Posted by
BrianR on Thursday, February 28, 2008 12:34:44 AM
I posted my first essay here on the Island on July 5, 2006. In that time we’ve seen some real history being made, and it’s been fun commenting on that, the political scene here in Leftifornia and the rest of the country, making a bunch of new friends, exploring serious issues, having fun with satire, reporting from the fire front, sharing my daughter’s wedding, and sharing some of the ups and downs and trials and tribulations of some of my fellow bloggers. I’ve taken a lot of pride in the content of this blog, and in what I hope has been perceived by others as the quality I have tried to achieve.
But I think the time has come for me to move on. In all honesty, my main motivation is this new format the TH site has adopted. To be blunt – and let’s face it, that’s what I’m known for – I can’t stand it.
I’ve been in discussion with TH about it, and they’ve made the decision, evidently, that it’s more important for the ads to be visible at all times than for us to be able to adjust our own screen resolution to suit our vision needs. So, what I end up seeing is a narrow column of the essay I’m reading (or have written) squeezed between two big columns of ads. I have to scroll down endless pages to simply read an essay. At higher screen resolution, the page appears more normal, but of course the font is so small I end up getting nose grease on my screen.
Further, when I write an essay I do so with an eye toward the actual visual impact it will have on the page. I’m sure you folks have noticed my italic sub-headers and other stylistic details (or at least, I hope you have!). Well, this new format trashes that ability.
On top of that, the comments are no longer a drop-down page from the main column, so if in writing a comment I want to refer to the main essay, I either have to go back to a previous page, or have another browser screen open. These aren’t improvements, in my opinion, they’re detractions.
Of course, this is Townhall’s site; they can do with it whatever they want, and more power to them.
But the content of my brain is mine, and I think I can find other venues in which I can blog if I decide to continue.
There is also another issue. My blog has always been primarily political in nature, and at this point I really have no further interest in the presidential campaign. For a political blog, that’s kind of the Kiss of Death. I don’t think it’s simply an issue with me, either. I’ve noticed a significant drop in the number of comments on other member blogs, as well as on the main columns. It looks to me like many conservatives are disengaging themselves from the rest of the political debate this presidential election year as the available remaining choices are deemed simply unacceptable. The fun is gone. It’s hard to stay engaged in a process in which you don’t care about the outcome.
One thing in life I’ve learned is to never say “never”. I may pop in from time to time to see what’s going on. But for now, at least, this will be my last essay at the Island.
Thanks for all the great comments, and thanks for even taking the time and showing the interest all of you have in what one guy had to say about the world around us. I am truly gratified.
Update 3/5/08, especially for Jimmy C, at his request.
While my daughter and son-in-law are taking a cruise this week -- sponsored by his company -- I'm dog-sitting their whiny, needy, gelded, obnoxious and totally unmasculine Chihuahua. I mentioned that I couldn't be seen with this loser of a dog (I'm more of a German Shepherd kinda guy) as it would detract from my macho image, and JC -- exhibiting his streak of pure evil and meanness -- challenged me to post a pic of me and this wharf rat.
Because I'm so self-assured in my own masculinity, here it is:
Next week: me cleaning some of my many guns. (Just kidding. About the pic, not the guns)