Thus Spake Zuska

…the party’s over. They say that all good things must end. I’ve been mentally inching towards the coat closet myself for the past week (read Bora’s post for the reference), but as you know, I’ve been off spending time with my mom. Now is as good a time as any to say goodbye to ScienceBlogs.

My first blog post was on July 13, 2005 on a relatively obscure blogging platform. Only the friend who nagged me into blogging noticed. A year later, the wonderful and talented Katherine Sharpe had invited me to join ScienceBlogs, and I gladly did. What a crazy crazy party. It has been a wonderful experience for all the reasons Bora so compellingly and thoroughly describes, even with all the problems, which he also describes.

I just don’t have the heart to do a grand summing up in the manner of Bora or Pal. I will note that this post on Adam Bly’s nascent blog leaves me feeling sad and tired. What does the Science-is-Culture media visionary in the year 2010 have to offer us: hairy old white dudes. And we should bubble over with enthusiasm. Thanks, I’ve had my fill, for this millennium and the last.

Leaving ScienceBlogs, watching it totter and drift and lose its way, doesn’t make me happy. Let’s call it a night the party’s over But I am excited about some prospects for change, and the possibility to renew and reinvent my blogging elsewhere. Moving to ScienceBlogs made me a better blogger (again, for many of the reasons Bora discusses), and it is my hope that the next move or moves will have a similar effect – change is difficult, but can be good. and tomorrow starts ~~the same old~~ a brand new thing again

For the time being you can find me at this haphazard-looking wordpress site. That’s the place to watch for any announcements of future moves as well. I hope those of you who have found TSZ here to be interesting, thought-provoking, amusing, helpful, aggravating, or just good for a laugh sometimes will follow me on the next adventure. And let your friends know where I’ve gone, if you don’t mind.

To all of you who have read this blog over the years at ScienceBlogs and to all of you who have commented, thank you for making this endeavor worthwhile. Thanks to all my fellow bloggers who helped me figure out how to do this work, and do it better, and have fun while doing it.

Onward, Zuskateers!!!

Comments

#1 ScientistMother
July 20, 2010

Thank you for all your great post and for the fighting such a good fight. I will definitely follow you where-ever you decide to go.
#2 isis the scientist
July 20, 2010
#3 jc
July 20, 2010

Have bucket of puke, will travel!
#4 grrljock
July 20, 2010

Yes, thanks for the time and effort you put to craft your posts. I’ll be sure to bookmark your new site.
#5 Level Best
July 20, 2010

See you at WordPress!
#6 Hena
July 20, 2010

I am extremely sad to see you go. Thank you for all the wonderful and thought provoking posts. I will be sure to bookmark the new site.
#7 quietmarc
July 20, 2010

Darn it. I’m probably one of your newer fans. Your posts have made me think, question, and examine things in new ways. Before reading here, I thought I was pretty open-minded and understood pretty much all I needed to about privalege and gender issues, but OOPS, there’s always something to learn. You’ve reinforced for me that overcoming my personal weaknesses is a lifetime journey, and I’m hopeful that I will be a better person for learning this.

All the best in the future!!
#8 arvind
July 20, 2010

I think you made the right decision Zuska. Finally, those who keep complaining that they come to scienceblogs only for the science and how looking at the culture of science through the lens of feminism is somehow outside the charter of a science blog because they say so can give it a rest.
#9 lucy
July 20, 2010

Zuska, you will be missed on the blogosphere.
I found this blog only a few months ago, when I was just beginning to discover that a group of people with whom I have to work closely with in my graduate research were practicing blatant sexism in a way I didn’t think existed anymore.
This blog, along with many people who responded in comments, provided both a relief and an eye-opener. I now know that sexism affects all of us. I also now know that the treatment I was putting up with was in no way preventable by me – it cannot be blamed on my clothes or accent or attitude. This blog gave me courage to fight back, and there have been small victories along the way.
Thank you.
#10 meh
July 20, 2010

Good riddance.
#11 Helen Huntingdon
July 20, 2010

I clicked through to that Adam Bly post and, well, I got nothin’. Some people are so out of touch with what science actually is, there’s just no hope for them. Bly is obviously one of them.
#12 bill
July 20, 2010

Another serious blow to Sb. I’ve switched my RSS feeds over and I’ll be reading you wherever you go, Zuska.
#13 JMS
July 20, 2010

I loved the “well, why don’t you tell me how to do it?” DUDE. YOU’RE A JOURNALIST. YOU CAN INTERVIEW WHOEVER YOU WANT. IF ‘WHOEVER YOU WANT’ MEANS ‘THE USUAL TENURED WHITE MALE ACADEMIC SUSPECTS’ YOU’RE NOT DOING JOURNALISM RIGHT.
#14 Isabel
July 20, 2010

