My Final Post

Don’t panic, guys. I’m not leaving — yet. This “final post” is a work in progress that I promised you here. What would you say in your final post? Here’s what I came up with:

This is where the cowboy rides away

I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but the triggering event for my blogging suicide came courtesy of George Strait, one of my favorite country singers from the modern era. His lyrics straightforward, with no mystery or intrigue. No one listens to a George Strait song and asks: “I wonder what he meant by that?”

I was thinking about my love-hate relationship with ToughSledding (not my readers, but the “job” of blogging), when I made a rare trip to one country music station on my car stereo. George did the rest with this verse — like me singing to my blog:

We’ve been in and out of love and in-between
And now we play the final showdown scene
And as the credits roll a sad song starts to play
And this is where the cowboy rides away

Yep. This is where the cowboy rides away.

When I launched this blog in 2006, I knew the day would come. ToughSledding can’t go on forever, nor should it. No one has that much to say, and I’ve already said far more than I’d ever planned to. I don’t want to start repeating myself, or worse, resorting to crazy rants and bathroom humor (Yeah, I liked that one, too.)

I know I could just stop posting and fade away. But I’m a blogger, dammit, and that means I’m also a showoff — ego being essential to blogging success. If this were a real suicide, I’d jump from a bridge at rush hour; I wouldn’t OD behind closed doors.

Bloggers, like most who hang out in the social media, crave drama and attention. That’s the paradox my cynical little mind finds in the 2.0 world. The conversations are cool, but they seem secondary to the self aggrandizement bloggers and Facebookers get from being “out there.” While few will admit it, social media are ultimately all about us, not the conversation. It’s a self-absorbed world that’s big on denial.

Have I enjoyed the conversations? Of course — just as I’ve enjoyed connecting to hundreds of interesting people I will never meet face to face. I’ve learned from all of you, and I’ve hope you have taken something away from this site as well. And as I exit the blogosphere, please remember: We’ll always have Facebook!

If I were truly a self-promoter, I’d use this post to share my traffic stats and my “Top 10 Posts” of all time — you know, part of my blog obituary. But who really cares? Hell, I don’t.

But if you’ve been a faithful visitor, you might be interested in the posts I most enjoyed. So here are the links — something for you to snack on as the cowboy rides off into the sunset. We’re fresh out of popcorn!

After 208 posts, I can’t narrow it to just 10. So here’s my “Top 13.” I’m feeling lucky today!

Celebrating the genius of Pat Jackson

Does blogging call you at 4 a.m.?

30 Days in the Blogosphere

When the going gets tough, the tough go surfing — at least in Cleveland.

Today’s PR Controversy? Would you believe gay sheep?

Is good advertising doomed? Looks that way

Is good writing doomed in the new-media age?

A letter to my students: Do as I say, not as I did!

How Mia Farrow is causing my divorce — from PRSA

PR crises can arise from the most obscure details — so sweat the little stuff…even the bathrooms

One PR man’s sordid love affair with Amanda Chapel