So this past week I almost threw in the towel. I had, I guess, a crisis of confidence and said to myself "That's it. I'm packing in this blogging thing. I just can't do it anymore." Hell, I was in such a deep dark hole, I'd even written my own eulogy in which I linked to most of my favourite bloggers, past and present.
There seems to be a significant slowdown among my blogging buddies. Over the last year or so many have dropped out of site. Others post less frequently than they used to.
As some of you know I maintain two other blogs - a rock and roll blog and a political satire blog - and contribute weekly to yet another - The Parody Files. This means about 14 posts a week. Is it any wonder I was starting to feel a little drained, creatively? That was actually a rhetorical question.
Never one to let a good piece go to waste, here's what I wrote and intended to use as my last post. A parody of Don McLean's American Pie...
I can still remember how that blogging used to make me smile
And, I knew if I made no gaff that I could make some people laugh, and...
Maybe they'd be happy for a while
But, November makes me shiver with every post I deliver
Bad news on the blogsite - I couldn't take one more night
I can't remember if I cried when I was able to finally decide
Something touched me deep inside the day the blogging died
So bye, bye my punning and wry
Left a comment on your blog site but my comment was sly
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the comment most wry
This'll be the comment most wry
Did you read dear Quirkyloon and her blog pal Miss Boom Boom?
If my Twitter tells you so
They know I believe in rock and roll. Music can save my mortal soul.
At dufusdownbeat the videos flowed
Well you know that I'm in love with them, 'cause they'd each include me in their memes
They both read that damn book - man, they and Rambler got me hooked
The Bloggerhood of the Traveling Book, with an orange cover and some other muck
I knew I'd be out of luck the day the blogging died
I started writing, bye, bye my punning and wry
Left a comment on your blog site but my comment was sly
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the comment most wry
This'll be the comment most wry
Now for four years I've not been on my own with other bloggers of renown, but...
That's just how it used to be
Oh, and before Me-Me was going down the Jester lost his humor crown
HBDC disappeared - we all thought it was weird
And, while The Offended Blogger went dark Redhead Ranting would catch a spark
But we sang dirges in the dark the day the blogging died
We were singing, bye, bye my punning and wry
Left a comment on your blog site but my comment was sly
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the comment most wry
This'll be the comment most wry
And Mental Poo what a gas
Blog posts focused on his ass
These bloggers oh all present and past who think quickly and write real fast
Like Ziva's Inferno, sweet perfume, Giraffability of Digressions, a different tune
They all got up to dance oh with seltzer down their pants
But some bloggers now have left the field - many others refused to yield
I won't recall what was revealed the day the blogging died
We started singing, bye, bye my punning and wry
Left a comment on your blog site but my comment was sly
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the comment most wry
This'll be the comment most wry
So we reach the second-last verse - from here it only does get worse
And harder yeah to say goodbye
So, come on, wit be nimble wit be quick - When I Reach is a blog I picked
To follow - another friend
And as I visit all your great sites I laugh out loud you knew I might, 'cause
Humour is the blogger's only friend.
And as I now turn another page my other interests to soon engage
No writer's block to face, my mind's in another space
And as the rest of you write into the night, and review, revise to get it right, you'll see...
Me laughing with delight the day the blogging died.
You'll be singing, bye, bye my punning and wry
Left a comment on your blog site but my comment was sly
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the comment most wry
This'll be the comment most wry
I met a girl who swore a lot, and I asked her is this all you've got
Dani swore and blogged away
I went down to the Tribal store, where I'd seen some others blog before, but...
The girl there said that blogging wouldn't pay
The internet let out a scream, the bloggers cried, was it just a dream
And the bloggers I enjoyed the most: the Quirky, Don, and Paula's post
Knew the Dufe was all but toast the day the blogging died
And they were singing bye, bye my pun and run guy
Left a comment on your blog site thought I'd at least try
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the post that makes me cry
This'll be the post that makes me cry
They were singing bye, bye my pun and run guy
Left a comment on your blog site thought I'd at least try
Your commenters were thinking and asking "why?", writing...
