another note

Several posts and weeks ago, I wrote that I was considering giving this blog up, because I felt that people had become bored by it, which in turn dampened my own enthusiasm for continuing it.  Judging by your comments in response to that post, this doesn’t seem to be the case, and many of you also gave me some suggestions and feedback.  I just wanted to address some of that.

When I wrote that I was getting bored, what I meant was that I seemed to be producing the same types of posts, making the same observations, writing the same things over and over again.  I sensed the readers were in the same place, because people were commenting less and there just didn’t seem to be the same type of community as before.  This was why I considered stopping things.

However, all of you seem to want me to continue, and I’d like to do that, in part because as a good Real Madrid fan, I want to spread the fantastic parts of this club to as many people as I can, people that don’t have access to the same information as I do, whether due to language or location or time.  The other part is because I feel that we’ve built a good rapport here.

So, for the time being, I will continue, although I would also like to say that if I feel that my posts have become trite or hackneyed, I won’t continue, because I have high standards for myself and for this blog, and if I feel the quality is slipping alarmingly (my feeling now is that it has already peaked), then I rather stop posting than write crappy entries.  I want the time I dedicate to this blog to be worth it.

As for the suggestions, some people requested that I get on twitter.  Right now I have no plans to, because just keeping this blog updated takes up a lot of my spare time.  I don’t know how I’d add twitter into the equation without sacrificing some parts of this blog.  The same goes for tumblr.  Anyway, it seems to be geared more towards images and not words, and I like writing too much to give that part up.

Others suggested fewer posts.  I’m a bit of a perfectionist, in that I want to provide all the news so that hopefully when we win a big trophy (or three), we’ll have a record of the entire season to look back on in the future.  So if I do this, I want to do it as best I can, in the way that I feel would be the best.  There was also suggestions that I collaborate with other writers or open up to submissions.  The thing is, there’s a very specific way in which I’ve chosen to write this blog, and I would feel bad telling someone else to revise what they wrote or reject what they wrote because it doesn’t “fit” with my blog, so it’s easier for me to just be responsible for all the writing.

Several others asked me about the future of my other blog, “con la roja.”  Right now, with the national team only meeting once every several months, the commitment isn’t that great, so I will keep posting to it in the future.

I mentioned that there are other sites that do what I do.  What I meant is that you can find gifs and images very easily, the same kinds that I make and post about.  In fact, I discovered some of these sites when I was alerted to the fact that they were either “repackaging” my images and/or stealing my words, though of course they also had original content of their own.  However, most of you seem to think I have a unique voice and this blog is unlike others out there, so thank you for that.

I’d also like to add that I will do my best to respond to your emails as soon as I can, and that I’m always open to feedback.  With no midweek game this week, perhaps I’ll get a bit of spare time to do just that.

I hope I’ve cleared a few things up, and I’d also like to say, thank you very much for reading this blog.  I really do appreciate it.