I now find myself in the midst of week three of my disability leave. My ankle does not seem to be healing as quickly as might be expected. It’s still very sore, though I can work out and move around. I feel as if I’ve been exiled, though this time off hasn’t been a bad thing by any means.
For quite some time now, I’ve been feeling that I’ve needed some time off. Well, you can file this under “be careful what you wish for”, eh? I’ve got plenty of vacation time, but Susan doesn’t, since she hasn’t been at her job long enough to accrue my vacation time. Once I was told that I was going to be placed on disability leave, I decided to enjoy my time off as much as possible. I’ve been able to relax, get myself back into a regular exercise program, catch up on some reading, and just generally take it easy. The only thing that would make this time better would be being able to play golf. Of course, I can’t pivot on my ankle, so golf is out of the question. Then again, if I could play golf on my ankle, I probably wouldn’t be on disability leave.
These past three weeks have also afforded me enough time to consider some issues surrounding TPRS. Though no one will likely ever confuse TPRS with Atrios, my readership has definitely increased of late. The continued and growing success of TPRS has been gratifying. To know that people pay attention and enjoy my work is pretty special. When I started TPRS 3 1/2 years ago, I was happy if 10 people per day stopped by. Now I’m averaging around 600 people per day- not a lot, necessarily, but it’s still enough to place TPRS in or near the top 10% of all weblogs- a reality I am flattered by.
TPRS has been an overtly, agressively partisan place since Day One. Politics, and my (often unfocused) anger regarding politics, has fueled most of my writing. Now I find myself wondering if it isn’t time to begin looking in other directions. There’s the old proverb about pissing into the wind only means you end up getting wet and smelling badly. I’m thinking there just might be something to that. My political views haven’t changed; I’m just wondering if there isn’t more I can do than rant into the void about the Evil that is George W. Bush.
This is something I’ve been thinking about for awhile, but I really began to seriously consider the possibilities when I noticed that Michele Catalano has abandoned political commentary altogether. Surprisingly enough, not everyone is wrapped up in partisan politics. Perhaps it’s time for me to lose the anger a bit. No, my feelings haven’t changed, and I am still as angry and disillusioned as ever. Even so, does that have to be a 24/7/365 proposition for me? Surely, there is more to life than politics, eh?
And don’t call me Shirley….
I’m going to give it a shot. I don’t have a clue as to whether I’m going to abandon politics altogether, or simply expand my focus to other areas of my life and interests. Like everything else I’ve done with TPRS over the past 3 1/2 years, I’m making this up as I go along. I’m open to suggestions, and I’m willing to consider everything short of posting naked photos of Oprah Winfrey. (Ewww….)
What does all of this mean? I have no idea. This may sound like an existential dilemma, but I don’t want to find TPRS pigeon-holed as just another Left-Wing weblog. Way back when, someone described TPRS as “quirky”. I took that as a compliment, and I’m going to try to get back to that…not that I have any idea as to just what that means.
When I first started reading you, I think it was before either of us was doing heavy poltiical commentary. I'm sure at some point in the last year or so, we stopped reading each other so much.
It gets old after a while, the politics and the fighting and the being mad all the time.
You have experience with NOT blogging politics - and that stuff was GOOD - so it shouldn't be hard.
Thanks, michele. I may not get the traffic that ASV or other weblogs might get, but there is no reason I cannot get back to doing what I did originally. Politics is still a major interest, but after you've ranted about George W. Bush being the Devil Incarnate, how can long can you continue to beat the same horse?
It feels good to get away from the anger. I could learn to like this....
Nah, it's just cause you're feeling down after being off work for so long. I thought about laying off GW too, but every day brings new reasons to keep after him and defend the American we once had and will have again.
Northstar,
Taking a break from politics is a good thing.
I look forward to more of what it's like to live in Seabrook, be right down the road from NASA (for the SCIENCE and the OPTIMISM), and, of course, be Boo and Einar's guardian angel.