The End

I think I am going to retire this blog.

As you can see, I haven't posted in a long time. After everything I've been through this summer, I haven't really had much to say. At least not much that I want to share in this medium. I feel like in so many ways I want to reclaim my private life, and I have been finding other ways to express myself on the things that really matter.

So, it's been fun. I will keep reading and commenting on all of my favorite blogs, for sure. And maybe in the future I'll start a new one on some topic or other. But for now, Stefanie Says Goodnight. Thanks for reading.

Put Your Thinking Caps On

Okay, folks, I'm moving very soon.... which means that by later in this month, I will no longer be able to claim a View from 16th Street.

So, after nearly 3 years, it's finally time to come up with a new name for the blog!

I'm happy to invite suggestions. Nice ones, only. :-)

Here are a few of the options I'm considering (note, this will be my 3rd place in DC):

The View from NorthWest
The View from Forest Hills
My Life In DC: Chapter 3
Third Time's the Charm
Back to the Red Line
Stef and the City

or, my current favorite:

Stefanie Says

Thoughts?

A Little Breathing Room...

I have decided I need to take a little step back from my blogging habit, at least for a while.

Lately I have found that I haven't had as much to say... I will find myself thinking up great ideas to write while I'm on the bus or at work, but when I finally sit down in front of the computer I'm just not finding the inspiration or the energy to write them down. The last thing I ever wanted was for blogging to feel like an obligation or a chore, but sadly it's starting to feel that way. I've also been thinking about the future, and wondering "will I still be blogging a year from now? what more could I possibly say?"

So I'm feeling the need to reduce the pressure I put on myself to come up with good ideas and churn out posts on a regular basis. I'll still post sometimes, but not nearly as frequently as I have been at my peak. And hopefully that makes it better for you, too, if I care more and spend more time focusing on what I actually am writing. (Although you can probably count on weekly LOST recaps...)

At the same time, I am going to scale way back on the number of blogs I read regularly. I have 10 "real-life" friends with blogs of their own, and those will be the ones that I still check on an almost-daily basis (thanks to Bloglines). I will keep up with my "bloggy friends" fairly often, too, but I just can't commit the time to be reading as many blogs as I've got on the blog roll. I'll keep the links up for people who use them.

Before blogging, I used to use my Internet time to read several newspapers on a regular basis - I kept up with what was going on in the world, and I was better about sending actual emails to the people I want to keep up with. So I need some of that time back, cuz I'm feeling like I've been a little disconnected from "real reality" and more involved than I should have been in "blog reality."

So, there you have it.... expect to see occasional tv, movie, or book reviews, and maybe posts about a restaurant or new photographs here or there, but I'm going to get back to focusing on living life rather than struggling to write about it. Thanks everyone!

Are You Beta?

I switched over to Blogger Beta over the weekend. I was most excited to switch cuz I wanted to start using the labels/tags that you now see at the bottom of each post to keep things more organized and searchable. Of course, my first task was to go back through my Archives and tag all of the LOST entries!!! (Would you expect anything less?)

I'm liking that function the most so far, but I have detected a few bugs... it's a beta, so of course there are bound to be some. But my biggest concern is that I've lost my "Compose Mode" wysiwyg editor. Now all posting is done in the html mode. I still have the "Yes" selected in my Settings to have the Compose editor turned on, but it's not there. Have any other new beta bloggers figured a way around this little bug? I'm hoping it gets fixed/upgraded soon... I can handle the html for simple stuff, but uploading and linking to photos will be a whole new challenge. And you know me, I love to post a good picture.

It also appears that my RSS feeds have gone away, hopefully just temporarily. So I hope my bloglines subscribers will be patient and check the actual blog for a while... :-)

Until the bugs are worked out, though, bear with me and have fun exploring all my new tags!

Tonight My Blogger Dream Came True*

*Except in my dream, it was all of us who were the slackers at work in our Payless job. But in real life, it was the waitress - who seriously GOT FIRED in the middle of our meal! And then Skippy the manager said he would take care of us. In a moment of painfully awkward flirting, he said his "services only go as far as the table." Yeah, well, apparently they don't make it that far either, as he proceeded to let us sit there for more than 1/2 an hour twiddling our thumbs waiting for a cleared table and money knocked off the bill. And the winner for worst service of the year goes to.... ding ding! Chevy's in Ballston. Phooey.

But, the bizarro restaurant experience didn't reflect on the quality of the evening itself. Far from it! I laughed more tonight than I have in ages, so thanks Velvet, DCOE, Law-Rah, Sharkie, and AM. You guys are all so hilarious and filled with interesting stories that somehow *I* become the quiet one at the table (which my non-blogger friends will probably never believe!), but it's just cuz I'm floored by your fabulousness. Here's to another great night out SOON, ladies!!! :-)

Welcome to my blog! I don't have any real purpose in mind with this, so to some extent it's an exercise in vanity...believing that I have enough cool stuff to say that other people should be tuning in. But it's also a bit of a challenge to myself, to try to have something new and interesting to say every day. (Well, we'll see about the every day.... discipline hasn't always been my strong suit!)

I'm watching Office Space at home as I'm writing this on a Saturday evening, and just caught the "I wouldn't say I've been missing it, Bob!" scene. Truer words were never spoken. I'm just so darn happy that I didn't have to work today! It's been way too many Saturdays in the office for me. I'm trying to put a stop to that trend of the summer, cuz I need to focus a little less on work and enjoy more days of just goofing around and doing nothing. Gotta make the most out of that Netflix subscription!