I'm back

Self-Portrait 2012

Yep. I haven't posted since June, and the more I wait the more monumental getting back to the blog feels. I tell myself  that maybe I need to do some really great post to get back into things. Some killer tutorial to feed the hungry masses (because there are those of you who actually follow the blog and then there are the thousands who drop in to find out how to change the background color in Photoshop and then leave). Finally, I decide that if I don't just post something, then I may never post. So here's what barely qualifies as "something."

Back from the dead
Well, not really. Spring/summer was going great: Various scholarly activities, Paris, London, a couple of weeks in Hawaii (You'd think I had money, but trust me, I don't. It's all grants and generous relatives)...and then...double hernia surgery. It hurt like hell for the first week, and then we all piled in the van and took a road trip to Oceanside where I convalesced and watched a whole lot of stupid shows on Netflix. My productivity screeched to a halt. But now I'm back.

The perpetual blog crisis
I don't have a monomaniacal drive to achieve any particular goal with my blog. At best, there's an overarching yearly goal (this year is commerciality), but even then it's a mixed bag. I think a certain degree of uncertainty can be useful. Wasn't it Mary Poppins who said "a spoonful of crisis sweetens the monotony of routine"? No? Must have been the Percocet talking.

Anyway, my current dilemma deals with just how much of the commercial stuff to share. For instance, if I give a tutorial on a current product that retailers have bought by thousands, will it harm sales? If I talk candidly about the business stuff, am I asking for trouble? I'm not sure, but my impulse always tends toward disclosure. I'll deal with that issue in a future post.

The draw of the pin
While my break from blogging has lasted a couple of months, my break from Pinterest only lasted two weeks. Pinning is easy, inspiring, and has been gratifying in terms of followers. Creating content, on the other hand, can be laborious. My immediate plan is to have more interaction between my pinboards and my posts. So expect some posts inspired by pinning.

A bientôt
Now that I've gotten that first re-launch post out of the way, I can resume. See you soon.