Curse Sir Walter Raleigh

Dear Friends:

I'm sorry about the lack of posts recently. I'm prone to doing this sort of thing from time to time, and I've always felt like a shitheel for up and vanishing from the 'sphere. I owe (both of) you guys more than that.

So, what's up with Stew? As I said last week, I had most of a "where are we, and where are we going" post in my head that didn't want to get put into words... because those words hurt to write. Instead, I forced myself to write a happy post, and convince myself that I had a good day. And it was a good day, don't get me wrong. Good... but not really "blogworthy." You all know what that's like, I'm sure.
In the back of my mind, I thought I would take some time to ease into putting all this down on "paper" and keep posting other stuff in the interim. So far, that plan has spectacularly failed. Everything I've tried to write has been utter shit. Most of it didn't even survive past the first sentence. I know I've always been this way about blogging - it's the primary reason I post so infrequently. There are easily five times as many "abandoned" posts I've started than ever made it to the frontpage of the blog. But this isn't writer's block I'm talking about.

So why can't I turn even one of my ideas into a couple paragraphs of hacked text for your reading pleasure? I dunno... I'm tired, I guess. I haven't gotten much sleep lately - or ever really. On a good night I get four hours; typically I get half that. I used to get really jazzed from the blog - revitalized, if you will. But now, well... there's only so far that R. Kelly and Russell Crowe jokes can take a guy.

That's why I'm going to hang it up. I'm giving up blogging... or at least giving up pretending to blog.

Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the communities of people I met through blogging. The Big Blogger cyberhousemates, Rachy and the ObsDeck Aussies, Di and her Blogateers - you guys have kept me laughing when I found very little to laugh about elsewhere. You're family, you are. Fucked-up and dysfunctional, no doubt - but family nonetheless. I'll still make the occasional lameass wisecrack in your various comment pages, but from now on I no longer "have" a blog. Consider this a page of links to places that you might find me reading.

Thank you all for your friendship through the last two (or more) years. Thanks for the support, the humor, and the boobies. Thanks for reading. (you poor, poor bastards, you) But mostly, thanks for the friendship. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a nap, mow my yard, and re-start Moby Dick.
Oh horseshit, who am I kidding? I should take two naps and let the rest of that crap slide for another week. Regardless...

Hugs,
Stew