Will the last person kill the lights?

Hi all. So, as might have been evidenced by the fact that I haven't blogged in ... oh, two months, almost ... I've decided to give up blogging. A couple of things influenced this:

1) Most of all, time. My course load this semester is reading and writing heavy, so I've been busy. I'm still not done with a job interview process that has eaten up more time than I thought. The Little Lady still lives two hours away. And on top of all this, I decided that I wanted to finish my Master's Project this year, so I've only been a little busy. What spare time I've had, I prefer to spend sitting around in my boxers, playing video games, reading about politics, and watching sports ... instead of, you know, writing about doing all those things.

2) Concerns about privacy. The intent of this blog was to be able to write freely without concerns that I would be easily identified by a potential employer ... and I'm not certain that's possible anymore, even though I've been very careful to always use the 'eirishis' pseudonym online. Two friends of mine have gotten dinged from job offers thanks to their blogs - in both cases, due to carelessness by friends who cited their blogs with their real names. (And in one case, that was me - sorry, Nordy.) It hasn't happened to me yet, but I don't want to wait for the inevitable.

3) Writer's block - A year's worth of experience as a commenter at Deadspin, plus six months with Sports Media Watch, has confirmed that sports humor is not my forte. (Not that I'm going to stop commenting over at Deadspin.) I think I've got something to offer when writing about politics, but it just hasn't inspired me this election, especially with a local Senate race that's been an embarassment, the local congressional race that's not competitive, and a state constitutional amendment referendum that makes me sick.

Perhaps a time will come when I'll get things started again, so I'm keeping the URL - but in reality, I can't imagine a situation where I would return to traditional blogging. More likely, I would use this space as a test balloon to develop pieces, hoping that I can get a more solid writing job. If so, I'll be in touch with those of you whose feedback I'd really appreciate.

So this is my sign off. Thanks for reading and commenting. As my parting shot, I implore you all to read the following blogs, which bring me laughs and knowledge on a daily basis:

• Deadspin - Honestly, if you aren't reading Deadspin for your sports news at this point, I don't know what to do with you. I've reached a point where, using Deadspin as my center platform, I rarely (if ever) need ESPN.com anymore, which is very freeing. The blog deserves every one of the 200,000+ readers it pulls in on a daily basis.


• Everyday Should Be Saturday - If you live for college football, it's a must read, if kooky.
  


• The Blue-Gray Sky - A Notre Dame blog that does nice statistical and historical work, along with the requisite "Why we hate USC" posts. If ND isn't your fancy, you should still visit - the BGS boys link to high quality blogs supporting other programs.
  


• Dan Shanoff - What a turnaround. Four years ago, Shanoff was one of the "New Kids" at ESPN's Page 2 with much promise. As recently as a year ago, the varnish washed away, I was ripping him for being a corporate shill. (And I stand by that - his last year or two at ESPN were cover-your-eyes awful.) Now, he's an outstanding sports blogger - even if I disagree with him much of the time. Who knew.


• The Fix - Chris Cillizza's excellent politics blog over at the WaPo. Required reading for anyone who wants to even pretend they are informed about the upcoming elections from a nationwide perspective.

The fact that there is only one political blog on there tells you my opinion regarding most of what is out there in citizen political writing. There are a couple of Virginia-specific blogs I could mention as well (Bacon's Rebellion, especially), but the are a little too state-focused to be recommended.

Anyway - happy reading. Hopefully, the next time that you'll see me writing online, it won't be behind the 'eirishis' banner - and it will be with a devotion I can't possibly offer now.

Thanks,
eirishis