Should I stay or should I go?

Hi. I’ve been running this blog, coming up on two years now and am at a crossroad. Lately I’ve started reblogging other people’s blogs about classical music. When I do, I find on those days I get as many or more views as I do when I post original content. This is a bit disheartening. In the past two years, I’ve done 229 posts. So I’m wondering whether to continue. I would love to hear from readers what they think. In the mean time, I will continue posting links to videos of my favorite pieces.

28 thoughts on “Should I stay or should I go?”

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  1. I suppose it depends on your reasons for writing your blog. If you stop blogging, how will you record your experiences and your interest in music? My blog was started mostly as a way for me to record the changes happening around me and to share events with my family overseas. Other people, but not so many, seem to enjoy what I write. However, if they all faded away, I would most likely continue with my writing because I believe the times we are experiencing now are important to witness. Our city was struck by a once in 16,000 year earthquake; we are living at an incredible time. I enjoy your musical pieces. It is a great education for me.

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  2. Hi! As you know I’ve just started following your blog but as I’m just new in the field, so I can’t really give much of an opinion, but I think Gallivanta is right that it depends on your reasons for writing your blog. It depends on what you want to do inside.

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  3. I only recently started to follow your blog and really like it. I suggest you do both – your views, and others. You curate what is interesting either way. I have found your posts consistently interesting and useful on music when you write what you think and when you flag up others. i also love your music choices.

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  4. I think you should stay if it feeds your passion. I appreciate your blog because it reminds me to pause, listen and learn. Thanks! It is a reminder I really appreciate.

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  5. Oh, please do continue writing original content. I find them very interesting. You could do both, but I am pretty sure that people read your blog in the first place to read what you have to say, not just a rehash of other bloggers. If they came just to read other blogger’s works, then they would simply read the other’s blogs. I enjoy seeing both your thoughts and other’s thoughts on your blog, and I would highly encourage you to continue posting your favorite songs.

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  6. Dear All. Thanks for your thoughtful comments and support. I originally started this blog on Geocities in 1999 and wrote on it every day for about 6 months. My intent was to write about the pieces I loved and where I was when I heard them. I got to the age of 22 in that autobiography (1977) and then life events overtook me. Years later, after life settled down and with the ease of blogging that wordpress offers, and the creation of youtube that gives people more ways of enjoying the music, I decided to reincarnate the site about two years ago. I have done 229 blog posts in the reincarnated version, and I have quite a few more pieces I’d like to post about. I may have to cut back on the autobiographical part in detail, but I’ll try to keep the chronology right. I’ll also from time to time, reblog some of my earlier pieces from this site, since many of you arrived and started following me after the first year. All the best and keep listening to wonderful music.

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  7. I’m a bit late to comment but I wanted to say that I agree with the others. I love your posts and you’re a wonderful writer, but it’s important that it still brings you pleasure. As I missed out on some of your earlier posts, I’d certainly love to read some of them as well, that’s a good idea!

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    1. Thanks. That is a great compliment coming from you! Love your blog and especially the one on writing and reading in the tub! Did you see the picture of me as Marat in Paris in 1977? What an iconic picture. All the best.

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  8. I would like to add a couple of other thoughts about reasons to blog: I don’t know how many children or grandchildren (?) you have, but your accounts of your personal history and music taste will some day be intensely interesting to them. Also, sad to say, very many of us may eventually experience some form of dementia in our older years; what you record and write now may prove valuable as a communication tool. Sometimes our family and our friends only realise the need to ask questions or write histories when it is too late. Hopefully that will never be the case for you but…….!

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    1. Dear Gallivanta. Wow. I hadn’t thought about that. My mom had Alzheimers the last 5 or so years of her life and we lost all those stories of what her childhood was like in the early 20th century. My dad lived until the age of 96 and told good stories until the last year or so. My daughters loved hearing them. Another dimension is to let them know the story of how I met their mother and what an adventure it was raising them.

