The blog has been quiet as of late. The print journal has been shipped back and forth, from New York, to California, to Canada, then back around again. The next time I see it, it will be in its finished form, ready for the shelves of Barnes & Noble, ready to be found on my bookshelf, and this year I am going to work hard to place it on the shelves of other booksellers too. (Should anyone have any suggestions, or advice, it would be greatly appreciated.)
While getting the journal ready to go has been time consuming, I don’t think it is actually the culprit for my lack of blogging. I went back and looked at old blog entries and realized how heavily influenced they were by my restlessness last fall—restlessness that I think stemmed from anticipating the election. Unease at the thought of certain governmental policies being continued, rather than dismantled. And now my mind is a bit calmer. It isn’t that I am writing less; it’s just that I have been less inspired to blog.
We talk a big game about how reactionary and responsive blogging is, but I’m not sure I knew what I was saying until I watched my interest both wax and wane. I don’t think I am any less interested in the world around me, but I may be less worried about it. Does that make sense? I don’t know if I am blind to how the economic problems will effect my future, but I find comfort in the idea that the problems are communal. I think that makes the pain less acute.
Or maybe I am growing complacent and should be worried. Perhaps we all become complacent when we are happy with who is at the helm of our government, and that is why every 4 or 8 years we see major party shifts. While one side sits and fumes for 8 years, it galvanizes them to go and win an election, and the other side gets comfortable and finds itself without enough steam come election time.
I know our readership doesn’t all share the same politics, but do you find your investment in the current climes waning post-election? Was the constant noise of the campaigns just so exhausting that you are taking a bit of a break? Or am I just making up excuses for being lazy?
12thstreetonline's Weblog 
April 1, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I think it’s the fact that there’s nothing to get behind quite yet. If there was a decision to make, a fight to join, a party or person to support, or a bill to pass, I bet you’d find yourself blogging once more. As of now, we sit, quiet, waiting for someone to say or do something we can stand behind or fight against… but for now, we can all sleep (and not-blog) peacefully.
April 2, 2009 at 8:49 am
It’s unfortunate more people aren’t paying attention to what our government is doing right now–the greatest concentration of power in the hands of Big Brother than perhaps we’ve ever seen. Bigger, even, than Bush Jr.
Obama successfully pushed to pass a trillion-dollar “stimulus” package that will saddle New School students and their progeny with debt. That’s more than the ENTIRE cost of the Iraq war. And with this new budget, he will TRIPLE our deficit with one swoop of his pen.
To understand the implications, think of the current MTA mess. They invested too heavily in new technology and subway cars a few years ago, and our fares will soon go up 20%. Unfortunately, we can’t pass that debt on to anyone, as Congress and Obama want to do with the pending budget.
I support much of Obama’s platform–affordable health care for all, environmental initiatives, etc.–but money doesn’t grow on trees. Just as Bush staked his presidency on “the war on terror,” Obama is staking his on the biggest financial risk in world history. I hope our new president fares better than our previous one, but I’m not confident.
There’s plenty to fight now, folks. Pick up your phones and call your representatives. Sophia, as you sleep peacefully, the wolves are running wild outside.
April 3, 2009 at 10:20 am
Right, I mean, there is clearly quite a bit going down right now, both that we know of and under the radar. I wasn’t arguing that we’re suddenly living in an Obama-topia and that there aren’t fights worthy of fighting for.
My sentiment here is more that everything going on right now, particularly in comparison to the election, is far more abstract and harder to fight FOR. We can all blog/send/email/call/protest for our opinions regarding the stimulus package, about the war in Afghanistan, about taxes, etc., but there is no “good fight” to get behind or against.
Personally, I feel helpless in regards to all of the aforementioned subjects, most likely because of the elusive nature of them and their associated battles. It was much easier in Obama v. McCain to say “I’m voting/fighting/calling/blogging for Obama because of X, Y, Z. I feel his issues on X are far more ___, and his proposed plans for Y are ___.” Now? Now I sit here and think, “well, what the f*** are we going to do to get us out of this crazy, now-global, mess?” And due to the amorphous nature of these battles, and the consistently and continuously changing ideas, plans, bills, etc., I can’t even keep track of my opinions about the current state of the nation, let alone find one that sticks around long enough to believe in and argue for.
that’s all. It’s not that I’m pleased, content, or feeling safe in our current situation. It’s that I have no idea what’s going on since it’s changes every 12 hours or so, and thus have no ability or motivation to pick up a phone and say “I want this, and this is why I deserve it.”