As you may have noticed, over the past few weeks Article III Groupie has been a somewhat unreliable blogger (and email correspondent). Some of this delinquency has been intentional. As noted here, A3G has resolved to spend less time on Underneath Their Robes this year, so she can focus on other projects of hers (and her miserable day job). But A3G has been even less active at blogging than she would like. Part of the problem is that her blogging style, involving posts that are longer and more carefully wrought than those of the average blawg, requires a sizable investment of time. Unfortunately, due to both work and her other interests, lately A3G hasn't had sizable chunks of free time.
The problem of falling behind in blogging compounds itself. When A3G falls behind, failing to blog about all kinds of blog-worthy developments and current events (e.g., the Terri Schiavo litigation), she grows guilty and depressed. The guilt and depression translate into avoidance, which causes her to stay away from blogging and emailing even more. The avoidance causes her to fall even farther behind -- and the vicious cycle repeats itself.
So A3G will now attempt to break out of her rut. She is going to try a little blogging experiment. She is going to try making UTR less magazine-like and more like, well, a blog -- which is, after all, what it is. Going forward, her posts will be more frequent, pithy, and spontaneous. UTR is going to be more like a quintessential weblog: a collection of the author's random ramblings, distracted musings, tangents, brain farts, etc. (There will probably also be fewer graphics, which take considerable time to track down and, in some cases, to doctor.)
Now, those of you who have been readers of UTR from the beginning may recall that A3G said she would try this approach before. Back in August 2004, she announced that she would take a more casual approach to her blogging. But she failed to follow through on her stated intentions; her blogging style didn't really change much after that announcement. Well, as you're about to see, this time it will -- starting tonight.
In the weeks ahead, please give A3G your feedback on how you're liking (or disliking) her new style of blogging. This will help her decide whether she should stick with the new approach or revert to the old. After all, this is an experiment. A3G is hoping that the new approach will (1) reduce her blogging fatigue; (2) help her overcome her avoidant personality disorder, by forcing her to blog multiple times each week (even if her posts are pathetic, one-paragraph affairs); and (3) allow her to be a more timely blogger, responding quickly to fast-breaking news. But if it doesn't work, either for A3G or for you, then we'll go back to the way things were. Capice?
You can share your thoughts with Article III Groupie by email. As noted here, A3G cannot and does not respond to all messages. But she does try to reply to as many messages as she can. Unfortunately, in recent weeks A3G has fallen way behind in her correspondence. At long last, after months of sloth, she is slowly cleaning out her email inbox -- which explains why some of you may now be receiving responses to emails from 2004.
In her defense, A3G's neglect on the email front is somewhat excusable. For several weeks, she had computer problems that prevented her from emailing. By the time these problems were resolved, her email backlog was so enormous that she couldn't bear to deal with it. So she buried her head in the cyber-sand for a few more weeks. But now that weeks have turned into months, she has summoned up the courage to tackle the problem.
That's all for now. And no, there will be no cheesy sign-off tonight -- that's not the new blogging paradigm here at Underneath Their Robes. A sign-off represents a farewell, a leave-taking. But as the blogress behind the "new" UTR, A3G isn't going anywhere. She will now be a regular and constant presence in the blogosphere, chattering away incessantly, although perhaps with less flair than before.
Let's see how it works, shall we?
Sounds like a good idea to me!
Posted by: Brad | March 25, 2005 at 03:20 PM