Ave Atque Vale: Fifteen Years is Long Enough, Isn't It?

And now, the end is near, and so I face...No, I won't make that obvious reference. You've been too good for that, Dear Reader.

When I started this blog in May 2004, I was bored at work. Seriously. So I started typing away on this platform about comics, Doctor Who, and all sorts of other things. In the then-emerging comics blogosphere, I was...hell, I was a minor player, if even that. But this blog took me through another long distance move (from St. Louis to Chicago), my mother's liver transplant (and later illness), and the passing of my father and way too many friends. But I was able to translate this blog into various other parts of my life: my initial foray into writing with Comic Related, acquiring jobs in social media and copywriting, and developing a strong sense of discipline...even if it meant that I couldn't blog every day or every other day.

You've probably noticed that I haven't been posting frequently on this blog for the past few years. Much of it has been due to various life situations, but mostly, it's because my pulp writing has been really taking off. (As much as I had relied on this blog for search optimization through Google Plus, that's no longer an issue since G Plus no longer exists) Between looking for work, caring for Mom, self-care, running Chicago Doctor Who Meetup and blogging for Chicago Now and I Hear of Sherlock, I have been....not stretched too thin, exactly, but I've had to let go of many activities. And it looks like this blog...is going to be one of them.

So this is my formal "goodbye' to the blog...but I'm not necessarily letting it go altogether.

My new "content creation" activities will be focused on building my author Patreon page - some content will be public; others will be gated. (Trying to develop those "alternate revenue streams" that I keep hearing about). My blogging efforts will be focused on Chicago Now's One Cause At a Time (and yes, I'm reading some materials for I Hear of Sherlock) - that will allow me to write on professional topics, plus I need that sweet, sweet SEO. You'll always be able to catch updates via my author Facebook page, Twitter, and you can contact me through my personal website.

But I'm not just going to abandon this site to the Unholy Internet Gods...there's plenty of evergreen content on the site that can be reused. It will mean changing graphics, broken links, and reposting through Patreon. (My "Where Stories Come From" writer's commentaries will be early access posts on that site). I've already updated my DIY Doctor Who DVD Guide and this Micro OneTouch razor review as proofs-of-concept, and this is going to happen when I get the odd moment. (Especially since I'm seeing a slight uptick in traffic, especially since I was cited in this Wikipedia entry on The Prisoner: Shattered Visage. I won't be giving up this blog completely but will try to keep things up-to-date and ensure that this blog doesn't completely disappear.

So for everyone I have met through this blog, and those of you who have read any or all of these posts...thank you. Thanks for keeping me writing, for sharing your stories, and for really making this worthwhile. Every writer's secret wish is to be read...and I'm glad you helped me start on the road towards a career in writing.

Thanks. And we'll meet again at some point. I promise

Twelve Years of Blogging

It all started twelve years ago...because I was bored at work.

My community organizing and mobilizing work had come to a pause (between tobacco retailer education and an upcoming youth conference), and I was bored. Working through my e-mail, I had just come across news about Blogger being open, and so I started an initial blog for about two weeks....

....and then changed the name. Because "gordond.blogspot.com" doesn't quite have the right ring to it.

Pulling from a past classmate's snarky remark, I created a new blog - this blog you're reading right now - and ended up deleting the other blog. Because if I'm going to blog, I'm gonna go all out.

And those early blog posts....well, they were typical newbie posts. Eventually, I alienated myself somewhat from that early crowd, but I found myself enjoying the process of writing on a regular basis. Even if I was clogging up the blogiverse with memes and half-hearted posts, I was expressing myself. Getting into the habit of hitting the keyboard on a semi-regular basis.

As I sit here now, I'm thinking about the irony - I'm writing more, but blogging less. My paid fiction writing is taking off (with more releases on the way - after all, they don't give Amazon author pages to anyone, you know), and I'm stretched out over a variety of outlets (including one that you'll be hearing about within the next few weeks, if all goes well).

So consider this my public re-dedication to blogging: I may not post here every day, but I will make an effort to be more consistent. This will still contain my usual rantings about comics/television/pop culture stuff, but I will work to make my posts matter in a way that they haven't before.

Because after blogging for twelve years, I'm nowhere near the desire to end this blog....and I'm not sure that I'm quite done with it yet. 

Eleventh Blogiversary (And Then Some)

Today is a very....well, it's a confluence of anniversaries. And when anniversaries collide, they spark reflection and rumination over a variety of issues.

The first is that eleven years ago, I began blogging. As many of you will note, this blog hasn't been as active in the past few years, but has seen a nice uptick in activity. Combined with a burgeoning writing career (as well as a healthy increase in paid freelance work/consulting), this has meant a regular commitment to time management, as well as monitoring my workload.
On the other hand, two years ago today I had to take Dax to the vet for a final visit. Ironically, next month would be the 20th anniversary of my adopting Dax. So there's a bit of grief work that I am continuing to do - I'm in a better space about it, but it's still a bit challenging.

But it's that work that's led me to the greatest insight about my current life - I actually have a life.

