Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Honesty in Blogging, or What Was This Thing About Again?

There have long been some quirks to this little examination of my own odd creative life; doubtless a reflection of the oddities of its composer. Crafting a game or painting a miniature seem to me to use the same muscles as writing a poem or a piece of music. (Or at least related muscle groups.) But its full scope is . . . a little eclectic. My newer readers doubtless wonder why the heck it has a title referring to poetry or symphonies. My earlier followers might have wondered why I took the detour off little ships and onto the obligatory grim-dark. Maybe there's even  a person or two that are curious how I got on boats in the first place, since aircraft carriers and tramp freighters don't seem to have much to do with orchestral composition . . . though there is something poetic about them, to be fair.

Well, here's the contemplation. My explorations of the classic world of 80s sci-fi have lately occurred in a setting called the Tartarus Rim. And I do an awful lot more of that than anything else these days. So maybe a rename is in order. To that end I've reworked the URL. (The old one will still redirect here for the foreseeable future. Not abandoning it, in any case.) . . . And I've fussed with the art and appearance a little. I'm not quite happy yet, but are we ever, really? More will come. But here's the big question: do I divide things up and if so how? I have just started a parallel blog that's strictly the highbrow stuff. Well . . . mostly. But do I leave it here? Can highbrow and retreating hairline stand side by side? The poetry is fairly occasional and the music has dwindled almost to nothing, so moving new work in those two media elsewhere probably won't have much impact on this story, apart from making it slightly more focused. Would my gaming friends miss the poetry? Would my poet friends prefer to see the tiny lead people?

I may put off final decisions a little longer. It's no harm to leave things as they are. There's considerable room and time for tinkering. But if you're wondering about the changes . . . there you have it. That's what's up. And while this is my decision to make and I will make it ruthlessly . . . eventually, . . . I do appreciate your input. So, please feel free to chime in. All thoughts are welcome.

Sincerely,
The Composer

10 comments:

  1. I would leave it all as one blog. I really don't get people that have five diffrent blogs about five diffrent wargaming projects. Just my two cents

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  2. I'll bear that in mind. It does make navigation easier to leave it as is. So long as folks like yourself are okay with poetry popping up here every now and then there may be no downside. It's honest, I guess. I paint miniatures. I write stories. I write symphonies. Odd combination, but . . . that is me.

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  3. Your new blog layout looks great! If it was me, I'd split the content if it covered different subject matter, but it's a personal preference thing. I'm quite sure there are people who don't mind different topics covered on the one blog though. Ultimately I don't think it'll effect your follower count.....unless you deviate from the core interest that people followed you for in the first instance for too long. People will just click on the subjects they prefer & ignore the one's they don't.

    By decree of Optimus :D

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  4. Mm. Duly noted. I certainly don't want to create a complete new blog for every gaming project. For starters I don't want to shell out to register that dad blamed many domains. A few is one thing. (Already had one for symphonies elsewhere. Though it's an awful lot like the old name for the blog.) But lots? . . . Nah. On the other hand crazy free-verse poetry and music for the classical bin are a bit of a stretch from vintage gaming, be it on the high seas or among the higher stars. I don't post poems here so often that it'd annoy you guys too much, I think. And there are tags. So maybe best answer is to leave what's here here, keep it gaming focused (all gaming) and put the new poems on the other site. Worth chewing on a bit more.

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  5. I really enjoy blogs with an eclectic mix of material. Always something interesting to read and they may offer readers new directions to pursue for themselves. Certainly don't mind a bit of poetry or music mixed in with my wargaming, either!

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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  6. Does it make a difference if the poetry or music aren't related to anything particularly warlike or gamerly? (I suppose you would have said if it did, as I don't think I've written anything that was especially warlike or gamerly aside from Tartarus Rim stuff.)

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  7. I'm pro eclectic too. Well, unless we're talking about such relevant amount of such different things that would justify the existence of different blogs (I mean, if you are making a totally unrelated update every couple of days). If that's not the case, just stick to what you have. For sure no one will complain. I won't.

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  8. Personally I'm just happy to see you back online. Poetry is fine btw. Many of us old military types and mariners, also like and dabble in poetry. It's a cathartic at times, at others it merely allows us scope to express what we are seeing and feeling.

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  9. The less wargamey the better as far as poetry and music go!

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  10. That's what tags are for. I believe you could then make a menu item for tags so people can look up poetry and just see those entries. But it's all on one site. Easier to maintain.
    But it also depends what you're trying to do with it.

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