Rethinking Things

Hey Folks,

I'm going to be honest with you, as I endeavor to do in general on this blog in my posts about arts, culture and politics.  I've felt discontented about this blog and my writing on it lately. I've found myself with little to say about the issues this blog is meant to be chiefly concerned with: theatre (in particular new plays), arts advocacy, politics and general cultural issues.

Some of this has little to do with me.  The arts are slow-moving, and little seems to change at the pace necessary to have new things to say about it here on the blog. After an inspiring few months leading up to the election, there's a pretty long-ass fucking messy hard slog going on right now all over America in every field. Nothing will get fixed fast, that's not how the world works. But it can be discouraging.

I've also found myself deeply angry almost every time I sit down to write.  Sometimes it comes out in the posts I write, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the struggle to not write purely out of anger kneecaps my ability to think through what I write. The end result is pretty clear... a bunch of fairly uninspiring posts, a lot of linking to other things, and not a lot said here.

I have simultaneously been writing a lot more outside of this blog.  I'm working on a book proposal right now, which is a ton of work... you have to think through and write out in detail what the entire book will be chapter to chapter and then write two of them. And I've been trying to get all of my directing work in order for the next few months and some sound design gigs. And of course there's Critic-O-Meter.

I have for perhaps the first time since starting this blog seriously thought about giving it up basically every time I sit down to write. And very little of my writing lately is about theatre, something I care so much about it drove me to start writing in the first place.

So this is what I am going to do.  I'm not going to write unless I feel like I have something to say and that that something adds to the conversation. That may mean that I post a lot less, I don't know.  The posts might be longer or more formally written. It may mean I go a few days without posting. Hell, it may mean that I stop doing Parabasis altogether, but I doubt it.

I'm going to work hard to improve the quality of the writing and thinking on this site and, ultimately, to make myself happier with what I create here.  I hope you'll do the same in the comments. If you want to make sure you know when a new post is up, subscribe to the feed (I use bloglines, a lot of people use Google Reader).  And if you find something worth talking about, please please add your feedback in the comments.

See you soon.

Comments

[Ethan Stanislawski]

You took the longer-term perspective write out of my mouth.

[Prince Gomolvilas]

Isaac, I wonder if perhaps you underestimate the quality of your writing and the scope of your influence, even when your posting seems, in your eyes, "light" or not meaty. Hmm....

[99]

Indeed. There's a time for talking and a time for doing. Maybe it's time for more doing?

[RLewis]

Then stop it, just stop it! lol. IB, maybe you're a lil' down on all this blogging, but it's not the quality of your posts. And it's not the quality of the theater. There's a ton of good work going on right now and still much to be worked out; but if your prespective has changed, that's not a bad thing.

We all transition out of this biz eventually. Before that we usually take up other avenues on the way there. After almost 30 yrs, I've watched way more friends get out of this community than succeed within it. Domestic partners, children, life in general (none of which I have), they all come and take us away. And they are all more important than theater will ever be.

I always thought that the theatrospere would become a big discussion group of inter-linked blogs, but that never happened ("future gigs" has been my fav' recent post), and it put a lot more weight on the blog-owners. I don't know how you folks keep it up. As the theatrosphere has peaked and now begins its slow fade, you've done more than your share to make it a place that mattered. If you move on now, it should be celebrated, not lamented. Go forth and multiply, but you'll make my day-gig a lot harder to bare. thanks for everything.

[Mead]

Or maybe it's just plain cyclical. I'm going through a similar thing with my own blog right now, and it can't hold a candle to Parabasis for sheer perspicacity, but sometimes....you just don't feel like putting out, you know? No need to blame the medium or the times or certainly yourself.

I don't mean to discount what you're feeling right now. But supplying a link or a video when you don't feel like providing original content is no crime; everybody rankles at something that comes to feel like an obligation.

Also I agree with Prince that your influence is more pervasive than you may realize. Some weeks ago when you mentioned Blogorrhea, unique visits shot up from the usual 30 or so a day to right around EIGHTY -- for several days! Just because you mentioned it. See what I mean?

Nice interview, by the way.....

[RVCBard]

I have a bit to ask you about this, but I sense it may be easier to do via e-mail or face-to-face conversation. Suffice it to say that I am willing to engage you with this, but it may be different from what you can get on a blog. Shoot me an e-mail when you have a few minutes.