Blogs are dying and the internet is doomed

Well, it's not quite that dramatic. But I note with sorrow that Alan is retiring his personal blog (at least for the time being). Alan, you'll be missed. Fortunately he's still forging boldly ahead with his food blog, which has contributed at least one delicious recipe to the Rau family kitchen.

Personal blogging is a real challenge to keep at consistently, especially when time is limited. Readers of this humble blog will note that 2005 was a fairly grim year as far as posting frequency went. For me, besides the ever-present factor of limited free time, I've found that the lack of focus in a personal blog sometimes makes it difficult to keep at it. Perhaps bizarrely, I find that blogging is most rewarding when it's done under at least a few topical constraints. Having a blog at which I can post, well, anything that springs to mind actually intimidates me a bit; it feels a bit too scattershot for my tastes. I know that some people like the stream-of-consciousness, whatever-will-he-write-about-next style of blogging, but speaking for myself, I am particularly fond of blogs that follow some sort of ongoing conceptual thread, no matter how slight.

And so I'm sad that Alan is closing his personal blog, but also glad that he's found a successful and focused outlet for his creative energy in his food blog. Nicely done, Alan... and I do hope you return to personal blogging at some point when time and energy allow.