This'll be the day that I cry.
But, it's okay, it's okay, I've changed my mind. And the person I have to thank is Mrs. Dufus who kept after me for two days to change my mind. Man, after two days of nagging I'd had enough and said "Okay, okay, I'll keep blogging, already."
Seriously, she reminded me how much I enjoyed writing, visiting other blogs, leaving and responding to comments and generally hanging out with my buds in the blogosphere. And she told me I was loosing brain cells fast enough as it was. If I didn't continue to keep my mind active through funning and punning I'd be in a near vegetative state before the year was out!
But I will be cutting back on my blogging activities. For a start I'm killing off dufusdownbeat and Slings and Arrows. I just can't keep three blogs on the go. And I may be cutting back here, as well. Some weeks, 7 days of posts is tough to maintain.
But the good news is, I'm going to keep at it. But on my own terms and on my own schedule. I had reached a point where I was pretty regimented and had to meet daily deadlines which included 3 pieces on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. No more. But having said that, with the pressure off, I think I'm going to enjoy blogging a lot more.
And so the punning and wry guy is happy to say, in the words of #6 from one of my favourite British shows, "be seeing you."
Comments
So... listen to your very wise and astute spouse! I mean it, now! Otherwise I'm gonna have to hobble on up there and give you a piece of my mind in person!
I heart you, Dufus!
Are you saying blog posts AREN'T supposed to be focused on my ass?
It is commendable to see that you were able to keep up with all of your blogs - that is a lot of work and you are very good at it.
But I'm glad that you will stick around - there is no rule that says you have to post every day. And, as they say down here, "take your time".
;-)
I'm sooooo glad you aren't going away. You are correct sir, there have been a lot of bloggers falling off the cyber wagon. Hey I did it too. Blogging comes in cycles, but I'm glad your wife convinced not to let go completely! I think an abbreviated schedule is just the trick, Sir!
Loved the parody, but I love ALL your posts. They always make me smile. And that's what the world needs more of! SMILES!
Thanks for the shout-out my blogging friend!
And..
WHEW!
I do think an identity crisis every now and then is healthy, though. It makes us appreciate what we've got and ditch the things we don't appreciate. Thus I am glad you have decided to partake on your own terms, rather than the Internuzzle's terms (or whomever's terms you were partaking on. In?).
The picture at the top sums it up and your parody too, though I read it while listening to 'Tired of waiting for You' - it doesn't fit.
Thank you Mrs Dufus
I would hate to lose a voice that could come up with such a clever rewrite of American Pie. So do it your own way in your own time and let the fun return.
And thank you Mrs. Dufus!
I have only read your blog once and seen your picture a days. There is so much more I need to and want to see.
Thank you!
Blog posts focused on his ass
Hmmm. I always thought he was focused on another part of his anatomy...."And Mental Poo what a kick/ Blog posts focused on ..." well, you get the idea. ;)
I completely understand about cutting back. I had to do it when I got up to five blogs. It gets too crazy...and while I enjoyed Slings and Arrows, I think like probably many other American readers, I didn't always get the jokes because I don't follow Canadian politics. It was fun, though, learning that our neighbors to the North are just as...or at least somewhat...screwed up as we are :).
Of course, I get that same idea wherever you are. ;)
Dufus, sir, I'm so glad to hear (your own) reports of your demise have been greatly exaggerated. Is this like that new Duvall movie in which he wants to attend his own funeral or something? Or It's a Dufus-y Life, which will play every year around the time you hung up the bloghat for good. (Bloghat -- great live act, right?)
You know, your American Pie spoof was as good as the original, although McLean did teach me what a levee was.
I'm glad you're not quitting, at least. I'd miss you terribly.
Although I came pretty close, I'm glad I'm not quitting too.
Anyways, good luck with your new schedule.
I do think an identity crisis every now and then is healthy, though. It makes us appreciate what we've got and ditch the things we don't appreciate. Thus I am glad you have decided to partake on your own terms, rather than the Internuzzle's terms (or whomever's terms you were partaking on. In?).