Am thinking it might be time to give up the Fishblog.
Part (or most) of the charm of writing this has been that have been able to do so is partial anonymity. Only three or four readers, at the time of its inception, actually knew me. But in the last month, a handful of acquaintances have discovered this pink, scaly little secret and yesterday, my brother did.
Will undoubtedly feel the need to censor myself knowing that Passive Aggressive Girl and the V. Calm Brother Figure are among the readership. And then, what would be the point of continuing?
Perhaps is time for a new project.
Oh my. And how did the v. calm brother discover this?
Posted by: Frankenstein at April 3, 2003 09:01 AMThe same thing has happened to me in the past. I feel for you :) I really enjoy your writing and if you do decide to shut this down i'd love to be in the loop so I know where you'll be reincarnating.
Posted by: Jen at April 3, 2003 09:22 AMNoooo! I just started reading you and your comments make me feel normal for having recently admitted that I, too, need a bicycle. Please don't go.
Posted by: Jennifer at April 3, 2003 09:22 AMHave enjoyed reading your blog, as one of many others, but satisfying yourself should always come first.
Enjoyed very much getting to know your online personality and reading about your adventures.
Whatever you decide, best of luck to you in your real life. You seem like one of the good ones.
Posted by: Texas T-bone at April 3, 2003 09:23 AMJ: If explanation were to exist, this page would not.
Perhaps you are ready to move on from your well-written, but ultimately unsatisfactory book.
I hope you found your explanation.
Don't give up the blog site fish. Consider this the last time that I will ever look at it. It will be as anonymous and hidden from now on as it was before I found it.
Posted by: v. calm brother at April 3, 2003 09:40 AMNo! Please! Isn't there something to be done? Can't they be brainwashed to remove their knowledge of the blog? My whole office reads you... We will miss you so much.
::done with whine::
Moiré and an Office of lurkers.
if you do close up shop (and i'm anticipating a swelling storm of "please don't go!" from your loyal readers), i'm glad i got a chance to read (and meet) the fish before you splash off into the sunset.
Posted by: mbc at April 3, 2003 10:01 AMCount me as a happy reader who would love to continue seeing your words, even if in another location. You're second on my list of visits every day. I would certainly miss you.
All the best for whatever you decide.
What????
I find you in the morning thanks to fates fickle finger & by the middle of the same day any hopes of reading you in the future are cruely dashed.At least I have the consolation of reading the archives for the first time but for your regular readers I can only guess at the reaction but think there may be tears before bedtime & long in to the night or day depending on which side of the water they are.If the worse comes to the worse then thank you for an almost brief encounter.!
sTEVE
*sniffle* don't go, fishy.
Posted by: k at April 3, 2003 10:49 AMYeah... really :(
Posted by: Ari at April 3, 2003 10:54 AMBaby, don't do it! If you do, I'll be forced to croon "Please Don't Go Girrrrrl" by the prolific and masterful New Kids on the Block on an audio blogger post, and we ALL don't want that to happen.
Posted by: Cati at April 3, 2003 11:02 AMSuggestion for a new blog site/title: "This Fish Needs A Hideout." Or: "This Fish Needs A Psuedonym." :)
Posted by: Michael at April 3, 2003 11:22 AMhmmm, i faced a similar situation a couple months ago--due to some dumbass friend of mine posting my full name while linking to my site. sorry if you have to go, but i hope you put up another one. you had a great title though!
Posted by: the bricklayer at April 3, 2003 11:31 AMNo. No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Please reconsider.
You're a sparkling, witty, articulate person, an utter delight to read, and having only discovered you two weeks ago, I'd be loath to see you disappear.
You can't let those close to you censor what you want to say. I was straight up about my blog's existence with all friends and family from the off. I like to think it's helped some of them understand me a little better. More than one person describes it as a portal into my brain.
If your friends and family can't handle your honesty, then they have problems they need sorting out. This place helps you solve yours.
