It's official! I'm blogging again! ...

...but actually somewhere else...

So what's going on? The short version is that this is a goodbye post. The long version goes a little like this:

1. For a while now, I've been using twitter, primarily as a place to highlight interesting things. It has more or less replaced my blogging output. These tweets are often science-y, visual in nature, and with (of course) the occasional dose of Chewbacca. However, it soon became obvious to me that I should start blogging again so that such things could be compiled: more so because I'm a big fan of using these odd snippets to segue into scientific discussions in class. With twitter (as lovely as it is), it was just too easy to lose these interesting links. With blogging, I figured there would be more features to archive things more effectively. Plus, this was an easy way to make sure there was a consistent stream of content (kind of like using twitter to blog).

2. I really wanted to start writing again. What I mean here, is that I'm quite out of practice. You consistently hear from other folks that writing is a little like a muscle. It needs more than the occasional flex, but rather a full-on regime of exercise. Things at work have been busy (aren't they always?), but writing is definitely something that I've missed doing, and something that I feel I need to practice all over again. I can also add that the last post I did for boingboing.net was a major proverbial kick in my ass. Clearly my editorial spider sense is off, and so (as they say) practice, practice, practice...

3. Here is the heart of the matter. My really wanting to do something, and actually doing it are two very different things. Indeed this whole desire to start writing again was initiated by an act of irony. That is, I've just sent in a friendly "thanks for the memories" email to Scienceblogs, who were asking to renew contracts etc. Here, I declined because I really wasn't doing much at the World's Fair (again with the busy excuse). For whatever reason, I wasn't necessarily inspired by having an outlet at Scienceblogs. Because of this, it was only fair to ask to be taken off Scienceblogs - hence the reason why you are reading this goodbye post.

Ironically, this course of action is what is getting me to blog again. By ending things here, it feels like an opportunity to start fresh: and fresh starts can be incredibly exciting and invigorating. In many ways, the idea of having a new online home is making me want to write more - does that make sense? Plus, this is also a chance to have full aesthetic control over how a blog might look, which is something I've always kind of wished I could do. I've never been a fan of websites that were overly busy looking, so getting to do my minimalist thing was definitively an advantage.

In any event, this is to say that overall, Scienceblogs was a great experience, and was a wonderful way to connect with similar folks around the globe. Sharing this platform with Ben and Vince (and indeed the rest of the community, bloggers and managers alike) over the years has been an absolute privilege. For that I am grateful, but now it is time to move on.

4. And where will I move on to? As mentioned above, I'm keen to try this independently for while. I've been collecting my tweets for the last few weeks at Popperfont, so that seems as good a place as any to "have a go."

And what will I blog about? Mostly, the content that my twitter account points to, but hopefully there will be some meaty stuff here and there as well.

Specifically, I'm keen to produce a weekly (this might be optimistic but I will do my best) series, which I'm going to call "sciencegeek fundamentals." In essence, the aim of these pieces is to discuss and go over some key scientific concepts, but in a manner that is hopefully engaging to readers and possibly unconventional. We'll start next week, but to give you a sense of the sort of writing I gravitate to, you can take a gander at some of my clips, as well as consider the working title of my first "sciencegeek fundamentals" piece (The scientific method by way of Chewbacca).

As well, I'm already working on a book for children where the scientific method is central to the plot (It's called Lizzie Popperfont and the Collider Whale Tale). No expectations here... just enjoying myself as I put ideas down and work out the narrative. Who knows - maybe one of these days, we'll try to find an agent and and publisher for this endeavor.

5. Finally... what's with the name "Popperfont?" Nothing too deep... just kind of rolls nicely on the tongue, and with my inherent interest in creative arts and science, I thought the mix of Karl Popper and Typology sort of works.

cheers
dave

@dnghub
popperfont.wordpress.com