Michael Blowhard writes:

Dear Everyone --

A fast note to let visitors know what I've already informed Donald and Friedrich about: I'm retiring from blogging at 2Blowhards.

It's been a great adventure, as well as (in web terms anyway) a pretty long one -- Friedrich and I first put our feet in the blogging waters back in, gadzooks, 2002. But over the last year or so my energy for pulling together fresh blogpostings has waned, and I've finally concluded that the time has come to cede the stage.

Although I'll probably be making occasional Friedrich-like guest appearances, Donald will be the main force driving the blog forward. He assures me that he has loads of topics in him that he's looking forward to sharing thoughts and information about, and I'll certainly be reading his wonderful work with avidity and pleasure.

Many thanks to my fellow Blowhards, but special thanks as well to the many people who have visited the site, left comments, sent me emails, etc.

When Friedrich and I were setting up 2Blowhards, I thought that our blogging would be a matter of telling the world what we thought. Instead, running 2Blowhards turned out to be far more social and participatory than that. I wound up not as some guy behind a microphone giving a lecture; instead, I became more like the proprietor of a cafe where many cool and interesting people stopped by to swap ideas and impressions, make jokes, squabble, and generally hang out. And you know what? That was a far more pleasing and rewarding activity than anything I could have dreamed up on my own. I hope never to lose track of the many nifty people I've met here.

I'm puttering whimsically away with a personal website, and I love using Facebook to pass along goofy links. If you'd like to stay in touch, I would too. Send me an email at michaelblowhard at gmail, and let's swap real names and email addresses, and/or arrange to Friend each other on FB.

Best,

Michael

Jeepers! This posting just made me really sad. Your input will be missed!

Posted by: Robert on September 17, 2009 3:14 AM

What? Yikes! Holy moly! The world is coming to an end!

Michael, you've written some amazing, provocative and hilarious pieces here.

Be forewarned. It's really hard to walk away from any blogging project...

I am not a fan of Facebook, but it's interesting how it satisfies many of my microblogging urges.

Posted by: Robert Nagle on September 17, 2009 4:16 AM

Come back, Shane!

Posted by: Peter L. Winkler on September 17, 2009 4:57 AM

I've only been blogging and commenting for a couple of months, Michael, but I've been reading and enjoying your contributions to 2 Blowhards for a few years. You were the one of the first bloggers to link to me, and I genuinely appreciate your plugging of my posts. I'm a bit honored that I caught the notice of a writer who I've respected for some time.

Godspeed, Michael, and good luck with your future endeavors.

Posted by: Ferdinand Bardamu on September 17, 2009 5:28 AM

Hail and farewell, Michael. We who are about to post salute thee.

Posted by: Gerard Van der Leun on September 17, 2009 5:29 AM

You've always had an interesting perspective and the blogosphere will miss your presence. Many thanks for your thoughtful posts and best of luck to you.

Posted by: John GOes on September 17, 2009 5:35 AM

You will be missed.

Posted by: Martin Regnen on September 17, 2009 5:43 AM

Fare thee well, and thanks for the entertainment.

Posted by: dearieme on September 17, 2009 6:39 AM

It's been an honor and a privilege to blog with you, sir. Not to mention, a rather entertaining adventure.

Posted by: Friedrich von Blowhard on September 17, 2009 6:57 AM

I'll miss you, Michael.

Please remain in touch.

I hope that life is good to you and your wife.

2Blowhards was a great achievement. I'm amazed at your ability to tap into what interests and intrigues people.

I'm sorry you've decided to give it up.

All things must pass.

Posted by: Shouting Thomas on September 17, 2009 7:39 AM

I've written my homage, and goodbye, to Michael Blowhard.

I'll shed more than a few tears over not keeping company with Michael every day.

