Amba wonders if some bloggers<\/strong> are feeling blogged out<\/a>?<\/p>\n A bunch of us seem to have gone blooey all at once, as if responding helplessly to some shift in the heavens, or in the collective unconscious. The cultural wavefront has moved on, but whither? Twitter feels transitional, somehow. But blogging just seems to have peaked and ebbed . . . to have reached a saturation point, or point of diminishing returns. Maybe after several years of emptying out our minds daily (like chamber pots?) a lot of us are running out of things to say, or feel in danger of repeating ourselves. Maybe, with the exception of those blogs that have broken through \u2014 become established institutions in their niches, sustained by massive rewards, expectations, and inertial momentum \u2014 a lot of us just couldn\u2019t keep up the effort any longer. Myself, I felt right on the borderline between private and public: blogging was no longer something I was doing just for myself, and so there was guilt and sorrow involved in (mostly) quitting. But I plum ran out of gas. (A gasbag without gas?)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n She wonders if Ann Althouse first sensed the blooeys<\/a>, and looks at the work-to-payback ratio of blogging. You\u2019ll want to go read it.<\/p>\n Am I blogged out?<\/strong> Yes and no. I recently had a big-time professional author-type tell me to \u201cstop writing for free.\u201d<\/p>\n Well, I\u2019d love to get paid for everything I write but chances are even if I were, I\u2019d still be blogging about something because I\u2019m an opinionated puss. And maybe that\u2019s the difference between burning out and not. If you\u2019re blogging for anything more than love of throwing your opinion down, if you\u2019re obsessing on your sitemeter numbers, eventually this thing will begin to feel like work, and you will begin to feel harassed, burned out and underloved.<\/p>\n On the other hand, I keep trying to focus more on faith issues, and still I find myself writing about politics, even though I am sure it is not good for me or my soul, and it makes me crotchety to Joseph Marshall, when really, I want to go back and forth with him about Buddhism<\/a> and Christianity, and the practice of contemplation.<\/p>\n Some one asked me \u2013 I think it was Jane Hanson on the last episode of In the Arena, and that\u2019s still not online \u2013 about my desire to pull away from politics. I think I paraphrased Michael Corleone in Godfather III; whenever I think I\u2019m out, it sucks me back in. But there is, increasingly, a sense that both left and right are far off the rails. It almost feels like whether you\u2019re liberal or conservative, if you\u2019re not in a constant state of umbrage-taking hysteria and high dudgeon, you\u2019re not \u201cdoing it right.\u201d<\/p>\n I say, screw that.<\/em> I can\u2019t help thinking that when everyone is so very enthralled to the age and hyperventilating, it means we\u2019re all caught in an illusion, and our vehement enthrallment is part of the misdirection. When I get emails complaining that I\u2019m \u201cnot angry enough\u201d whatever the issue<\/a>, it does not spur me on to greater passion. It just annoys me. Btw, while the collapse of American journalism is sadly moldy news, the \u201ctakeover of American industries\u201d is<\/em> pretty new; it\u2019s just exhausting to write about, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n I\u2019m not tired of blogging; but I do try to take Sundays off, now, and part of Saturday. I wish I had the energy and focus of, say, Michelle Malkin<\/a> or Ed Morrissey<\/a>, but there is a reason why they\u2019re \u2018net superstars and I\u2019m not.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the site re-do<\/a> seems to have been stalled. Blogging will be light today, in hopes that I won\u2019t be in the way of anything. BUT\u2026if the sitepage seems unchanged for too long, try a hard reload (shift and refresh simultaneously).<\/p>\n Some random links:<\/strong> Amba wonders if some bloggers are feeling blogged out? A bunch of us seem to have gone blooey all at once, as if responding helplessly to some shift in the heavens, or in the collective unconscious. The cultural wavefront has moved on, but whither? Twitter feels transitional, somehow. But blogging just seems to have peaked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,233],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs-and-blogging","category-serving-up-hot-links"],"yoast_head":"\n
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\nPerhaps some of what Amba is describing is simply exhaustion<\/strong> following what was an almost surreal, two-year presidential campaign and historic inaugural. Perhaps the blogosphere was able to coast on some residual electoral fumes, but those are spent, and all we have to write about now are the same old things; lying politicians, expedient politicians, the decline of journalism, and how that decline is assisting in the takeover of American industries by a government with a very big appetite. For more thoughts on the death of journalism and a comparison in how old media operates vs alternative media<\/a>, Melissa Clothier has the goods.<\/p>\n
\nThe President:<\/strong> will continue to speak moderately and act immoderately<\/a>. Whatever happened to \u201cactions speak louder than words, just word?\u201d
\nMoDo plagarizes:<\/strong> And uses Pelosi-esque excuse<\/a>. Part of the \u201csmart\u201d crowd at the \u201ccool\u201d table in the high school lunchroom.
\nKathryn Jean Lopez<\/strong> hearts The Donald<\/a>.
\nWall Street Journal:<\/strong> Does elementary math; High Taxes + Tax base moves away<\/a> = Lower Tax Revenues
\nThe Thugocracy:<\/strong> Goes merrily on its way<\/a> while press ignores.
\nAmy Welborn:<\/strong> Does Obama at Notre Dame<\/a>.
\nRalph Mcinerny:<\/strong> The Catholic House Divided<\/a>. Divide and conquer?
\nThe NY Times Investigates Itself:<\/strong> And decides it\u2019s just great!<\/a>
\nLet\u2019s all beat our breasts:<\/strong> Remember when it was Catholicism<\/a> that was the big \u201cguilt-inducer\u201d?
\nShare your First Communion Story<\/strong> and Win a prize!<\/a>
\nFive Feet of Fury:<\/strong> Special Brands of Idiots<\/a>
\nInsty:<\/strong> But where would they get the money?<\/a>
\nHitchens:<\/strong> Rightly notes how the inability to mock our leaders<\/a> makes way for the tyrant.
\nConversion Diary:<\/strong> Religion and Science; no conflict<\/a>
\nMaking vows:<\/strong> Feel kind of bad. Sr. Mary Peter makes solemn vows<\/a> in Texas, where the PCPA\u2019s hope to establish<\/a> yet another Monastery. It\u2019s great for sister, of course, but I wonder if she would not have loved making her vows in Alabama?<\/a> Nuns are all about sacrifice, I guess. Living with 5 sisters might feel lonely after living with 40. Or\u2026maybe not! :-)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"