Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Check Ya Later, Man

I've decided to lay this blog to rest.  It's been a great ride, but it's time to move on.  Thank you to all of the wonderful people I've met, who've made this endeavor worthwhile.  


When I dove into writing and photographing music a few years back, there was a void in my life that seriously needed to be filled.  My grandmother had recently passed away, and I was lonely as all hell.  I was also shuffling back and forth between Savannah and New York in the midst of a recession, in pursuit of a number of goals.  Some things worked out wonderfully.  Others did not.  That's life.  Becoming immersed in music scenes wherever I landed did something magical, which made the whirl significantly easier to navigate at times.  I'm extremely grateful for all of it. 

Recently, when I began seeing the various segments and searches of the past few years flipping through my head, I knew it was time to call this quits.  I don't think I can naturally place something in mental retrospect, while still trying to convince myself that it's a current set of actions.  To me, that feels like a paradox.  Without consciously (maybe a little) realizing it, I was phasing this out.  This is the moment where I should be getting all gushy and wide-eyed, explicitly listing all of the places I've done and people I've seen over the past few years.  That, however, is time consuming, and no matter how hard I try, I'm bound to accidentally forget to include someone(s).  Besides, this is a blog post, not a f*^&ing Lifetime Achievement Award.  I will, though, humbly (and briefly) tip my hat to Danny Arana, Noko and Sean of All New Episode, the Henry Miller Memorial Library, the 20,000 + people who read Altercation at Alter Bridge, powerkompany, Venice is Sinking, Dare Dukes, the Oryx & Crake crew, Patrick Longstreth and NewYorkisBoring.com, Sam Hoyas of Playing Dead, The Kid Henry, One Might Ugly Backpack's Chris Andrews and CMJ.  Thank you.  Oscar style speech out.

Did I think this would become as involved as it ultimately did?  Yeah.  When I set an idea into motion, I "ride the wave until the bitch breaks" (Thank you, Hunter S. Thompson.).  I'm still going to be collaborating on projects and such in the near future.  Maybe, down the line, I'll fully resurrect this blog in some different format, but that remains to be seen.  If we've worked together before, and you'd like to reach out for one thing or another, feel free to do so.  I'm around, and happy to help.

In some ways, all of this postingandshowgoingandnetworkingandrunningmyassoffforwhat became a posthumous present to my grandmother.  I hope she liked it.  The bottom line is that losing her sucked.  That sort of thing always does.  Though I've often stated that "I didn't handle it well," three years later, I actually think I did.  From that pain, I created all of this, and that's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

-Stephanie