in line with more and more people too, the medias changing all time. Since you start here the thing change too. So feel free yourself, because writing here or in any plataform, who follow you continues follow you. See you in october / SP with metal allegiance!!! Hugs, MR
ReplyDeleteDiyarbakır temizlik şirketi Sanat Temizlik olarak sizi tebrik ederiz. İyi bir makale olmuş
ReplyDeleteDamn, looks like I definitely arrived to the party too late, so sorry to be posting responses to very old posts! This will be my second and last :) I'm glad you're finally writing (and I assume being paid to do so) about things you feel passionate about. Your recent article was fantastic, and I would love to read more. However I still think there is a place for blogs - and I hear you about Wordpress haha - as a less formal and more personal style of writing to connect with your fans and other likeminded souls. Or has the blog been replaced by Instagram, Facebook and Twitter? I understand what it's like to feel you're letting people down by not posting regularly; I went through a particularly bad break-up in 2013 and to be honest haven't felt creative enough to write much since then. I've received abuse for that on my blog - one man told me to write something or 'piss off'. Nice. I notice you haven't updated your blog recently, but I hope that changes. Either way, enjoying following you on the socials and keep up with the writing because you're very good at it.
ReplyDelete