June 16th, 2008
“Yes I said yes I will…”* quit blogging
For a while now, I’ve been gradually shifting perspective on a few things and find myself with less time than ever to devote to this blog. As Shane pointed out when he called it a day last month, not only do readers expect and deserve posts of a certain quality (and frequency), you expect it of yourself. Otherwise, why bother? So rather than half-heartedly keeping the post count up, I’ve held off writing much, and it’s brought me to a logical conclusion. It’s time for me to stop writing this blog but I’ll continue to write elsewhere, doing work stuff. I’m indebted to all the wonderful commenters and readers who have stopped by to offer their views; it’s what has made the experience so enjoyable. Thank you also to everyone who took the time to vote this blog Best Arts & Culture blog at the Irish Blog Awards for the last three years. I’ve retreated from blogging before and come back, but this time - in this space anyway - I think it will be a permanent break. If you want to get in touch, I’ll still be contactable at sineadATsineadgleesonDOT.com.
However, I’ve really enjoyed Musical Rooms and because of the amount of positive feedback, I’ve decided to keep it going. So I’ve set up a separate Musical Rooms blog and plan to update it as regularly as I can. Feel free to add it to your feed/blogroll if you want to keep reading about musicians and their equipment geekery in the places they create. Let me know of any glitches, it’s a work in progress and I’m still fixing things and adding links to the blogroll. Musical Rooms will also continue to run in print in The Ticket in The Irish Times, usually on the last Friday of every month.
*Happy Bloomsday. Apologies to Molly Bloom for pinching the end of her soliloquy for the post title.
June 16th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Fair play to you Sinead, I’m sure it was a very hard decision to make. I have to say, every time I read one of your blogs or Shane’s or anyone who did one of a similar standard/frequency, the question foremost in my mind was ‘where do they get the time?’. Hopefully, this will free you up to devote time to other ambitions. Good luck!
June 16th, 2008 at 9:39 am
Best of luck Sinead and thanks for distracting me, and I’m sure many others, from the inanity of our daily work routine. Sorry to see the end of the blog.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Ach shite. Think I drunkenly convinced Una to keep bloggging on Friday night but it was a hard slog. Jaysus. Am very much starting to feel on my own….
Best of luck hon.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Sorry to hear that but delighted that you are going to keep going with the brilliant Musical Rooms.
Hope you’ll be back blogging sometime.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Ah poo. Well, mind yourself anyway and we’ll see you in print and in Musical Rooms!
June 16th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Sorry to hear that Sinéad but totally understand your reasoning. See ya soon.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Aw…what a shame.
Thanks for all the great blogs Sinead.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am
It’s been emotional
June 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Giving up blogging is the new blogging.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I’ll keep an eye out for your articles in the paper - are you on Twitter?
June 16th, 2008 at 10:23 am
That must’ve been such a hard decision to make, Sinéad, but delighted you made it if doing so frees up your time a bit more. x
June 16th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Good luck Sinéad - sorry to hear you are finishing up - here’s a photo of us from one of your Irish Blog Award wins and I hope you will keep in touch with the boggersphere…
June 16th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Sinead - You’ve been giving the world a lot of content for free. Which is a hell of a lot less than it’s been worth.
I’ve been through this back and forth a couple of times myself. You just realise that your time has value, and there are only so many words per day that you can write and only so many hours in the day for family and friends. Things have to give.
If it’s served its purpose, so be it. “readers expect and deserve posts of a certain quality (and frequency), you expect it of yourself” suggests that you saw this medium in a very particular way.
“Otherwise, why bother?” Hopefully you might see a different answer to that question at some point. Even a few lines that frame and point to written work appearing elsewhere (or quoting in full if you retain the copyright and online distribution rights) can be of interest and of value, to you if no one else. And then a platform for occasional thoughts that don’t appear elsewhere, the journo equivalent of webisodes. Just because your insights don’t appear on a pre-determined timscale doesn’t mean they are instrinsically less valuable.
