drinkerthinker

Longboard. [lawng-bawrd, long-bohrd]
1. any extra-long surfboard or skateboard. noun

2. to be badgered relentlessly about when your next blog entry will appear. verb

[Origin: bef. 2008; ME longe, OE lang, long; ME, OE bord board; Alaska (US), The O.C. (US)]

— Related forms
long·board·ed, verb
long·board·er, noun

Since my return to this blog, I get a message similar to this one about once a week over IM:

53:21 I like this

53:22 need to find a way to post it

53:22 or

53:22 you could post this to your blog

53:22 hint, hint

Sometimes the gentleman in question sends it to Beep, who relays the message to me.

These pokey little messages have made me think about my writing, — or not writing, as it were — and I have come to two ends:

1. I don’t want to write for the sake of posting. I haven’t quite figured out what I want the reborn version of this site to be, but I want to be proud of it and the digital imprint it is creating.

2. I am not going to feel guilty about not writing if I am not inspired. As a lapsed Roman Catholic, that is a hell of a statement to make. That’s like Linus not waiting for the Great Pumpkin or the cat not licking her butt. But I am doing my best.

Jessica says it well in her post “The Day I Didn’t Blog”:

[W]hen faced with the option of either blogging something half-hearted and pointless or just letting it go for a day, I chose the latter. I’d rather not “dilute” my blog with entries that are just there to fill up my archives….

(Of course Jessica participated in NaBloPoMo — read the November 2007 archives to see the impressive job she did — so she has a bit more license to slack off for a day than I do.)

Since the IM quoted above was the inspiration for this post, it may only serve to negatively reinforce the longboarders who are threatening our freedom. This is a risk I have to take. Be aware of the hazards of longboarding and learn to recognize it in your online communities. Stay strong, and the good writing will come.