Moving on. But not before seriously looking back.

I've been in a bit of a culture vacuum over the past week.  Or maybe lazily pushing one around.  I won't say that what I've been reading and listening to sucks.  But another stretched vacuum analogy might apply (not much worth picking up has appeared before me).  So instead of reaching too far, I'd like to digress and give an update on other things.  Especially since this will be one of my last posts here.  For real and forever.

If you've paid attention to what I've written here over the years (dating back to the beginning of 2005), you know a few themes dominate.  The personal side has always featured Maya, from before birth to the now fully dynamic life of a proud kindergartener.  The opinionated address of all things political has always been fair game.  And cultural notes of particular interest to me get reviewed.  Like countless blogs, I don't get paid except for a pittance of advertising.  Some very limited (but appreciated) notice has come my way.  But blogging is a largely one-handed juggling act.  After a while, you sort of run out of tricks and have trouble keeping it fresh for those kind enough to stop by and watch.

I've had other concurrent blogging projects - most recently my running blog that has tracked my day-by-day kvetching about training for the Twin Cities Marathon.  The energy that goes into each and every of these outlets doesn't spring eternal.  So the waxing and waning is probably what has driven my traffic up and down over the years.  With that as an awkward pivot, I've decided to shut it all down.  Leave the archives up for posterity.  And move on to the projects that really deserve my attention.  I've got two novels to edit and sell.  Ideas for two more, plus a grand non-fiction history that I've been researching for most of my life.  Plans, I tell you.  Glorious plans.

Before then, I have a slew of things to see and write about here.  Tomorrow morning, I leave for a solo week-plus trip through Wisconsin and the Twin Cities.  A trip down memory lane, plus a wide range of new trips along that path.  I plan to take lots of pictures, ask lots of questions (or others and myself), and soak up as much of the autumn landscape as possible.  I've always adored the fall in Wisconsin.  So please check back for some fresh stuff.  I think it will be worth your time.  And thanks for doing so.  Rock on.

You Should Run. Too.

We're heading off to Chicago tomorrow for what should be a fun family wedding.  Given our muddled American mutt heritage, an Indian wedding on Easter Weekend sounds like the right spice to add to the stew.  Especially since I've done such a lousy job on Passover this week.  It all started last Friday when I was packing preschool lunch for Maya.  She was having a special pre-Passover break seder with her classmates, so a lunch was gilding the lilly.  Still, I asked Maya if she wanted a tuna sandwich.  She quietly withdrew into her own shell while still seated at the counter for breakfast.  When I finally noticed and asked her why she was upset, she told me that bread wasn't allowed for Passover.  I corrected direction as best I could and apologized to for not knowing the drill - she's really a good kid who so dearly wants to follow the rules.  Oh well.  At least I hadn't asked if she wanted a pulled pork sandwhich or a shrimp po' boy.

If you've caught wind of another blog I started last week, I hope you will check back as I look toward some upcoming goals.  For those totally unaware, I'm training for a half marathon in little more than a week.  And then a full marathon in early October back in Minnysoda (the Twin Cities Marathon on the 3rd).  My new project ("You Should Run") is envisioned as a runner's blog that hopefully will add a bit more zazz than just running shtick to the daily posts.  Please check it out if you want to track whether this not-so-long-ago big ol' load of a feller can pull it together for a full marathon given another six months of training.  Not that it matters, but ages ago I ran my one and only marathon (Seattle in late '96) well enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  But I trained so poorly and so ruined myself in the process that I had to skip Boston that following Spring.  This time around, I'm trying to show that I'm a decade and a half smarter about the grand arc of such an endeavor.  I know, I know - silly me.

Hope your own loops are new and tree-lined this weekend.  Rock on.