Anyway, it was obviously a tough decision. But the work you’ve already put out via this blog is worth celebrating. Well done and continued success.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:31 am
[…] Sinéad G is leaving the Sigla blog - the best Arts and Culture blog, three years […]
June 16th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Good look with everything, Sinéad
June 16th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Sorry to hear that you’re going Sinéad - but look forward to catching you elsewhere.
(Best from everyone in PI too!)
June 16th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Christ, good LUCK, even.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:48 am
A massive shame, but a decision I know you’ll be glad you made in the long run. Enjoy your retirement from the blogosphere.
Thanks for making it such a great blog while you were running it…where am I supposed to get my booky news now? *whimper*
June 16th, 2008 at 10:49 am
It’s been a fantastic site and Musical Rooms will continue to be a must-read. But you’ll enjoy the freedom.
June 16th, 2008 at 10:52 am
Best of luck Sinead! Will keep an eye out for your name in print
June 16th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Sorry to hear that Sinead, but best of luck!
June 16th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Sorry to hear this, but thanks for showing us latecomers what a decent blog can shape up to. Best of luck, PJ.
June 16th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I’m pretty amazed you kept it going as long as you did! Thanks and best of luck…
June 16th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
will miss the blog Sinead but glad that Musical Rooms is still going.
Best of luck with everything.
Cheers
June 16th, 2008 at 12:49 pm
Ah that’s a real shame Sinead, you’ll be missed. I think Sigla was the really the first blog I read in serious way so I would have to credit you with being abig influence in getting me blogging. At least your work will still be around the place though.
I’ll keep reading Musical Rooms and will try to shpherd both my readers in that direction too. Best of luck, Andrew
June 16th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Best of luck, Sinead. Thanks for all the years of blogging.
June 16th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Such a pity but best of luck in all your free time! Thanks for keeping Musical Rooms going though!
June 16th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
You’ll be missed here too.
Thanks for giving me the courage at the beginning. Without you, I might have quit. You have a lot to answer for!
June 16th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
This is just you copying Alex Ferguson, isn’t it? You’ll be back….
If that’s not the case, thanks for all those wonderful posts sinead (especially the full-frontal recent assault on SATC) and I’m delighted to hear that Musical Rooms will continue.
Best of luck with everything
June 16th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Best of luck Sinead! Thanks for all the excellent posts and great to see that Musical Rooms is continuing!
June 16th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Ah, best of luck Sinead, good to know Musical Rooms will continue.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
One less pit-stop on the scenic route to getting my work done. I’ll miss you around here but I’ll catch up with you everywhere else. Take care and have a ball, Sinéad.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
“Noooooooooooo …!”
June 16th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
You will be missed!
June 16th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
FFS. Now I’ll have to update the blogroll on my own site.
June 16th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
Man, not again…
June 16th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Aww… that’s a shame.
Well, thanks for all the great reads.
Good luck with all your future endeavours.
June 16th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
you’ll be missed sinead,
to be honest, i’ve found it difficult to get back into recently after a little break - there is just so much else going on….
anyhoo, pop up from time to time to say hello the rest of us proles and we’ll wave fondly back from the glistening factory floor
leigh
June 16th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Deary, deary me,
What will we do when all the good bloggers are gone? It’s getting there quicker than I’d like! Good luck Sinead!
Eoin
June 16th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Best of luck Sinead, i think I’ll miss your end of year music list the most
June 16th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Best of luck Sinead and thanks for all your support and encouragement with my music.
June 16th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
“Ah crap”, was my first reaction. But I suppose priorities and demands of time change. Well it did for me anyway. Just want to say what a pleasure it was to be able to see that new entry in my RSS feed in Bloglines everyday from Sigla.
You’re not dead (she’s not dead everyone!), but I’ll always fondly remember that dirty kebab we had during?/after the first blog awards.
Best of luck with your future endeavours.
