"But we were on a break!"

I feel like I've written this post four or five times already -- "Sorry for the lack of posting over the last few weeks, here are some lame and only tangentially relevant excuses" -- but it may bear repeating once again, because I've come to a decision about the blog: I'm taking it offline for the next few weeks while I try to slam an adrenaline needle, "Pulp Fiction"-style, into my job search.

I've been examining and re-examining things that could make me a more viable candidate for the various jobs I've tried for recently, and without meaning to overdramatize this, when I'm potentially going up against several dozen candidates for a given position -- all of whom are just as desperate as I am, some of whom may be just as qualified -- even something as simple as this blog could mean the difference between making the final cut for an opening and not making it. I mean, though it may not always seem like this is the case, I don't go out of my way to offend people on here. And I don't think I've posted anything here that would automatically red-flag me as unqualified, unstable, or a threat to the security of the republic. But if a job came down to me and another guy with 15 years of writing/editing experience, and the hiring manager is sitting there thinking, "Well, there's this guy who dropped a bunch of F-bombs over a Georgia football loss last fall, and this guy who apparently has never done anything like that" -- I'd hate to think I missed out on a job over something that picayune. But it could happen.

And it's not like y'all are going to be missing out on much, at my current rate of production, at least. Between hunting for jobs and recent co-captaining gigs at EDSBS and Dr. Saturday, my output here has slowed down to the point where this blog has basically become a glorified Tumblr page, and I've been torn between being frustrated over that and really not being inspired enough to do anything about it. This isn't euthanasia, it's merely a hibernation, by the end of which this blog will hopefully emerge refreshed, re-energized, re-inspired and, God willing, written by a person with a steady income.

So Hey Jenny Slater goes behind the wall at midnight tonight (OOH DRAMA), and if you're really starved for my cranky outbursts in the meantime, you can follow me on Twitter or over at EDSBS or Dr. Saturday, where I hope to maintain a healthy contribution level during the interminable football offseason. I'm sure I'll also be popping up like a bad penny at Holly's joint. (I know what you're thinking: "Doug, if you're really so concerned about maximizing your employability, why would you allow yourself to be filmed singing along and doing a really gay dance to an Erasure song in your car?" All I can say is the heart wants what it wants, I guess, and at that moment my heart wanted to sing along and do a really gay dance to an Erasure song in my car.)

Thanks to those of you who have hung with this blog through the recent lean months, and I promise it'll be back eventually. For now it's time to regroup and light a fire under myself in a number of other areas. Your thoughts and prayers during that period will be appreciated, and when Hey Jenny Slater does come back, I will do my best to reward your patience by ensuring that it doesn't suck too terribly hard.

Peace.