You also have a devoted readership. Relocate by all means, but please keep us in the loop - a secret meeting place with a code word involving birds and seasons, or some such.
Besides which, I've not got my application in yet. :)
Think again, notre petite poisson.
Posted by: Ben at April 3, 2003 11:52 AMbye fish.
Posted by: hubs at April 3, 2003 12:04 PMfish... i don't want you to go, for purely selfish reasons.
however, this morning my anonymity was busted, and i know how you feel. i think i really hurt someone's feelings. it's hard, because what we're dealing with are personal truths. it's all fun and witty when we have nice things to say about people. but we're human, and we have sometimes not so nice things to say. the last thing we need to do is censor ourselves.
that said, i still don't want you to go.
Posted by: sassylittlepunkin at April 3, 2003 12:33 PMOh, Fishy, we'd certainly miss you! But I think we all understand the you gotta do what you gotta do. Best of luck in whatever you decide, and I'd like to echo Jen by saying that I'd love to know it if you resurface at a later date.
Posted by: windowsill wendy at April 3, 2003 12:34 PMWhatever you decide to do, I will always love you.
Look at the support you have from all of these people though...this journal has really come such a long way. The last year has been quite a trip.
Let me know what you decide to do baby.
Seems like everyone's getting busted these days. Good thing my big mouth never kept my site secret from anyone, not even mom.
You should just keep the super private things for list serve emails, and then have periodic mass emails to your readers, como my new plan for the too-hot-for-catifabulous email, coming to an inbox near you quite soon!
Posted by: Cati at April 3, 2003 12:55 PMfish i hope you don't go.
write for yourself. write because you enjoy it. write because you're good at it. write because it means something to you to put pen to paper or fingers to keys as it were.
oh damnation! i'm just a whiney echo of everyone else at this point but but BUT...
this blog is one of the few that i enjoy reading on a daily basis, and have been doing so for a few months. i remember finding it for the first time, and getting to go back and read the archives (which i tried to savor slowly, but then didn't). It reminded me of Briget Jones' Diary a bit. anyway, I do know how you feel, cause a link to *my* blog accidently got sent to a cousin and a grandfather and need i say more? But i'm sticking with it for now. Till my dad finds out about it at least...
But if you do go, then thanks for all the reading pleasure, and i hope you find a worthy bicycle soon. All the best!
Best of luck to you, Fish, with whatever you decide. I know I enjoy reading your journal each day. It's one of my favorites. Your fans love you.
Posted by: Indigo Steve at April 3, 2003 01:41 PMI, too, selfishly hope you don't go... what will I read with my morning coffee? :)
Posted by: tumtum tree at April 3, 2003 02:02 PMFish, please reconsider...
You will be missed so much...
This Fish Needs Anonymity, indeed!
Posted by: pelican at April 3, 2003 02:22 PMOh Fishie please don't go.
But I completely understand if you do. I don't think I would want anyone of family to know what goes on in my "real" life either.
Good Luck!
Posted by: kimmie at April 3, 2003 04:11 PMBaby please don't go.
Posted by: Jim at April 3, 2003 04:42 PMOooooooh.. :(
I really hope you'll continue with your blog. After all, you JUST got a new look! It definately has been a pleasure to read you every day but I will understand if you stop. I will miss you though.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Posted by: dd at April 3, 2003 05:03 PMBaby please don't go,
Baby please don't go,
Baby please don't go,
Down to New Orleans
You know I love you so,
Baby please don't go.
(PS: You can just write the blog to me in e-mail) ;)
its kind of sad. this is the first post of yours that i'm reading, and probably the last. what a weird feeling. but i can understand. you must go and leave the rest of us back on the mainland. but board and ark and email us your new URL if you have one, because, well, it would be such a shame to miss you. only, well, thats not quite foolproof. but we will see where we are led to.