Posted by: Shouting Thomas on September 17, 2009 8:27 AM

Bad to see you go, Best of luck in future

Posted by: Google on September 17, 2009 8:44 AM

I garner some relief at the promise of your occasional return to this forum, but am saddened at the news of your moving on to others. Reading you and Friedrich exchanging considered opinions was what inspired me to join the blogosphere and gas on (albeit in solo, less considered mode). And reading your longer pieces has always served as inspiration to just chill out, take a deep breath, then say something cheerfully outrageous -- because, why not?

You had a nifty way of exploiting this platform, Michael -- which, I might add, has transferred well onto the FB platform. Excelsior, Señor Blowhard!

Posted by: Whisky Prajer on September 17, 2009 8:48 AM

Thanks for the hundreds of excellent posts. You'll be missed.

Posted by: Chris Burd on September 17, 2009 8:53 AM

Thanks for all you've shared over the years. You introduced me both to the ideas of low-carb and Game, which have improved my life immeasurably. You deserve all the best.

Posted by: Zetji on September 17, 2009 8:57 AM

Michael, I can't think of a better compliment than to say: YOU HAVE ENTERTAINED.

Posted by: Robert Townshend on September 17, 2009 9:04 AM

Not quite completely surprised, as I've sensed you've been moving on internally for a while now, especially since your retirement from your Lousy Media Job. I hope that you'll be like FvB, occasionally stopping by with your perspective, getting things roiling in the way only you know how to do.

2Blowhards was probably my initiation into regular commenting, and it has remained my go-to blog destination for some time now. I will definitely miss you.

And damn about Facebook! I just cannot get into it! It doesn't have the same appeal for me as blogs and comment threads therein. So I'll just have to suck up my crotchety old fartness and see if I can manage to hook up with you, so to speak ahem, via that Web 2.0 fandangle thingy stuff.

Ave atque vale Michael Blowhard. I'll miss you.

Posted by: PatrickH on September 17, 2009 9:14 AM

I'm sure Donald will carry on admirably, but I'll miss your contributions. Best wishes!

Posted by: Rick Darby on September 17, 2009 9:23 AM

Wow! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Thank you for all your contributions to this wonderful site which has been so enjoyable and stimulating for so long. I'm sorry to hear this and I will sure miss your presence here.

Best wishes.

Posted by: mark on September 17, 2009 9:59 AM

Aaaawww :-( Thanks for all your efforts.

Posted by: jz on September 17, 2009 10:15 AM

Argh! I can't believe you're stopping just as I was working up my courage to start commenting on your posts!

Anyway, thank you for writing such great and freewheeling stuff about the arts, fitness and I've even started taking note of modernist architectural mistakes in my city.

What a fun scene this has been. Looking forward to continuing to read Donald -- and I hope you and Friedrich continue to make occasional appearances!

Posted by: sandra on September 17, 2009 10:39 AM

Many thanks Michael; through your blog (which I originally found via Sailer) I came across Roissy and Clio. Also, Mencius got his start here.

Posted by: PA on September 17, 2009 10:46 AM

I thought I felt a great disturbance in the force.

I can honestly say this site was one of a select few that really helped mature and shape my perspective on life.

Good luck and best wishes.

Thanks!
-Steve-O

Posted by: Steve-O on September 17, 2009 10:46 AM

Good thing I "know" you in the "real" world or I'd be really bummed right now. Thanks for this site and all the great posts.

Posted by: Bryan on September 17, 2009 10:48 AM

Thanks Michael for all the great posts. You're a first-rate writer and critic, and I look forward following your meanderings under your real name.

Posted by: Steve W on September 17, 2009 10:59 AM

Thank you for your posts, yourself and this lovely blog! You may not be the Captain of the ship, but it shall still be sailing; you've created something permanent that will live on.

Good luck with your future ventures, Michael.

Posted by: Bhetti on September 17, 2009 1:06 PM

Thank you so much for what you've done. You've clued me into too many things to list, or even remember. And best of all your humor and good nature has always shown through - a rare things in this rough wild new blog world.

