Blog Lag

I haven't been posting much lately because a) I'm plugging back in to real estate and instead of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring I'm out and about most of the day and b) my wife is having some health issues and has been making doctor visits pretty regularly, or rather I've been taking her to doctors' offices. But there's another reason: I'm kind of worn out with the whole blogging thing. It does not turn me on as it has in the past.

And I'm not the only one. Ace is retiring, supposedly, and Allah is still mostly retired. Gerard at American Digest is taking a short (I hope) break, and Instapundit, while going strong, doesn't really entertain so much as educate, and there's a point at which you've absorbed as much news as you can take, or at least care about.

Blogging at a moderate to high rate takes time, effort and emotional input, or at least the kind of blogging I've ever wanted to do does. If I don't care about the topic, I don't bother with it, and if I do, that topic either resolves itself or remains stuck in my craw until I don't want to pay attention to it any more. Blogging seems like a simple thing to do until you have to actually do it, and doing it well and responsibly takes a dedication I can't afford at this point.

I know Ace and others have come to realize the crazy blog money they had hoped for isn't forthcoming, and that must be a disappointment. I never expected to be paid, and with the number of readers I've ever gotten, that's a damn good thing. But even at my level, it really does take something out of you, and when you're blogging your little heart out, you don't have much time for real life.

So I'll continue to post at this fairly low rate, and I still enjoy it. But the days of 10 or more posts with lots of links and even more analysis are over, at least until I win the lottery. If that happens, I can't decide if I'll blog more or give it up entirely, but let's hope I get to make that decision some day. Then again, I think you have to actually buy lottery tickets, and I don't really do that. Hmmmm.