A New Day
Obviously things have and are changing around here. Around everywhere, really. In The Blog, while there are thousands and thousands of new sites and voices appearing everyday and it seems like someone else is the newest, freshest Flavor of the Month, my old standbys, those people who were around when I first started back in January 2000 have been in a steady decline. People going on hiatus, people doing their sites in for bigger and better things. It's obvious to me that in the identifiable cycles of blogging: optimistic launches, the cool upswing of linking to the new A-Listers, the Plateau, and then the inevitable "Why Am I Doing This" conversation that either causes them to quit blogging, take a breather, or to press on in some aimless direction hoping to find new inspiration, there is nothing new under the sun. What's old is new again and every other cliche still rings true.
It's true that there have been more times in the last year where I honestly thought about doing something else. Giving up on the Woo and working on a new site, under a new name, with a new purpose. Whether obvious to anyone else or not, I haven't felt the same about blogging since Mom died in March. It was more of a surprise to me how much I blogged FOR her while she was living and how much it became a way of daily communications between her. She loved the life I was leading and found herself riding my days with me through what I wrote. She loved that I was snarky and a bit cynical and never hesitated to call me if I hadn't posted something by the time she got into work every morning. Of course, blogging for her while she was sick took on a purpose of its own and thankfully, while I lost most of my entries prior to May 2003 in a hosting service move, I was able to save all the posts about her and her illness. And then she died and I came back to work and things had changed both significantly and not so much so. I lost my voice, it seemed to me. Posting was nothing more than standing here so I didn't lose my place. To say I even felt mediocre would be generous.
So after so many months of thinking about it and talking about it, I sat down and worked up a new design. I can't remember, if ever, that I've had a site that wasn't somehow blue or gray in theme. It's like a new haircut for me, I suppose...not sure how much I like it right now, but I'm going to give it a chance to grow on me. I also pared the content way down. Does anyone give a fuck what I'm downloading from iTunes or reading? My way to compensate for that very important information is to phase out short filler postings about nothing and concentrate more on my writing posts. I'm looking for my voice again and I remember it best when I thought I really had something to write about and that's what I'm hoping to find. And there will be some added features in the next few weeks once I figure out the guts of the machine a bit better; categories and searching functions and all that.
In the meantime, I'm still here, but the Emperor has some new digs he'd like to show around a bit.
I can totally relate. And I can say that I, too, felt like I was a fly on the wall of your life by reading your entries every day. You are such a talented writer and you have the ability to impart deep lessons through your witty observations. Please don't ever give up on the Woo! I look forward to your entries and even share some of them with co-workers. Besides, writing is the best therapy...right? It's either that or sex....I forget which...
I tend to look at these things like a house: a fresh coat of paint can help you see things in a completely different way. So far, I think this looks pretty snazzy.
For the record, I do like to see what you've been reading, but this isn't about me. It's about you. So make it what you want it to be. I'm sure it will be fabulous.
Great new design! Simple, welcoming, and honest.
And for the record, I looked at your reading list all the time. (You'd know that if you ever looked on my bookshelves and saw how many books I've bought just because Beau read them.) But Jeff's right, this is about you, not us.
Glad you're staying around.
i like the new design and i'm super glad you're staying around.
I really like the new look, Beau--you can't even see where they injected the botox! Oh, wait--you meant the blog...oops. :-)
Seriously, this blog could look like a 12-year-old goth girl's livejournal and I'd still come here to read your stuff every day. If you quit posting, my universe will be a little dimmer and not as gorgeously blue.
(And I will hunt you down and force you to post at gunpoint, but that's neither here nor there...)
As I read your post, I started thinking, "Oh no ... he's saying goodbye here ... I just know when I get to the end, it will be one of those goodbyes, but unlike other people who say it and hope everyone begs him to stick around, he'll actually mean it!" Thankfully I was mistaken.
For any so-called record, I've never given a hoot, fuck, or anything else about what anyone reads, listens to, or their "current mood" (complete with colorful emoticon). I only came here for the writing. So I LIKE this new direction your site is taking. And I LOVE the pared-down look.
Oh, and by the way, honey? Well, we've gotta get our noodles sometime soon. A girl's gotta get some noodle or she just plain ol' dries up, y'know? It's supposed to snow 'n' storm 'n' all, so the timing is perfect. :-*
Do keep writing, Beau. I look forward to the day of your first book signing, where I will declare in a big,loud voice, "I knew him when." I only wish you could find a way to share your artwork with your new readers, as you did in your earlier illuminated journals. You could be the William Blake blogger!
Gurl, you better keep writing here . .. I need to know where to find you! By the way, Your Mother is still reading this, so you can keep writing for her too.
Beau,
I've never met you. But I feel like I know you somewhat through what you've written here. I was a "lurker" for almost a year before I posted back to you. In our lives we touch people in ways we may never know. We affect the lives of others in ways we cannot imagine, and may never know about.
Through this blog you have become someone I look forward to reading. My writing is nowhere near as poetic as yours. But, you have inspired me to post my own thoughts on my webpages.
Glad you're sticking around. I would miss you.
Love the new look, but really, as someone already wrote, it doesn't matter what it looks like, as long as it is you writing. I have enjoyed your site for a long time (ever since Ron of leatheregg introduced me to it) and am glad you are not going away! By the way, your Passover story has got to be a classic of blog lit, and should be read every year, like Susan Stamberg's grandmother's cranberry relish recipe on NPR.
Keep doing what you are doing. We will read it.
Somehow reading your site every few days has been like a lifeline to you and (yes, I admit it), your exciting accomplishments and shenanigans in which I have taken an undue amount of pride and pleasure. I speak to your Mother every few evenings when the sunset is especially suffused with shades of pink and purple, thinking of her and sometimes laughing at what you have been up to. I hope you feel you can continue your site, I guess you have. It really has it's own energy.
Lovely new design!
Please keep giving us good blog.
cheers,