I've noticed lately how easy it is to neglect one's blog. I've been sick, I've been painting a ceiling, I've been at the beach, etc etc. Most importantly, I've been bored. Not bored in general, mind you, but bored with the blog.
I have had very little coming in lately due to saving money for my upcoming vacation. I am working really hard on not using the credit cards at all for this trip, so I am saving like crazy. I am going to the National Card Show in August with Ryan from O No Another Orioles blog.
All of this down time has made it a bit easier for me to understand how bloggers can drop off the planet, so to speak.
Have any of you noticed how some bloggers just seem to disappear?
People like:
Nico - Nr Mt
Pete - Dropped Third Strike
Chris - On Card Autos
Mike - JDs Wild Cardz
Etc, etc, etc. There are too many to count. Just guys who went off into the sunset.
I know where Pete is, he got married, and I chat with him on facebook. But these guys aren't the only ones. There are a ton of good bloggers whose voices are now silenced. I wonder to myself why. Maybe they don't have time anymore. Maybe they don't have the money. Maybe they just burned out, which is kind of how I was feeling.
At one time, I was posting at least once a day. Now, it is a constant struggle to find something meaningful to write about. I don't want to become boring, so I try really hard to come up with some interesting posts. I have noticed that I do a fair enough job of informing all of you about older players (be it TTM or whatever) who time might have forgotten. I have become a pretty decent voice for them.
I also do the occasional trade. My trade emails are few and far between now. I feel like a lot of that is due to my just sending stuff to people at random and not doing a good job of updating my trade page. That's my fault. Not a lot of people seem to have what I want anyway. I would really love someone to email me and say that they have the Brooks Robinson patches I need, or some 1959 or 1969 Topps for my sets. I don't need anymore Orioles from the mid-2,000's. I can't give away all of my Jay Gibbons and Miguel Tejada cards fast enough.
Anyway, I'm still here. I still have a voice. I've not faded off into the distance yet. I still have older players I need to advocate. I still have TTMs that I want to get. I still have sets to build. I'm not going anywhere.
5 comments:
I definitely agree.. I find it sad too. I wish there were more people like there used to be, but I just feel like the past few years, while Topps has done fairly well, the lack of competition has led to a lot of boredom in the hobby. I always used to love debating which Topps or Upper Deck products were better, and when the prices were cheaper, and when more people wanted to trade. I miss it, but guys like you and I definitely need to try to keep it going.
I know that anymore I just don't feeel like blogging. I'm still around and I read lot's of blogs I just don't blog much. I try to comment some but 90% of the time I read blogs on my phone which isn't exactly comment friendly. I did write a post the other day though and Friday I met with another blogger so I will probably write about that this week.
I think there are as many bloggers as there was 3 or 4 years ago, just different ones.
I'm sure some people's situations prevent them from blogging as much as they did. I think other people just move onto the next thing. A lot of people are like that. "I'm bored. What's next?" It's a transient world.
I'm glad to see you're still around. I miss some of the old regulars too, but like Night Owl said, there's always new blood coming into the game. Every once in a while, I have to clear out space to follow someone new and I hate dropping someone who hasn't posted in a year. I'm always hopeful they'll be back. Even a once in a while post is better than nothing, but I understand when someone gets bored. I've dropped in and out of the hobby a number of times in my life too.
I think it's just the nature of card collecting. It's a hobby - and thus blogging about it is a hobby. At various stages of your life you get more or less interested in that hobby. This could be because of other priorities - like kids, getting married, work, or because another hobby captures your interest. I know of very few collectors who have been collecting without some breaks since the 1990's.
Like Night Owl said, a good thing is that the number of bloggers is the same or more - it's just that many of them have cycled out as other cycled in.
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