Best wishes are pouring in . . .
Today’s post–and trust me, it was no easy call–is my last for 317am. It’s the last for any of us—whether Kaze, Ras, or Ted the Cat—till who knows when. We may be back someday, but we just don’t know.
On the other hand, Ras and I both know–and you know–that we don’t really get to decide whether we’ll write or not. Of course we’ll be writing, just other stuff. I’ve got this novel-in-progress you’ve been hearing about for awhile, a writing project so protracted that it’s threatening to become a lifestyle. I just have to get serious. And Ras, as he explained in his valedictory yesterday, has his own literary longings. Gottawrite syndrome is what got into this, and if that’s your personal affliction, then you’ll be writing till you’re dead, or close to it.
So I’ll be working on something, shall we say, weightier. But I am going to miss writing material to appear under that collage at the top of the screen. Don’t you like that collage? You’ll find a lot of the kinds of stuff in there—some literary and plenty not—that you’ve gotten used to reading about here—William Shakespeare and Frank Sinatra; William Butler Yeats and his muse, Maud Gonne; Ras’s beloved Mark Twain and my beloved John Keats and il Cimitero Acattolico where he lies buried in Rome; Esmeralda held aloft by Quasimodo; Yorick’s skull held aloft by Hamlet; a cat named Ted who took his inspiration from Archy and Mehitabel. We’re probably an acquired taste, we two.
"I, for one, have friends I never would have had . . . "
And yet, wondrously, a number of people have acquired us. And I, for one, have friends I never would have had—and have had adventures on which I might never have embarked—because they came upon 317am and stayed. My truest, eternally amazed, unbounded blissed-out thanks to every one of them.
Thanks as well to Tracy Marshall and his team at StrateComm, who made this site look just the way we wanted it to, and who’ve kept it running like a Swiss watch.
And thanks as well to Ted. He’s a good boy. I’ve noticed that lately Ted’s been groping for the occasional bon mot. For now we’ll give him a break from his vers libre duties. But you know Ted; you never can tell when he’ll tap out something for me to find on the monitor upstairs.
And thanks, finally, to Ras. We’ve been friends and colleagues for 37 years. Not one cross word. He’s a fine writer, and that’s always made me try hard.
Check out the collage up at the top of the screen again. Near the right-hand side you’ll see a piece of graffiti I always liked. The beginning’s cut off but if you look at it sideways you can see that someone spray-painted the words NEVER STOP WRITING!
As if we could.
Thanks, everybody!
Ted the Cat (1994-present) is a domestic shorthair blogger and vers libre poet. He also enjoys sleeping, eating, and lurking. Ted the Cat co-habits with Kaze,
also a blogger at 317am.net.
Arrividerci. It’s been a good run. It must have been a lot of work to keep it at such a high level and for that, we thank you. Good luck on the novel. I’m sure it will be awesome. Bon voyage!
Tigre, you were there at the start and here you are at the conclusion. Sincerest thanks for reading and for caring, amigo.
Caliban and I will miss Ted’s poetry, and, of course, Kaze and Ras’s wry and pithy observations about life. But I look forward to Kaze’s novel, Ras’s future work, and, of course, The Complete Works of Ted. Good luck, you guys, and good writing!
Mandy, I think the part of this I’ll miss the most is finding out every couple of weeks what Ted’s got on his mind. He’s inscrutable but I love him. Good luck with Caliban! Long healthy lives to you both!
Misty, misty and yet, overjoyed knowing both you and RasoirJ are finally REALLY moving your shapely behinds and using your talents for something (as you call it) ‘weightier’.
I’ll miss the site, my must-have morning cup of coffee, but you, Kaze, you Steve-my-friend, you Teddy-Bear … I’ll always be lookin’ at you, kiddos, with unadulterated affection.
Okay, Ruth Deborah, you already know how I feel. And Ted . . . he sends thunderbolts of affection from across the sea. Lookin’ right back at you, kid.
Steve,
I would never have met you without your posts and blogs on Facebook…I’m glad you came along. You have enlightened me many times. I like to read Teds musings also. i do hope you come back and I also hope ‘The Book’ comes forth effortlesly! Thank you, my friend!
Delores
It’s been a pleasure, Delores, to know you were looking in each day, here and on fb. I often smiled when your “like” showed up. “Ah! There’s Delores!” Thank you for everything.
Thanks so much for the blog and for its graceful farewell.
Well, my friend, at least one of us will keep blogging, no? You keep writing “Anchises: An Old Man’s Journal” and I’ll keep reading.
Well-played, Altman.
Thanks for the shout out Steve.
The team sends all the best as you begin your a new chapter…
Go Kaze! Up up and away!
-Tracy
I will miss both your and Ted’s posts. I am thankful your beautiful daughter brought us together. Best wishes to you and the Ted-ster.