Long Time No See

I know it has been way too long since I've posted on this site. In fact, when I just logged in I was required to submit my password, which never used to happen to me. I guess there was a very good reason for that. My last post was from August 18th, 2010. WOW! Could it really have been nearly 6 months? Yup.

It seemed like I was on here almost daily, either searching for feedback from my most recent posts, or blabbing about something that happened to me at work that day, in an attempt to turn it into some kind of humorous anecdote. If I wasn't looking for some sort of reassurance that my audience felt I was funny, I was keeping a tally on how many hits per post I was registering. As I recall, I was getting around 80 to 100 people visiting my site per post. And I was really encouraged by that number. I know in the grand scheme of things, that's not a very big audience at all, but I sure was pleased with those numbers.

It was around that time that I realized I was no longer writing for the right reasons. I was trying to come up with something bigger and better each time I posted. I felt some kind of unrealistic pressure to out-do myself in hopes of not only keeping the followers I already had, but also increase my "numbers". Since August 18th there were other blogs that I had outlined, but never wrote. In fact, when I just logged on a few minutes ago, I deleted the last draft that I had started to create on October 16th, but never finished. I didn't publish it because in my eyes it just wasn't good enough.

I guess I've finally come to the realization that I'd developed some type of writer's ego. And what a shame that is. What started as an interesting little hobby of mine had somehow become "work" to me. I was no longer enjoying what I was doing. I had turned a creative outlet into a job. A very non-lucrative job at that. How did I let that happen?

I'm not sure how many of you know how Boozer's Blog ever came to fruition in the 1st place. The initial blog originated from an e-mail that I sent to a couple of my regulars that come into Greene's. It was one of those "you're not gonna believe what some idiot that came into the bar and did yesterday" e-mails. I'm not going to rehash that whole story now. If you'd like to read it, it's titled Cash For Gold. It's the 1st blog I ever posted on MySpace, which eventually morphed into what Boozer's Blog has become today.

After I sent that e-mail my creative juices seemed to get flowing. I forwarded it to a friend who had a blog of her own and asked her what she thought of my little tale. Not only did she like it, she posted it on her own blog site and exposed me to her audience. As I recall, she had about 200 followers at the time and the response was wonderful. For someone who never picked up a book unless I was required to for school, and hated writing even more when I was growing up, I was pleasantly surprised to find that people thought I had a knack for writing.

In the beginning of my blogging career, if I can call it that, writing was easy. After more than a decade of being behind a bar there didn't seem to be any shortage of instances that I could turn into a story. I was also able to tap into a great deal of experiences that had occurred in my life to this point, and again, tell a funny story. Although I plan to continue with that style to some extent, I think many of you whom have read my posts in the past are going to notice a change in Boozer's Blog in the future.

As I said before, I kind of felt like my writing was getting stale. In an effort to mix things up a little bit, my plan is to change my style at times. Although I'm sure much of what I create will continue to have a sarcastic edge, I want to start writing about whatever I'm thinking or feeling at any given time.

For example, many of you who know me very well, it's obvious that I am a huge sports enthusiast. Just look at the bulk of my wardrobe and you can quickly tell which teams and players I identify with. I know a great deal of my previous posts have been sports related, but I was trying too hard to make them funny all the time. If I wasn't ripping Brett Favre "a new one" every time he created his own drama through the media, I was making light of the trials and tribulations that come along with being a life-long Buffalo Bills fan. That's not to say that those topics won't arise again in future blogs. They'll just be observed in a more matter-of-fact way.

I actually considered starting a 2nd blog site entirely devoted to sports. It's probably the easiest topic for me to write about because of my passion for my favorite teams. It seemed like a more appropriate place to write, without constantly feeling the need to be joking around all of the time. That's when I came to the realization that I DON'T HAVE TO BE FUNNY ALL THE TIME! The audience I already have just might enjoy my opinions about the sports world, or any topic for that matter, without always forcing a humorous twist into the post.

Sometimes its kind of funny how life works. For weeks now, even months for that matter, I've had a number of readers ask me in person or on Facebook if Boozer's Blog was dead. I typically responded by saying that I had something in the hopper, or yes, I've written "stuff" that I didn't post because it wasn't good enough yet. And then time would pass again, without having any motivation or desire to tap into my creative writing process.

A few days ago my Aunt Emilie asked if she'd been out of the loop because she had not received any notifications about my blog lately. I guess she missed reading about some of the absurd thoughts that are often running through my head. I also got to thinking that there are probably others who feel the same way too. Then it dawned on me early this morning, as I lay awake in bed at 4:25am. With a nagging sore throat, that has been a slight inconvenience to my life the last couple of days, I figured something out. There's one person who has definitely been missing out on my blog lately. That person was me.

Shortly there after I decided to get out of bed and finally do something about it. So I trudged downstairs, threw on a pot of decaf coffee. Not for the caffeinated boost, but because I like the taste, and began this writing exercise. I think that's the most accurate way to classify this post because that is just what it is, in fact, an exercise. I've been away from something I truly enjoy and love for a long time. I found myself out of writing shape. Like any athlete or musician, writing takes practice to stay in shape as well.

And as I near the end of this blog I already find myself feeling better. It may just be the soothing warmth of the coffee, or maybe it's the feeling of being inspired again. But the pain in my throat has diminished significantly. I don't intend to make some ceremonious comeback to Boozer's Blog. Like all things in life, there's a natural ebb and flow. And now I feel like the tide is flowing back into shore.