I Quit: A Clarification « Vlorbik on Math Ed

I Quit: A Clarification

February 24, 2009 in Meta

Maybe I learned a lot doing this; right now it feels like the main thing I’ve learned is that I don’t want to do it. Naturally it’s somewhat embarrassing that it took me about seven quarters to find this out. What can I say. I’ve always been a slow learner. I’m not even acquainted with my own desires.

Anyhow, that was the best I could do. Somebody else will maintain the world’s best math blogroll in the nature of the case; this one created no comments that I can recall and I expect I would’ve remembered. I’ll go on ranting about something somewhere—I’m quitting mathblogging, not self-publishing—nobody ever asked me to publish my bookmarks and anyhow there’s still the carny. (Hey, what’s this? Yay Denise!)

Because if that’s the best I can do, then my best manifestly isn’t good enough. In whatever it is, twenty months, I couldn’t learn to work the one feature that brought me here in the first place. So, you know, to hell with it.

10 Replies

jd2718

February 24, 2009 at 11:47 pm

That’s it?

You’re right to blog or not to blog, but I’ll miss it.

jd

Reply
Ron

February 25, 2009 at 1:17 am

Me too. You may have more readers than you think. It looks like the problem with your previous post got cleared up today–I hope you give it another try.

Ron (of the Dead Reckonings blogroll link)

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brutus12

February 25, 2009 at 1:26 am

i enjoy your post, although i do not comment alot, the posts help me understand alot better. I check this site everyday, usually more than once to see if there is an update. Ultimately it is your decision, but it would be my hope that you continue posting, and if you change where you post be sure to let your “regulars” know where we can find your material.

Reply
Micahel Croucher

February 25, 2009 at 8:10 pm

I have always enjoyed your blog but I understand the frustrations you are going through. My blog still looks awful on IE6 and on windows mobile phones – lord knows why but I have long given up trying to fix it.

If this really is ‘it’ then good luck my friend – I enjoyed coming along with you for the ride. If, on the other hand, you change you mind and carry on then let me know so I can make sure I keep up with you.

Best Wishes,
Mike

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vlorbik

February 26, 2009 at 1:08 pm

thanks all around for the encouraging words.
i’m anticipating one more post
announcing the next project
whatever it is. there’ll probably be
at least a side project wrapping up
the notes on 148 for this quarter;
sometimes it helps me prep the lectures
–or so i like to tell myself.

and, if i had my way, opening up
a comments thread. in particular,
and i hope not to put too fine a point on it,
for god sake delurk if you’ve been reading
this silly doggone stuff with any regularity;
i could try to hint at what it would mean to me
but i’d soon start misting up and have to
change the subject. because if blogging
isn’t begging for attention, why i’d like to know
what the heck is so i can do that instead.

traffic sort of spiked–i’d been getting
a pretty steady fiftyish-a-day and hit
180–so that’s sort of interesting.
the fact that throwing a fit is often
an effective way of *getting* attention
has done a lot of cutting-both-ways
in *my* life god knows.

anyhow, i don’t have the emotional resources
at this point to even *think* seriously about
quitting my internet addiction (at this point;
i can sort of see how it’s a good idea in principle
and’ve even spoken– many times– of looking forward
to the day when i’ll look *back* on my days on the web
and am just as mystified by the whole thing then
as i am now with my childhood TV habit–
how *could* i have given up *hour after hour*
to that silly box? etcetera etcetera…).

so: later today i’ll have started a new blog
somewhere and’ll come around and put out the invite.
thanks for reading this far; god bless this world wide web

Reply
Joshua Fisher

February 26, 2009 at 7:16 pm

Delurk.

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RaiulBaztepo

March 28, 2009 at 11:26 pm

Hello!
Very Interesting post! Thank you for such interesting resource!
PS: Sorry for my bad english, I’v just started to learn this language ;)
See you!
Your, Raiul Baztepo

Reply
vlorbik

March 29, 2009 at 11:56 pm

thanks raiul. good to see there are still
people finding out about this stuff…

Reply
PiterKokoniz

April 7, 2009 at 11:42 pm

Hello !! ^_^
I am Piter Kokoniz. Just want to tell, that I like your blog very much!
And want to ask you: what was the reasson for you to start this blog?
Sorry for my bad english:)
Thank you!
Piter Kokoniz, from Latvia

Reply
vlorbik

April 19, 2009 at 2:16 pm

hi piter! thanks for commenting!

i started the blog because i’ve been
saying certain things over and over
whenever i can get other math teachers
to listen and thought i’d enjoy
saying them more publicly.
as indeed i did.

i *kept* doing it mostly to document
my readings of *other* math blogs.
then there was a brief flurry of actual writing
(which continues in my new
math and personal blogs).

if you’re thinking of trying it,
you can take it from me: it’s a lot of fun.
(but don’t trust wordpress’s TeX interface.)

on the other hand, blogging might well
be past its sell-by date already.
fashions change so fast on the net
it’s easy to want to just give up
(and *stay* given up).

Reply