August 24, 2004

Full of Sound and Fury...

The question is no longer if John Kerry will lose (he will, and badly), but how many people are willing to sacrifice their integrity for him as he does so.

And with that reiteration of the bleeding obvious, I bid you adieu. After more than two years of dwindling traffic numbers, either I have little worth saying or I still haven't learned how to say it very well, or perhaps both. In the grand scheme of things, the meager rewards cannot justify the requisite expenditure of time and energy. Time to just, dare I say it, move on.

A special thanks to Andrea Harris for all her help and support.

Posted by Charles Austin at August 24, 2004 07:31 PM
Comments

Well, dammit, Charles, stop looking at the traffic numbers. If you bail that's one less voice of reason.

Posted by: Kerry at 08:42 PM

Dude, say it ain't so! I just put up a link to your blog on mine. You can't quit now. You can quit November 4th. Not before.

Now get in there, erase this stupid "outta here" post, and get back to work.

Remember, "No dumb bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for HIS country." The same goes for bolgs.

Posted by: pedro at 10:52 PM

HAW! You jackass. You can't quit before ME!

If you ever want a place to say your piece, drop me a line. I'm gonna try to make it a practice to collect non-practicing, non-contributing brilliant bloggers of all stripes. I will miss you if you really do drop out, though.

Posted by: Scott Chaffin at 11:20 PM

Say it ain't so!

Don't do it. Your wit and insightful comments are among the high points of the blogosphere.

Please change your mind!

Posted by: fw at 03:04 AM

We'd rather that you be here, but you do turn up with equally good insights at others' sites.

So I hope that you can ramp up that activity, and that we'll see you with regularity at other places of value (and traffic! -- piggy-back onto their numbers!).

Posted by: old maltese at 03:29 PM

Hey, Charles

I disagree on both points about how little you have to say or how you go about it.

I find your commentary to be some of the most cogent, erudite and droll to be found on any of the blogs. I hit your place regularly but, like many blogs I habituate, I rarely leave comments.

I don't have a blog but I can certainly understand how much time and effort it must take.

Here's hoping you might reconsider your decision from a faithful reader.

Posted by: kelly at 04:06 PM

Here's hoping you change your mind this time, too, Charles. Take a break, we'll be here when you get back.

Oh, and don't forget our fantasy hockey league! Provided, of course, the NHL resolves its labor problems in time to have a season.

Posted by: Lawrence at 04:35 PM

So Chuck, does this mean you're going to spend more time managing your fantasy football team? Looks like your receiving corps is taking some hits this preseason.

Cheers,

Posted by: Jon at 04:45 PM

Traffic is meaningless in a world of millions of blogs -- after all, how much more influential is a blog with 200 readers than a blog with 150?

I know I read your stuff, and always come back, now more than ever.

Take a break, and here's hoping you reconsider, just as you have before.

Posted by: Eric at 07:05 PM

Traffic, shmaffic! All it does is slow you down when you're trying to get to the other side of town.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at 10:59 PM

I sympathize with the fatigue/boredom/reward issue but maybe you could just post less often. What about "guest blogging" at Andrea's?

In any case, thanks for being here when I was looking!

Posted by: Greg Williams at 01:22 PM

Thanks for the hours of good reading, Charles. You will be missed.

As far as traffic goes, I think Andrea's comment is spot on. Does it matter whether your readership consists of 3 readers a day, or 30, or 300 or more? If what you have to say pleases you and whatever readers you happen to have, shouldn't that be enough?

Each of us who does this has his or her own reasons for doing it...and for quitting. Here's hoping you find a compelling reason to return!

Posted by: charlie eklund at 04:13 PM

Admin note: comments will remain open on this post until further notice.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at 09:07 AM

Thanks for the writing and good luck with whatever you want to do. Come back if you ever feel like it.

Posted by: Ken Hahn at 07:07 PM

Sad to see you go. You were one of the first blogs I ever read.

Posted by: Gabriel at 09:47 AM