Alert - Worth it, but not....

Some of you probably saw this coming, but I didn't - which is interesting when you think about it.  I've decided to give up the podcasting, and therefore the blog as well.  This was both fun and interesting for me to do and there's quite a few things I learned to appreciate in the process.  The problem is I had two conflicting principles in doing this: First - I wanted it to be a hobby.  This means I was approaching this as a way to relive interesting moments (Spot On Reflections), further support my health goals (Blitz Fitness), and complain and compare other's opinions and thought processes to my own (The Reactioneer and Straight to the Bulletpoint).  Simple enough.  Simply put - I didn't want it to feel like work.  Second, and here comes the storm, I don't like doing things poorly.  Early on I was okay with my lack of quality from a personal and technical standpoint.  After all, this was a new experience for me and bugs could be expected.  These situations collided recently however.  I kept feeling like there was so much more I could do, ideas I had that would help to further separate myself from the masses.  All good things take time and effort though, and that went against why I was doing this.

I really thought I had a winning formula to balance those two issues when I made all shows except Blitz a monthly show.  It wasn't until yesterday that I realized that wasn't the case.  Yesterday morning should have had a Blitz Fitness show scheduled, but instead my Saturday went like this: I woke up and grabbed the newspaper from my porch, walked to the store (about a half mile or so) to buy Kefir for breakfast, went jogging with a client, got pizza puffs at Grassano's with some close friends, went to Disc Replay for some classic (and not so classic) game purchasing, hit the dollar store for some cheap candy, bought vuvuzela's and played them on the drive home, hung out and laughed myself to exhaustion before slinking home tired but pleased.

That's a great day, and it was chockful of some of my hobbies already.  To produce a quality show and blog to you all I would have to start missing out on that a bit more and would want that?  The next question to ask is who would want to listen to the podcasts I've been doing the way they are now?  "No one" is the answer to both questions.  Inevitably the third, hidden question had to rear its ugly head; should I even bother with this?

The answer is no, I really shouldn't.  There's such a dearth of podcasts available today that when I look back at what I wanted to do with all 4 shows, only one of them was original (SoR).  Yet even that one falls short when i examined and realized that I do not have the technical skills to even make that show what I had in mind.

Without a doubt podcasting will continue and be quality for some time to come.  Let's not forget how young this medium still technically is and what can be on the horizon.  Although I'm sad that this little effort of mine failed to live up to my own expectations I can take solace in the programs I already enjoy: shows on the Frogpants Network (Final Score, The Morning Stream, Film Sack, both Instance shows, Hypothetical Help, and Autopilot), How Stuff Works (Stuff you should know, stuff to blow your mind, stuff you missed in history class, etc.), the bounty provided by NPR, and so many others at this time.

If you're reading this then you likely gave me a chance.  Thank you for that!  Am I walking into the sunset with a sad song at my feet?  Yes.....  Forever?  Who knows.  I can only say it was worth all the while.  If I'm really lucky maybe I've given someone out there an idea they turn into a show and have the time, skills, and drive to make it something special.  If you do, let me know so I don't miss out on it!