And thanks also to the many entertaining (or maddening) commentors, one of the best collection of nuts and wits on the web in my opinion

Posted by: Todd Fletcher on September 17, 2009 1:10 PM

Sorry to hear this. Thanks for all the support you have given me.

Posted by: Thursday on September 17, 2009 1:21 PM

that sucks, michael. i'll miss your postings on movies, politics and the other arts.

Posted by: t. j. on September 17, 2009 2:45 PM

You will be missed, and thanks for turning me on to Sisson and the Primal Blueprint. It is making a very positive difference.

Posted by: jonathanjones02 on September 17, 2009 3:24 PM

You'll be back! They always come back.

Ha, but if you don't, thanks for writing some of the best blog posts I've come across. And for driving the tone of the blog and keeping us commenters thinking. I've said it before, but 2Blowhards is pretty unique in its eclectic viewpoint and in its (your?) ability to attract intelligent people with a wide variety of opinions, who argue their cases thoroughly and heatedly without descending into flame wars.

Happy trails.

Posted by: JV on September 17, 2009 4:21 PM

Thanks for all your posted reflections, MB. And it's been fun to see your byline in the comments of various other blogs. "Now, there's a remark I'll be sure to read," I'd think.

Do write more, as and when the Muse so directs.

Posted by: AMac on September 17, 2009 4:21 PM

Michael,

You will be missed! I have always found your site to be of immeasurable enjoyment and instruction on a range of subjects. Be well and best wishes!

Gerald

Posted by: Gerald Russello on September 17, 2009 4:25 PM

Well dammit anyway.

5 years, give or take, must be the usual cycle of interest for a lot of us. A couple of my other regular stops have closed down recently, as well.

I nearly closed down my tiny blog a few days ago - even put a post up which I have since deleted (one of the two or three I ever have). But, the next day, I realized that while I feel kind of burned out at the moment, blogwise, I also feel the passion will return and I'll regret not having it there.

Michael, you have been one of my favorite bloggers and an inspiration. I love your breezy style and the topics you bring to the fore. I'll patiently await your occasional post.

Cheers.

Posted by: yahmdallah on September 17, 2009 4:57 PM

So sorry to hear that you're leaving the stage you built here. No one but my original 30 readers (and heaven knows how *they* found me) would be reading my blog if it hadn't been for you. It's through your blog, too, that I've managed to make friends with several of your readers and with other bloggers.

I'd feel sorrier if I weren't convinced that you've been wanting to do this for some time...but I'll definitely miss your tact and fairness as a referee, and your willingness to entertain diverse points of view, a rare thing in the blog world.

Posted by: alias clio on September 17, 2009 5:34 PM

I miss you already!

Posted by: feministx.blogspot.com on September 17, 2009 5:51 PM

All things must end. I'm very grateful to you, though. I think the three of you have shown what blogging can be. You helped invent a new literary form, the first of its kind. Your influence will go on, I know this because...

I will be directly inspired by you when I begin my blowhardian blog some years from now (once my children are grown).

fare well,

The Holzbachian

Posted by: Holzbachian on September 17, 2009 6:51 PM

You will, indeed, be missed. You, along with a regular commenter named Franklin Evans at Rod Dreher's blog, have probably done the most to encourage me to be civil and *listen* when here in the blogosphere.

You're a great teacher in that respect, and I hope you continue to flex those muscles elsewhere.

Posted by: karlub on September 17, 2009 7:03 PM

Michael, thanks for all your entertainment, interesting insights, and scads of great links.

Actually I hope you'll reconsider. E.g. take a break, and then perhaps blog here quite a bit less often, without feeling you have to every other day or something, but not super rarely either.

Posted by: Doug1 on September 17, 2009 7:28 PM

Pupu is very sad reading this post.

Thank you for everything, Michael. The difference between a blog like 2blowhards and any traditional media is that it goes beyond entertainment; it brings people together giving them a sense of belonging, a collective consciousness.

You will be terribly missed, Michael.

