Three years ago I decided it was time I did some new things.
The reason I started the blog was to write. I wanted to write different: short forms and new subjects. I kicked off with four stand-alone pieces, and then a multi-part story, from a person who never writes stories. Eventually I slipped into New York transit once in a while, but even those pieces were different: commentary on how I made subway maps, a close study of the Botanical Gardens elevated station, and captions to a great series of elevated railway photographs that came my way thanks to an anonymous donor. It was a good run.
In case you ever wondered which pieces have had the most page views, here they are in order from the top:
Making a Subway Map (May 2010)
Subway Map (February 2010)
Beach Train (May 2009)
Riding the El (November 2010)
Botanical Garden (August 2009)
Amiable Child (April 2009)
Once I felt the blog was new and different. Now it's become old and tedious. It's a job I don't want any more. I have been missing other things in order to steal time to write the blog. That's not right.
What I like about the blog: Comments. This feature was especially strong for the Botanical Gardens and Riding the El pages. I'd like to do more of that.
What I don't like: Organization. With no structure it's too hard to find things. Google has a search strategy mindset but the labels just don't cut it. And showing posts newest-first order wrecks anything written as a series.
So this is it.
I will leave everything here until I can collect the contents into a better web site. If I can find a way to have both good organization and open comments that is what I will do. It will take some time to arrange.
See you around the web.
— Joe Brennan