I will miss this blog also. Thanks for your most liberal commenting policy;) And the mansplaining thread!
#15 Sargassosea
July 20, 2010

See you soon!
#16 Luna_the_cat
July 20, 2010

I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I’ll be following you to your new home. Let’s hope things get better…
#17 Zuska
July 20, 2010

Zuskateers, you only have to miss me here on ScienceBlogs. I am not going away from the blogosphere. WordPress for the immediate future, who knows what next…
#18 Kea
July 20, 2010

Phew, you have a new blog …
#19 Joseph Hewitt
July 20, 2010

This is the way the world ends;
not with a bang, but with puking on shoes…

I’ve bookmarked your WordPress site.
#20 Barb
July 20, 2010

Always enjoyed reading your thoughtful posts. Let me know where you go next and let’s get together again this summer.
#21 Zuska
July 20, 2010

Peeps, the new blog is here:

http://thusspakezuska.wordpress.com
#22 skeptifem
July 20, 2010

see you there! I’ll update my blogroll.
#23 idiots
July 20, 2010

good riddance, your blog was shit anyway, sciblogs won’t miss you or anyone else leaving because (lol, scarequotes and caps) “BIG FOOD CORPORATION” was brought here without your consent. boohoo, fuckin crybabies. yes i’m being a douchebag, but all of you who are taking off deserve it. i won’t be following any of you anyway.
#24 Joseph Hewitt
July 20, 2010

Wow, if all of the idiots stay here and don’t follow Zuska to the new blog, this pepsigammedon thing will have been totally worth it!
#25 Katherine
July 20, 2010

Totes bookmarking your new blog. Glad you’re not leaving the whole internets.
#26 Anonymous
July 20, 2010

Zuska, I think your blog was the first science blog I ever read, and it really got me hooked. I’ll definitely follow you wherever you end up.
#27 Zuska
July 20, 2010

This gentleman is not overly saddened by my departure from ScienceBlogs. Ha ha!
#28 Yay!
July 21, 2010

Well, at least something good came out of the Pepsi debacle. Doubtless your new blog will be a smashing success; your fawning acolytes will enjoy your deranged hateful rantings wherever they are found.
#29 tütüne son
July 21, 2010

Totes bookmarking your new blog. Glad you’re not leaving the whole internets.
#30 OleanderTea
July 21, 2010

I’m sorry to see you leave SciBlogs, mostly because I can’t access other blog sites from work (during lunch, of course). But I do understand the concerns everyone’s had with Pepsigate, and am very glad you’ll be continuing to blog elsewhere; I’ve marked the new location.

Best wishes, fellow frequent migraine sufferer.

~ OleanderTea
#31 Pam
July 21, 2010

It’s been a pleasure to stop by here from time-to-time, and a comfort too. You’ve helped some of us surrounded by ‘old hairy white dudes’ feel like we have a community and a voice, and for that I am grateful. I’ll check in soon to see what you are up to next – and I’ll look forward to being able to ‘listen in’ on your next adventure. Take care.
#32 SKM
July 21, 2010

And let your friends know where I’ve gone, if you don’t mind.

I will indeed. Here’s to the future!
#33 Zuska
July 21, 2010

The future could be a whole lot more interesting than you think, sometime very soon…
#34 veganrampage
July 21, 2010

Hey “Yay” why don’t you sign your regular user name, The Goodman? Oh that’s right, you’re a racist sexist coward.
“White men will always be the majority so get over it.” Your words, douche. White men are not the majority on this earth you sad simple bastard.

I’m sure you will be following Zuska looking to derail and focus all threads all the time on poor wittle you.

See you one WordPress Zuska.
#35 JustaTech
July 22, 2010

Thank you Zuska, I’ve learned a great deal from you, about science and feminism and all the things I thought I knew but didn’t. I guess, what with you and Pal leaving I’m going to finally have to set up that RSS reader. Mazel Tov!
#36 eataporkchopandgetoverit
July 28, 2010

Hey “Yay” why don’t you sign your regular user name, The Goodman? Oh that’s right, you’re a racist sexist coward.

Because that’s not who I am – I’ve no idea who that person is. Are you so completely lost in cultish adoration of your Mansonesque transsexual guru that you imagine (s)he has only one detractor in the whole world? Wow. Even by Zuska-ite standards, that’s pretty crazy. I hate to break it to you, but there are many people who are shocked and horrified by the constant stream of bigoted filth that pours forth from the noisome sewer that is Zuska’s unhinged psyche.

Your words, douche.

No, not my words. And it’s a sign of serious mental illness when you start imagining that every individual you dislike is secretly your archnemesis in disguise.
#37 Zuska
August 3, 2010

Dude, if this blog is all it takes to shock and horrify you, then I definitely do not recommend that you read anything over at I Blame The Patriarchy! LOL!!!!