Thanks to Dax's passing - and a friend's suicide - I began reevaluating my life. Taking inventory of my activities, I realized that I needed to let go of activities that were burdens rather than blessings. I also needed to focus on what I valued....and even this very blog came under the potential chopping block.

(Yes, that's a really bad metaphor, isn't it?)

But what happened when I began looking at my time and establishing priorities, I realized that I had much more time to...procrastinate. Do nothing, if I so wished. But rather than fill my time with job seeking and networking, I actually began working. It meant a shift in how I perceived paid work, and accepting that paid freelance work might be more amenable than getting a traditional full time job. (So much so that I'll be formalizing my new marketing consultancy in the next month). It meant that I could actually socialize much more than I have, approaching my St. Louis-era levels of activity.

Or if I so chose, spend my time doing nothing and getting some rest. Socializing with others. Even (gasp) dating. And those activities have improved my psychological health immensely.
So much so that I have a much healthier approach to time management: focusing on a few smaller projects rather than big ones. Committing myself to cutting down and/or leaving volunteer commitments. It means not ranting or reacting when people act....well, goofy, and realizing that there's room enough for everyone in this big old world. It means separating what I need to do from what I have to do. In short, I've concluded that if I don't stop to smell the roses, they might end up on me.

(Yes, that is a quote from one of my favorite albums).

But when it comes to the blog....it's still going to be here, and I will still post when I can. But with a thriving writing career (portfolio available via my personal site, as well as stories to be published, I may not get to this blog as frequently as I would like....but I will be spending my time doing other things.

Like living a life. Seeing friends. Perhaps, if things go well, adopting another cat in a month or two....

Because life goes on outside of blogging. And for the first time in awhile, I feel like it isn't passing me by.

Ten Years' Worth of Blogging Adventures

See what I did here?

Remember last year, when I said the blog was eight years old (and yes, I had returned after a prolonged absence?)

Well, I was wrong - it's actually been ten years since I had started this blog. I stand corrected.

Ten years ago, I was working as a community organizer/prevention specialist for the National Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse in St. Louis. (Yes, I come by my community mindedness the easy way - I was born with it, and I earned my creds). As part of my work, I was always looking for tools to help spread the word out for organizations....as well as a more creative outlet for my writing. (After all, thanks to my college-era efforts, I had plenty of columns in the Loyola Phoenix and a healthy collection of rejection slips for my fiction writing).

So I started a blog, and created the domain gordond.blogspot.com...and then decided that no, I was going to steal a comeback from an old classmate (as well as a punchline in a Calvin & Hobbes strip) and name this "Blog THIS, Pal!" (To be fair, as a Community Moderator for the late, unlamented Prodigy Online Service - rest in peace, former partner in rocking-the-online-house Mark Kilmer - I had used the "Verb THIS, Pal!" format in a variety of online efforts...so online writing came easily, and unlike forums, I didn't have to worry about responses).

Of course, jobs were soon changed, I moved back to Chicago...and most of the rest of the story you know. Or at least, part of the story.

But that's one of the best gifts that blogging has given me - obviously, there are the tangible efforts of review copies of things....but it's given me an outlet for talking about whatever's on my mind. And my writing efforts have grown as well - switching from a personal podcast to cohosting Zone 4 (which resulted from my first "official" gig at Comic Related - and yes, guys, I do owe you a column) to writing for Chicago Now. Various other guest writing spots. And now, an increasing number of fiction pieces - three of which are due from Pro Se Productions later this year, another for the New World Navigation anthology (also due later this year), one published piece about....well, you know, and I'm working on a story for Airship 27 Productions.

My most recent absence from writing has been....well, to focus on personal matters, whether it's seeking freelance/full time work (contract ended on last gig) or focusing on critical anniversaries. Five years ago last week, Mom was fortunate enough to receive a new liver and had transplant surgery. Thankfully, the life she's living now - a bit further away, thankfully - almost justifies the sheer despair of the six months leading up to her surgery. (Oh, and I spent Mother's Day with her watching Doctor Who: The Web of Fear.). And it's been one year since Dax passed....although I'm not ready to adopt a new cat, at least I am open once I get consistent work. (And there are two cats and a dog at a neighboring business - as well as Mom's cat - should I need a near-experience with a pet-like substitute).

But anyway....blogging has given me quite a bit, but at the very least, it allows me an outlet - a way of being present in the world when I don't feel like interacting with it. (I know I'm in trouble when, after the umpteenth colleague offers unsolicited, patronizing advice, my immediate response is to say "Please don't talk to me like I'm a trained chimp....). Despite everything else, I'm seeing my world expand, and helps me avoid that uniquely fannish phenomenon of declaring that popular culture must conform to my idea....

...and actually begin shaping and asserting my own creativity. Because in the end, that's all that matters.

Before I Was Blogging

...I was writing for humor zines. More specifically, Post Modern Toad, a small effort put out by a young lady named Christine Comte (if memory serves).

Via scanning, here's one of my pieces. You'll agree - it sounds like a younger, snarkier me.

Besides, it's not like I have a blogiversary coming up this week or anything....