Good-bye

T H E L A S T D A Y
October 11, 2011
Good-Bye

Folks, there really isn't an easy way to do this so I'm just going to come right out and say it. I have decided to give up this blog. It's something I've been thinking about for quite a while now. When I decided to go ahead and make the announcement, I considered waiting until the end of the month, or the end of the year, or the next ACPT … but you know what? It's not going to get any easier the longer I put it off.

I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed sharing the puzzle with you and how much I appreciate all of you who have made this blog a community. We've had some fun, haven't we? But I'm ready to do some other things with my blog time, like constructing puzzles, solving puzzles, and non-puzzle-related things like working out, reading books and, oh yeah, paying attention to my children. It's not even really that doing the blog takes up all that much time, it's just that having the obligation every day has started to wear on me. Also, since I started back to work full-time, I definitely haven't spent as much time on the blog as I used to and I think that shows. Part of my reason for giving it up is that I just don't have the time to do it right. And there's something completely unsatisfying about posting a half-assed attempt at a crossword blog every day knowing that people are, ya know, reading it and everything.

There are other crossword blogs out there (links are in the sidebar). I hope you find one that works for you. If anyone starts up a new LAT blog, please let me know and I'll do what I can to get the word out.

So now I'm feeling a little nostalgic and thinking about all that we've been through here at LACC. It was great fun blogging with Rex and Amy for a while and when I took it over myself you all stayed, which was awesome. I hope the Crosswordese 101 lessons have been useful and that other aspects of the blog have increased your enjoyment of puzzles. That really was the whole point of the blog when we started it. I think my favorite post over the life of this blog has to be the wrap-up of last year's ACPT. It was really fun to try to express how special the ACPT is. I hope to see some of your there next year.

Couple quick things before I ride off into the sunset. First, next time you're in the grocery store, check out the November issue of Oprah Magazine. I'm on page 167. It's a story about people who have found hobbies they're passionate about. I'm absolutely thrilled that they included me (thanks, Amy, for sending them my way!). And finally, if you haven't been watching Jeopardy the past several days, you really must start. Joon Pahk is A-Maz-Ing and it's so much fun to watch one of CrossWorld's denizens making a big splash.

So. There you have it. I don't really know what else to say. How about one more big THANK YOU for everything and we'll call it good.