Posted by: Pupu on September 17, 2009 8:55 PM

Good luck in your future endeavors sir and thanks for the food for thought!

Posted by: I_Affe on September 17, 2009 9:54 PM

Many thanks for your efforts over these last several years. As is obvious, your work has been appreciated by all of us across the spectrum.

Best of luck on your future endeavors.

Posted by: Tom West on September 17, 2009 10:21 PM

I can't tell you how much pleasure you've given Alston and me over the past years. It has been a pleasure reading your blogs and getting to know you. I look forward to a continued internet friendship with plenty of intellectual stimulation. Thanks for all you've done.

Posted by: Charlton Griffin on September 17, 2009 11:03 PM

I enjoyed your post and your idiosyncratic interests and style.

It is hard to quit, you will find.

If you find you cannot ... stop ... blogging ...

... no one will be mad at you for coming back!

Posted by: Lexington Green on September 17, 2009 11:12 PM

All things change. Nothing is sadder or more wonderful than that fact.

I've enjoyed this blog immensely over the last few years, and learned a lot about things I would never have come into contact with otherwise.

Thanks for what you've contributed to that.

Donald, thanks for carrying this forum forward.

Posted by: Rich Rostrom on September 18, 2009 12:09 AM

Well, the days of blogging are over, but the after-party still rolls on. Thanks for all the memories and seeya on facebook, dude.

PatH: ...join us ...join us....

Posted by: Spike Gomes on September 18, 2009 1:40 AM

O, Michael, original Blowhard,
you've stirred up our feelings (though no hard).
Yet it's true, and we trust
if you leave, that you must.
But living without will be so hard...

Posted by: Reg Cæsar on September 18, 2009 2:19 AM

You're one of my favorite writers, Michael. I will miss your contributions to 2BH, but I'm sure you'll be around.

I wish you well.

Posted by: Chip Smith on September 18, 2009 8:13 AM

f*ck

Posted by: Si on September 18, 2009 9:02 AM

Michael, you have been the consummate blog host ... witty, provocative, and engaging. You have substantially contributed to making it a pleasure to participate here. You and your fellow Blowhards have created a forum where those with divergent views can debate, and even argue, with just the right amount of reminding us guests when it's time to move on. You've been tirelessly adept at offering a wide diversity of topics along with frequent links to interesting blogs, videos, and articles keeping it all fresh and fun. You will be missed.

Posted by: Chris White on September 18, 2009 9:44 AM

Thanks for the inspiration, education, entertainment, provocation, and, most of all, the conversation.

Posted by: Jon Hastings on September 18, 2009 12:06 PM

Alas, A Blowheart departs. He, Michael, will be missed.

Posted by: Bill on September 18, 2009 8:32 PM

The first thing I have to say is: thanks.
You did a great job.

The second thing is: Don't go.

There will be some drastic things happening to this country -- soon. Seems like a critical mass of the assholes in the nation have tossed their lit cigarettes into the dry brush. It is just not the time for you to climb down from the observation tower.

Since I have complete faith in my one-man Internet petition (the first of its kind), let me be the first to say --Welcome back, Michael.

(Whatever the case, the last thing I should say is also: Thanks.

sN

Posted by: sN on September 18, 2009 11:12 PM

Bummer.

With that said, it has been a privilege. Thanks for all the years of intelligence and good humor.

Posted by: robert61 on September 18, 2009 11:15 PM

Shocking and sad but I guess not a huge surprised. What really surprised was how you were able to turn out such thoughtful, original and well-written posts for as long as you did. Even before you asked me to join your line up for my short stint I thought you were the best thing out there. I thought that when I was active and I do today too. The tone of the place is remarkable and that is also a tribute to you. I wish you well. But i will keep the bookmark and my fingers crossed for any return appearances.

Posted by: fenster moop on September 19, 2009 11:47 AM

I wish you every success in whatever path you choose to follow now, Michael. Best wishes. Let us know what you'll be doing next. I don't doubt that you will be doing it wonderfully well.

