All Good Things...

All good things come to an end. Or to a long pause, or to a ride off into the sunset, or to at least a substantial hibernation (preferably on a holiday weekend, to make the least amount of noise).

I don't often talk or write to other people about what I do here. I did so twice this past week, in some detail, regarding where this blog is and why I started it and whether I felt it has been a success. And one of the journalists, Mr. Westneat, picked up on my weariness (and, ahem, my sloppiness). While in the past I've been sparkling and enthused to share in what's happened here, I was glum and darkly reflective. Even somewhat defeated. All of this, no doubt within me already, became obvious to me the more I spoke with Mr. Westneat and then thought about our conversation through the rest of that day.

I'm glad I went through the questions and the answers because it's forced me to reflect.

If doing something hurts, stop it. Same goes for something that's not fun. And, you know, currently, this oddly enough isn't fun. Thrilling certainly. Wildly educational, thanks to the comments coming in, absolutely. But not fun. There are other things going on in the world that I'm missing out on, and they are beginning to take a higher priority. For me.

A stark realization came to me when the review performance model changed. The dreaded trended 3.0 is finally gone! Finally. Gone. Why wasn't I shaking my boo-tay and dancing around like Tony Manero? Amidst all of the great changes and the cheering, my heart felt heavy. Something's not right, and I don't feel right with myself. And that means to me that I've got to hit the breaks and engage in some deep reflection. Victory as cheery as a wake? No, something's wrong. I've got a few clues, and none of them make me feel proud of myself.

Back in 2004, I took a lot of time to plan and think before I started putting up the first few posts. And now I assess myself to be at a crossroads. Time for Mini-Microsoft 2.0? Or to do something else, and let the bits here cool off and fade from attention? The 2.0 road isn't going to happen overnight - more like six months if it's going to hit the ground running like the first time I started this up. Another consideration, as I stand at these crossroads and hope that Mr. Willie Brown's deal maker doesn't show up, is that great changes are indeed afoot at Microsoft. And these changes are going to take time to grow and I'm not going to poke them with a sharp stick until they've had their chance to prove themselves.

I could take the Dread Pirate Roberts approach to here... that'd certainly give me plenty of time to play with my beloved Buttercup again. Lots to think about. But I'm not going to. For a while.

Like I said before, for the near-term I will throw up the occasional interesting article or reposted comment. Perhaps that is all it takes given the number of excellent, good-looking people willing to spend time reading and contributing to the comments. And I'll continue to moderate comments just because occasionally something wildly offensive does show up in the pending queue. So does this mean that this is the end of Mini-Microsoft? For now, yes, but only my end of it. The rest is up to you.

Take care,

Mini.

(Updated: fixed a typo.)