It was with sadness that I saw fellow medical blogger Dr. Charles' announcement that he is taking a break ("perhaps a long break," as he puts it) from blogging. He points out that he's been at it for almost three years.
My first thought was that I was sad to see him go and hope that he eventually finds his way back to the blogosphere.
My second thought was: Geez, in blogosphere time, I've been at this a long time now.
I started blogging in December 2004, which means that I'm rapidly approaching three years at it. Dr. Charles was actually one of the first bunch of medical blogs that I discovered around the same time and one of my influences early on. I soon discovered that his style was not my style as I honed my own voice. He excels at describing patient encounters and waxing lyrical. I excel more at applying skepticism and, yes, Respectful Insolence⢠to targets deserving of it, although I like to think I can also do halfway decent patient-oriented posts from time to time. Still, Dr. Charles is one of the best, and his presence will be missed.
His hopefully temporary departure also leaves me with the somewhat uncomfortable realization that I'm rapidly becoming an elder statesmen (well, elder anyway) among medical bloggers.