Monday, July 18, 2011

Be well

"Hello dear friends."

That is what I used to type when I entered a room on PA in the early days of that online program. Heady days.  I was excited to be learning and seemingly excelling at something among peers who, for the most part, were a good bunch of folks. Alas, those days are passed for the most part, and while I still play nearly every day, and do so with a few people who have been on the site as long as I have (or close), I enter with a simple "hi/slt" or "Howdy" and settle in to play my 100 hands as a break between other activities. PA no longer holds such a prominent place in my life and the learning curve has flattened out some at the expense of my game, but those are good things, believe me.

PA helped me get through some transitions away from the poker table, and while I may have relied too heavily on it in the very early days, the purpose was served. I needed a safe haven in which to nurture myself back from disappointment and confusion. I found encouragement through the friendships I developed, and eventually I began to emerge from my real-life shell.

This blog is a result of that encouragement. I have Forrest Gump, aka Butterbean to thank for that. And, if I may, I like to believe that this blog encouraged others to begin keeping one as well, thereby creating an extended network of comrades. More feathers in the cap that only I saw as I poked my head out a bit further.

It has been a slow process. You could call it "baby steps." You might also imagine a nest that is about to become fledged.

I have recently learned that this blog is rather easy to find. Granted, it is listed as part of my signature in emails and is a link when I post on the PA forum. All well and good... for a while. But now I find myself deleting it for certain emails, and given the ease with which it is found, perhaps by eyes that I'd rather not have, it is time to shut it down.

You could see this coming, no?

First, let me say that I am indebted to my long-time readers. Bless your hearts for sticking with it. Yet, given that I also recognize there is likely nothing I can throw at you that will make you blink, I don't want to abandon you. I believe a new adventure lays ahead, and should you want to go along for the ride, you'll be welcome. The content will change a bit (just a tiny bit but I want to try some new things),  I most likely won't post on a daily basis, and there won't be a comments section, but I'm hoping this will be for the better.

It's a bit of a paradox. I have emerged and therefore require anonymity. So, here's what we're going to do:

In the next few days I'm going to see if I can figure out how to keep this blog as an archive, for posterity matters and I have long ago stopped copying and pasting from Word. Send me your email address if you want to find out where I'll be hiding. ptcpatrick at gmail dot com. I'll keep this blog up for one more week so that everyone gets a chance to see this announcement and decide if they want to come along for the ride.

Some of you have had experience with such a shift. If you have suggestions as to how to proceed, please email me.

So, this is it. But before I bid "a bientot," and in case the new site isn't up in the next couple of weeks, I'll share a couple things that are happening in the near future. In August I have work in an exhibit in Portland. It's at Gallery Homeland and called "Read/Write." I also have some other work being published on a blog in early August. You've seen all of the work before, so no need to go looking. I just wanted to tell you about the new feathers. Plus, I'll most likely be in Las Vegas for the blogger thing in December.

Oh, and I rescued that frog from the window well.

6 comments:

NT said...

Please let me know where you go, bro. :)

FWIW, in retrospect I feel that I probably panicked unnecessarily in the past when I shut down blogs that I feared had been linked to my real-life self.

But you gotta do what you gotta do. I do beg you to reconsider the stance on comments.

bastinptc said...

I shall, Sis. Can't promise on the comments.

Also, would everyone please remove me from their blogrolls? Thanks.

BLAARGH! said...

You have been deleted from my blog roll. Good riddance!

Forrest Gump said...

Would love to read any future blog you start up mate and check out your art/photos.

Funny that you should mention anonymity as i was also thinking about a completely anonymous blog where one might divulge anything and everything without any self-censorship or paranoia.


cheers,
FG

PS Am now muslim, married and back from cycling amongst the Torajans. Life as been quite the ride lately.

Crash said...

You are off my blogroll. It should be safe to include me in your new thing. I can't tick you off if I can't comment!

lightning36 said...

Sorry to see this going away, but as mentioned in the Semisonic song Closing Time, "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

Keep in touch, of course ...