Posted by: anne at April 3, 2003 05:10 PMdang ... i just discovered and linked to you yesterday!
i will be keeping an eye on here, just in case you change your mind :)
cheers
... sigh ...
Posted by: e l l e at April 3, 2003 05:46 PMAfter reading many a blog I decided to start my own. (I hope it remains anonymous as I don't intend to share its info with anyone I know). After extensive blog readings I was so excited to stumble upon another "fish" (so many people are linked to you). After reading your most current entries I instantly felt I must read your blog from beginning to end. I started one night at around 10pm and watched the sun come up the next am. (I took some breaks of course)
You've got a gift for writing and a talent that draws readers into your blog. It'd be a shame to see that disappear. Best of luck in which ever path you chose. I for one thank you for sharing your stories and making one night of my life a hell of a lot more interesting.
thats cool. i was tired of you posting all of our conversations and talkin shit behind my back anyway.
Posted by: inner goddess at April 3, 2003 05:52 PMwow. You are so loved. Here's my suggestion: Cast off the binding shackles of anonymity. These are your real feelings, and if others can't accept that, then it's their own axe to grind—not yours...
Granted, I'm sure that's easier said than done. I knew I'd never be able to keep my site anonymous, so I didn't try...
Your blog perks me up on a daily basis. You will truly be missed.
Posted by: Kimberly at April 3, 2003 07:01 PMIndeed, your blog is truly a delight, and if you decide to leave (and who wouldn't understand your reasons?), you will be sorely missed. Best of luck, and follow your heart.
Posted by: Silvya at April 3, 2003 10:50 PMYou still give me a reason to smile most days Fish. Goodbye & have fun if you're going; it would be great if you stayed ;)
If however, you're starting a new blog, my details are right below this post. Drop me a line =)
Posted by: Charlene at April 4, 2003 01:15 AMLast time we spoke, i had a yahoo address, and abandoned that for reasons similar to those making you consider de-blogging. I wish the demise of Thisfish were as trivial a matter as changing email addresses....
Sadly, it's way more important. So many people will miss you, me not least. I read a lot of Ari, Cati and Joelle, but i read *all* of Thisfish. If you decide to go, take our very best wishes with you. It's been huge fun, you're a truly great blogger, and if you find a will, and a way, to start over anonymously, I hope i get to find you.
I mean, for just one thing, Indie-rock Boy ... come on, we need to know
With (hopefully unnecessary) goodbye hugs ...
Posted by: Erin at April 4, 2003 01:45 AMOh dear..
please don't go. I agree with everyone else; you're far too good of a writer to just go. Plus you just got this pretty page that's all your own.
I hope you change your mind. I'll miss you.
Posted by: Laura at April 4, 2003 02:29 AMI know how it feels being caught out by people you know in real life. It's kind of like being naked. Anyway, you're a fabulous writer and I'll miss the Fishblog if you do decide to stop doing it.
Posted by: Brenda at April 4, 2003 03:37 AMFish, love your blog. Love your vernacular. Put me on the "gonna e-mail these people about new anonymous blog" if choose to create said blog.
Please Please Please Do not Go
Fishy, we more than love you. We lurve you! We luff you! Don't go.
Posted by: michybrit at April 4, 2003 11:52 AMHere's your Jimmy Stewart moment.
Posted by: PS at April 4, 2003 10:34 PMA day late and a dollar short as usual.
I'm glad you decided to stay. Many people have discovered my blog. My brother, selected co-workers, etc. Each time I was terrified.
The bottom line is: I am about truth. I am the type to tell all of meatspace about many of my blog topics. If these people can't handle the truth then fuck 'em.
At this point, I wouldn't even care if my now-Ex found mine.
The only proper time to kill a blog is when there is nothing more to say.
Ah yes, the discovery factor. I've been through this a lot lately. So I moved everything and kept my usual frog going. Good luck. I'd hate to see you go!
Posted by: Lana at April 9, 2003 02:07 PM