My loyal readers may have noticed the volume of my diabetes-related posts at Scott's Web Log during the last 2 years isn't quite what it was a few years ago. I'm OK with that. I started this blog back in 2005 at the suggestion of someone, and I've accomplished a lot, including much of what I hoped to do with it. Notably, I found this to be a new medium where I could actually have a voice, rather than have diabetes news spoon-fed to me from mass media who frankly don't cover the subject adequately and makes a lot of mistakes in the process. I still plan to cover subjects I feel aren't getting the coverage they deserve, but as Allison Blass WROTE earlier this year "I'm Just Not That Into This".
For me, it's NOT that I'm no longer "into" this, but to some extent, the joy of writing on the subject isn't there like it used to be. The Diabetes Online Community is pretty firmly entrenched, and while it saddens me to have to say it because I think we'd all like to be cured and move on to other, more enjoyable things, I don't think the need for such a community is going away anytime soon. Sure, progress towards curative therapies has been made, but I don't see anything imminent. The so-called "artificial pancreas" system is anything BUT a cure (still feeding diabusiness coffers with even more of our hard-earned money), and even when we can convince regulators that it's a good idea, it will still be far too overpriced, it will still require too much burden from patients, and above all else, unattractive: we'll still have to wear all that medial shit around 24/7/365, so frankly, that's a downright shitty cure.
However, I have given some thought to WHY I started blogging in the fall of 2005.
As I noted, at one time, that blog writing brought me great personal joy. It's supposed to be FUN. I don't enjoy it when I want to cover a subject that 50 others are already covering, and it becomes redundant to some extent. When there's fodder for news coverage, I still plan to keep doing it on Scott's Web Log, but I'm doing something else which is likely to consume more of my attention.
A New Blog
I've been doing something else meant to replace the enjoyment I once had with blogging about diabetes. It's a totally unrelated topic, but one I find amusing with plenty of subject matter to cover: retro pop culture. Do I have any expertise in this area? No. Do I have opinions? Definitely!
I have a 25 year high school reunion next weekend, and while I'm happy with where my life is today, it's fun to look back at how things were when I was growing up. The '70s and '80s may not be publicly remembered as much as say the '50s and '60s (after all, we've all been forced-fed collective "recollections" of the so-called "good old days" of life back then by the enormous Baby Boom), but I can look back at things with a fresh perspective these days and look at things that have gotten better ... and worse ... since then.
Anyway, my new "baby" blog is one I've been doing for the past month (no calendar for publication, I blog whenever I have time and/or feel like doing so) is known as "Harvest Gold Memories". The name comes from a popular color for kitchen design back in the '70s known as "Harvest Gold". Yes, my family's kitchen had Harvest Gold everything (my parents, however, remodeled and dumped that a while ago and went with a timeless color: white). But, as I note in one of my posts, you might look back at those hideous colors that were popular back then with derision, but I'd remind everyone that in 30 years, today's "Stainless Steel" kitchen appliances are likely to look just as dated as Harvest Gold, Avacado Green or Coppertone Brown appliances look today!
Using Blog Lessons Learned on Scott's Web Log
Anyway, since I already own my domain, I've simply assigned a new extension to my new blog venture. It can be found at http://hgm.sstrumello.com. Please, check it out! I've spent some time over the past month on the look and feel, and what's more, I've learned a few things from my experience with Scott's Web Log, so I hope I can put that experience to good use.
I try to keep posts fairly short (wow!), and include some kind of multimedia whenever possible. But I'm doing posts in a way that hopefully lures people over to my actual blog, as opposed to reading content primarily from an RSS feed. But, in respect to the content rights, I hope my links will be not only long-lasting, but also direct people to where they can view or listen ... legitimately, while including content I want to share on my actual blog (I told you I've learned a few things from my experience)!
I'm kind of excited about it since I was able to start from ground zero in terms of layout and blog design (I did most of it myself, and if I don't say so myself, looks really cool!), and I plan to add, expand and organize content as that new blog venture expands.
So if my diabetes blog posts are fewer, you can still catch my writing on a totally unrelated topic on my new blog. That's where I'll be spending more of my time these days because I actually enjoy it! Maybe some of you will find it moderately amusing, too.
2 comments:
Keeping it fun is the challenge, so it's good you've found something else to write about that excites you.
I have been writing steadily since the mid-1980s but what I write about keeps changing, too. The diabetes writing started out being a fun thing I did to avoid what I did for a living, which was write about consulting and computer careers. When the diabetes writing turned into something that started feeling too much like a job I put a few years into writing novels. Now that feels too much like a job and I'm wondering what I'll do next. By now, though, I'm pretty sure it will probably be some form of writing.
I usually tell people who ask about writing as a career only to write if they absolutely can't stop themselves from writing. Writing for anything but the pleasure of doing it always leads to tears.
I've been blogging about my life with T2 for about a year and a half now and wonder when the well will run dry. I've actually been recently motivated yet again so I think I'll be at this for awhile longer. Good luck with your new blog...it sounds like fun!
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