Posted by: Richard S. Wheeler on September 19, 2009 4:46 PM

As Lou Reed sang in "Underneath the Bottle" from The Blue Mask in 1982, "Ooh-ooh-wee: SONOFABEE!!!"

Michael has been a ray whose light I saw over hill and dale far too little in my careless long-distance drives across other blogs far less worthy of the standard he has set in his uncommon cultural range. May the memory of his poly-morphous diversity de-frost our windshields as we continue our drives tuned to our favorite syndicated radio show down by its founding co-host without whom we will drive afflicted by the fan's equivalent of phantom limb syndrome, as Michael rows his blog ashore. And may the metaforce be with us, everyone, as they are with me today not wisely but blown 2hard...

Posted by: Scott Lahti on September 20, 2009 2:37 AM

always the first blog that i read, best wishes michael, thanks, and hope that you post more than you plan....

Posted by: gavin on September 20, 2009 3:08 PM

Say it ain't so!

You will be missed.

Posted by: Narr on September 21, 2009 12:09 PM

I hate to see you say goodbye, but let's count our blessings for all the good moments.

No farewells, just thanks.

Posted by: Maciano on September 21, 2009 3:25 PM

Very beautiful last post, but also a very sad one. A great hole is going to be in the blogging sphere in my opinion. Keep in touch!

Posted by: David Brown on September 21, 2009 4:45 PM

Oh shit. Why do all the good things in life have to end?

My life, like all of the others who comment on this blog, will be just that bit emptier

Bugger.

Posted by: slumlord on September 21, 2009 5:56 PM

Bummer. Big bummer.

Posted by: George F. Snell III on September 21, 2009 8:07 PM

Now you went and made me feel guilty for not having been here much lately.

Thanks, Michael. And I really mean that.

Posted by: ricpic on September 21, 2009 8:40 PM

In the blogging hall of fame, Michael, you are a first-ballot inductee. As Fenster said, I thought that before you asked me to blog at Blowhards, I thought it during my stint here, and I think it now. I loved my time here, and regret to this day that other commitments would not allow me to continue. This is pretty much blogging as it was meant to be.

Posted by: Francis Morrone on September 22, 2009 1:02 AM

Late to the party as usual, best wishes and much gratitude for your work. I haven't much commented, but have enjoyed lurking here very much.

Posted by: Bradamante on September 22, 2009 6:50 AM

retirement? put. that retirement. down. retirement's for closers! :)

Posted by: roissy on September 22, 2009 4:55 PM

Very sad news. Thanks so much for all you've done for us at Querencia.

Posted by: Reid Farmer on September 22, 2009 5:55 PM

:(

and

:(

Well, what else is there to say in blog comment texting shorthand?

Posted by: onparkstreet on September 23, 2009 6:51 PM

Thanks to all for the nice comments!

Posted by: Michael Blowhard on September 24, 2009 12:15 PM

Tempted to write a lyrical lament over Michael's departure, after my occasional song-parodies at Crunchy Con, @TAC at The American Conservative, and (ahem) Alexandria, I nodded (after Homer - and his ancient namesake), then dreamed up "It's a Shame About Michael", performed by me and a blogging partner as 2 Lemonheads.

Imagine my disappointment to discover upon awakening and before my morning fifth that the song remains the same (after Led Zeppelin) as it ever was (after The Talking Heads) seventeen years ago, and that among the great minds thinking alike my conscious one had fled the scene long since. Just change "Ray" (after The, not 2, Lemonheads, though "Michael's Hard Lemonheads" has a certain citrus, er, tang to it; "you ask any NASA astronaut, he'll say there's nothing we can do/From the General Foods chemists' labs, right down to me and you; me and you. - after Glenn Frey.) to "Michael" in the original, and keep the shame you can believe in, given our collective loss, in your pocket until The 2 Blowhards Comeback Tour: Blowing Harder Than Ever...

Posted by: Scott Lahti on September 25, 2009 11:25 PM






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