Colm.
June 16th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
That’s a real shame. But yes, only so many hours in the day. And you had a carpal tunnell problem last year as I recall. You’ve got to mind that too. Best of luck and thanks.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:11 am
Ah sad to hear that…….but glad to see you’ll keep the other bit going…..
June 17th, 2008 at 4:44 am
[…] is giving up blogging. I’m sad to you go, thanks for all of your hard work. I’ll miss your […]
June 17th, 2008 at 8:05 am
Sinead,
It’s been a pleasure reading your blog over the last few years. Will be tuning into the Musical Rooms. The best of luck there.
June 17th, 2008 at 8:44 am
A sad day, but a totally understandable decision (I’m sure we’ve all “been there” before). Still - “Musical Rooms” lives - yay! Sinéad’s writing still lives - yay(er)! The world keeps turning and life (with a few freed up hours) goes on.
So long Sigla and thanks for all the fish.
F xx
June 17th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Oh I will be sorry to see the Sigla Blog go. You’ve been a great source of musical and literary inspiration ever since I started reading. Cheers for everything and all the best.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Christ, I start and everyone else stops.
Best of luck, I can imagine how difficult it would’ve been maintaining a blog of this calibre along with a day job.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
What a loss to the blogging community!
Best of luck to you, Sinead.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I thought you’d packed it in years ago and deleted ’sigla’ from favourites. Then a couple of weeks ago I find you’re going strong and reinstate it. Almost immediately, you’re retiring again! When your writing and my reading have coincided, I’ve really enjoyed it.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
If a blog is taking over your life it’s time to ditch it in favour of a life. Maybe you’ll also find time to write a book you’ve thought about writing? I hope meeting you on a library shelf will prove to be as invigorating as meeting you in cyberspace.
June 17th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
ah not again!
June 18th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Thats a pity, I love this blog!!! all the best though x
June 18th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Hadn’t commented in a long while but still reading it so sorry to hear this. All the best Sinead and hope to see some fiction emerge at some point.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:56 am
I was wondering why I’d completely missed the IMPAC award announcement!
Best of luck with everything Sinéad, and thanks for all the blogging…
June 19th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I’m late with this but - I’m sorry you’re leaving. Delighted to hear musical rooms will be sticking around though. Take care, enjoy the free time!
June 20th, 2008 at 9:00 am
Best of luck with the future Sinead. You’ve been a pleasure to read and an inspiration for the Irish blogosphere as a whole.
June 21st, 2008 at 4:03 am
Just found you this minute and you run out on me!
Typical woman!
Or is it just me they do that to?
June 22nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Will be missed.
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:13 pm
i have quite enjoyed your blog and will miss it. there’s so much dross out there on the web, it’s nice to see someone doing it with panache and making it look easy every once in a while! best of luck in your future endeavours
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Ah, good luck Sinead, I hope it frees up some time you need and that things are going ok.
Good work! Be proud of what you’ve done. xx
June 24th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I’m sorry to hear this! I’m an American who stumbled upon this blog after living in Dublin for a few months and have been hooked ever since then - definitely one of my favorite blogs around, and you’re a whole lot cooler than anyone at Pitchfork. Good luck to you Sinead!
June 27th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Late to this, but I’m sorry to see you depart from blogging, Sinead.
Best of luck to you in your future endeavours.
July 1st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Yikes!!! Not just, (another one bites the dust) but one of the absolute BEST. Sorry to see you go. Take care - God Bless.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Thanks for all the hard work Sinéad. Hope your other writing/podcasting adventures go really well!
August 31st, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Just stopping by to say I miss your posts, but well understand your decision. Blogging, if done right, is practically a full time job. Hope all is well!
November 7th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Hi Sinead….it shows how infrequently I blog myself these days that I’m just noticing your departure now! I enjoyed your recent TV appearance with John Kelly reviewing movies. I hope life is good for you. Best wishes for the future.