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      1. Let’s hope you take after your Dad! Your stories, however you record them or tell them, will be treasured and all the more so because men, on the whole, are not the ones who write or express their emotions easily. On another point about music and communication, an elderly friend of mine suffered a mild stroke. She had a difficult time recovering her language and still gets muddled even now. But her piano skills remained completely untouched. Music is amazing.

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  9. I also agree with the others. I think you should definitely continue to blog. I learn from them regardless whether they are original or not. I enjoy reading and getting the email notifications!

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  10. I will put my vote in that you continue (if you want to of course). I remember when you were doing blogging before there was such a term back in the mid 90s. I’ve always thought of you as a true pioneer that way and I do very much appreciate what you share a great deal.

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  11. I’ve only just discovered your site. I can understand why it would be disheartening to get more activity from reblogs than from original content. But, from a newcomer’s perspective, I really like what you’re doing here. I grew up around classical music but have slipped away from listening to it much in recent years. A site like this would inspire me to listen more and remind me of what’s out there. Classical music doesn’t take center stage much in social media these days.

    So it’s up to you. But I like your site. Glad you found mine, too!

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    1. Thanks. I’ve gotten good feedback so that will keep going. Reading your profile I noticed you also taught English abroad. That was my first career out of grad school. Now my youngest daughter has decided to follow in my footsteps and is getting a certificate after her BA. Did you have any trouble finding work overseas and if you have any helpful links on finding emloyement, could you please forward them? I look forward to reading about your rock climing. All the best.

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      1. Hi again! Unfortunately, I sort of had an “in” in Taiwan through some friends who were already working there, and my job in Taiwan led me straight to my job in Hong Kong. The company we were recruited by was faith-based and has sort of shifted its focus to doing other things. However, I *almost* chose to go to South Korea instead of Hong Kong. I interviewed and was accepted by a program called Gone2Korea, and I was very impressed by them, at least on the front end… So, if your daughter is interested in going to Korea, I would check them out!

        I’m glad to hear you’re going to keep going with your blog. And thank you for taking interest in my rock-climbing story! It means a lot to me. 🙂

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      2. Thanks. One of the places my daughter is considering is South Korea. Thanks for the name Gone2Korea. You said Gone2Korea was good on the front end. What about during and after? Best.

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      3. Ahh. And that’s where I don’t know! Because, in the end, I chose to go to Hong Kong. If you take a look at their web site, though, they have “testimonies” from a lot of people who have gotten jobs through their program. I know they do an orientation when you get there where you can meet a lot of other fellow teachers, too. I’ve thought about going abroad again and going through them, so I guess you could say I have high hopes! It’s best to do a lot of research on the school system before you go over there, though.

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  13. Kurt, I enjoy reading about your adventures. It’s the voyeur in me. Although I often can’t listen to or view the music (unless I’m on wi-fi), I still like knowing about Good Music. (All computing/blogging being done on on a phone data plan. I have to think long + hard about what I do online. 3 Gigs a month. Period. {Unless at library or elsewhere.}

    Being close in age, (a rarity here) I can identify with much.

    My feeling is that blogs are for ourselves. I couldn’t stop taking pictures if I tried, and my record is really for me. If others like it, great. If not, c’est la vie.

    I think you shouldn’t worry about it. Do it if it makes YOU happy, forget about the rest. (Hope it does !)
    Diana

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    1. Yes. It’s making me happier these days. I started liking other people’s blogs and reblogging their stuff and now I’m getting a lot more hits each day, so that’s reinforcing. When I started the blog in 1999, I used to ride the subway an hour each way to work and so I had two hours of writing time to write on each post. That shows in some of the pieces. Right now, I live a mile from work and on nice days I bike and I haven’t restructured my free time to write as much. So, getting some input made me decide to devote more time to it now. Writing is an obsession for me like photos are for you. So let’s keep it up. All the best.

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