I'd like to give that little boy a hug.
Last night as I was driving home, two girls ran across the street in front of me on a rural road. Not knowing what was going on, I stopped the car. Then I noticed that a small boy was also wanting to cross, so I waved him onward so he could catch up to the two girls (who really should have been watching him closer). Good thing he was smart enough to stop and look both ways, or else I very well might have ran him over.
So there I am sitting in my car as the boy waves and starts to run across. All of a sudden, his shoe comes off. Does he grab the shoe and continue across the street?
No.
He sits down right in front of my car and proceeds to put his shoe back on.
Ordinarily, this would have annoyed me greatly, but I was fascinated. It was like a sudden moment of clarity when I realized that this kid had it all figured out. Rather than panic and try to solve two problems at once, he stopped and worked on the problem at hand before moving on.
A minute later, he pops up, waves at me again, then runs across the street to the two girls who seem very upset with the poor tyke.
It's amazing how little moments like this can have such an effect on me.
Yesterday I made the decision to shut down my blog.
No joke, it was really going to happen. The entire hosting fiasco had just gotten to be too much, and I honestly didn't know where to go with it. Yahoo! is not working out. I got a lot of recommendations from people as to other hosting services but, every time I checked into them, I found out that Movable Type users had been banned there for excessive CPU usage (this includes Dreamhost, and everybody else I tried).
No thanks. Once was enough. This "blogging thing" which was supposed to be a hobby had suddenly become a liability that I don't need. I simply don't have the time or energy to try and maintain three blogs during a second move. Everything is a mess, and I just don't need it. Enough is enough, and it was time to move on.
But then a little boy stopped to put on his shoe in front of my car.
And suddenly I realized that I don't have to stress about it. All I have to do is stop, solve the problem at hand, and move on. Who cares if my email is down for a while. Who cares if my blog is inaccessible for a bit. Who cares if everything is a mess. Just solve the problem at hand and THEN finish crossing the street.
So... I've done that. I think.
In the meanwhile, I'm sorry if I don't get your emails. I'm sorry if some comments get lost during the move. I'm sorry if things don't work right for a while. But I'm not going to worry about it. Eventually everything will work out. Eventually everything will be okay. I'm not stressing over a silly blog that shouldn't mean as much as it does.
One thing at a time. And it's time to move. Again.
So, if you like reading Blogography, and are happy that I've found a way to keep on going... you can thank a little boy who stopped to tie his shoe in front of my car yesterday.
It's amazing what you can learn if you just stop the car.
Awwww...how poetic. In honor of your breath-taking poetry, I offer you this:
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Don't use Yahoo! hosting
Because I do and I use Movable Type and the combo of the two SUCKS and makes me want to murder small animals with forks.
The End.
Wow- I LOVE this story, and I love it that you got something so great out of it.
Posted by RisibleGirl on April 04, 2006 | Reply
Just when I think I might want to move away from Blogger, I read something like this and think, "Hey, if it's good enough for Fussy.org..."
Must seek out identity of small anonymous boy with loose shoes.
We'll all be here, take your time, don't stress, and try not to get run over while you're tying your shoe in the street. *mwah!*
Thank you, little boy.
And thanks for being observant and thoughtful, Dave.
Posted by Ashly on April 04, 2006 | Reply
There are many times when I think kids have it all figured out and by making them "grow up" we screw them up.
I want to thank that child for giving you that lightbulb moment. Blogging is, or should be, fun. Whilst I enjoy reading your blog so very much, it shouldn't be adding to your everyday stress. I'm glad you're sticking around to continue your quest for world domination!
Here's the difference between me and you: The boy is still alive.
There's a metaphor about our respective blogs in that, but what do I look like - a prophet?
Yours is maybe one of five blogs I know of worth checking on every day, if possible.
I wouldn't know what to do with myself if you shut it all down.
But... no pressure or anything...
:-)
I'd like to give that little boy a hug too. I just discovered your blog and would be very sad to see it disappear.
Posted by Jen on April 04, 2006 | Reply
I'm with a small hosting company and the guy made an actual effort to try and tell me what's using all those resources. He wasn't 100% successful as MT just seems to be an overly complex heap of bloated code (when I ran it on my iBook its perl processes were quite slow and using >30MB of memory which apparently is considered a lot on a web server).
And the comment spammers were one of the hosting guy's main concerns. There loads of accesses to those per day, mostly simultaneously, each of which spawned such a mt process. Since, I changed the name of the comment script and put an invisible decoy comment form in front of the actual one. This didn't stop the spammers but reduced their numbers. I still try to just change the name of the comment script from time to time now which also gives some extra relief.
None of that is ideal... but apparently it's the price you have to pay for using MT and having comments.
You can't go! You inspired me to start my own blog!
Posted by Dave B (AKA Fred Garvin) on April 04, 2006 | Reply
Well I certainly hope you keep on blogging, regardless of where you decide to host it.
Kids can teach us a lot if we just stop and listen (or look) once in a while. ;)
Posted by Kiri on April 04, 2006 | Reply
I, too, am glad you've decided to keep going. Kudos on remaining open to the messages the universe sends you.
Posted by Jon on April 05, 2006 | Reply
That story is going in my wallet.
(Necessary background: I keep folded up index cards of inspirational things people I'm acquainted with have said/done/seen for rough times)
Posted by Kachina Crowe on April 05, 2006 | Reply
Title rings true - "Drama"
You really know how to pluck
the heart strings in me.
Life-changing events
like one-shoed kids can really
change your perspective.
For me, though, this week
has brought with it crappy news.
Two deaths, one near miss.
First death was local.
92-year old woman.
Grandmother-in-law.
Near miss: a sister
of very close co-worker,
fighting breast cancer.
Biggest impact, though
was drowned three year old Makai,
ex-co-worker's kid.
I have a kid, 4.
And another, almost 12.
Couldn't imagine.
I have these new eyes.
I show them to anyone
who complains a lot
about stress from work,
or traffic, or bad coffee
or f*cked up paypal :)
You've heard what they say...
Bad news sometimes comes in "threes"
Three's enough, thank you.
Dave, your blog helped me;
Reminded me; guided me.
Putting one's life first.
Important things hide.
...maybe we hide them ourselves?
Come out, Come out, things!
Posted by Wayne Hall on June 29, 2006 | Reply
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