A long time ago, we clicked the “Anybody Can Register” box in our blog settings. Some of our friends were writing guest blog entries, and it was easier for them to create their own log-ins and then adjust their permissions.

But we have not had a new guest blogger in a very long time, and the function is now mainly — perhaps only — used by spammers who hope to be given some sort of additional access to the site.

So the “Anybody Can Register” functionality is now shut off, and we have undergone a user purge — if I do not know who you are, you no longer have a log-in.

Sorry if you’re real, and you liked having it, but it did not actually do anything in the first place.

What’s this? More meta-blogging? You bet.

For the past few weeks, I have not been home. Instead, I have been in Canada for an unfortunately-not-actually-a-vacation. As happens when you are out of the country, Internet access has been sporadic. Which means that less time is spent madly reading and writing blogs, and more time is spent reading, talking, seeing things, taking photos.

And I think some insight, some perspective was gained.

The big insight is that I have been a bit too dedicated to the Big Bad Blog, trying too hard to keep to the schedule I have set for myself.

Between blogging, taking care of Maggie, and working, all my time is occupied. I rarely take photos (outside of Maggie-a-day), I don’t read (other than the search for blog material), I don’t exercise, I don’t go out with friends, and — most importantly — I don’t do anything any more. Museums, shows, festivals, making bad short movies … these things have all fallen out of my life.

Despite having fewer and fewer distractions, each article here at the Big Bad Blog has been receiving less attention. There is less time for composition, editing and rewrites than there was before. It seems that I am constantly running behind schedule — blog articles are too often written hastily, and too seldom edited.

The end result is unhappiness of the end result. It means a lot of quantity, but little of what I consider to be quality.

While in Canada I made a decision not to bother keeping to the usual schedule. The resulting blog posts — Birth Notes from last week is a great example — make me proud of my writing in a manner that I have not felt recently. Birth Notes was written, read, rewritten, edited, re-read, rewritten again, and edited some more. And I am incredibly happy with the end result.

I have no idea if the people reading it like it, though a few people who have left comments clearly do. But the audience is always secondary here at the Big Bad Blog, no matter how closely I might watch the site’s stats. It feels better to do it the right way and feel proud of the end result.

Canada offered perspective beyond the valuation of the process over the deadline. Spending time with family, meeting friends for brunch, visiting a museum. Even small things — visiting a hospital, reading a book before bed — gave me a feeling that my world of Maggie, work and blog had grown sad and small.

There is no slack to cut on the work side of things, and no willingness to reduce the time spent with Maggie … which means that the Big Bad Blog is taking the hit. Less time will be spent on the blog, in order to spend more time on things elsewhere.

The blog will continue, of course, but without schedule or reliable frequency. There will still be multiple articles every (well, most) week(s). The days of nine-articles-a-week are gone. Perhaps even five-a-week is too much. In its place will, we hope, be a more interesting and entertaining blog. A blog where articles are well-thought-out and edited, rather than thrown off the cuff.

The rigorous schedule has, I think, been positive for my writing ability. But it is time to reach for quality, rather than practice.

Wish us luck, and enjoy the ride.

Something new on the Big Bad Blog, every day, Monday to Friday. How do I do it?

This is not a rhetorical question, or bragging, or the lead-in to an article about how you too can achieve personal life balance.

I know how I do it so far. I wake up early, so I have an hour to spend writing each morning. I make extensive use of the “Schedule” button, which allows me to write articles in advance; it is rare that I post something when I have just finished writing it. On weekends, I usually have a mass reading session (collecting ideas and links), and a mass writing session (getting ahead for the week).

But this is getting harder — particularly the latter part. I’m actually writing this on Sunday. Maggie is napping. She does that.

Maggie is also getting bigger, and my weekend time is rapidly diminishing as a result. When she is awake, she requires more attention than before. So, on the weekend (when I’m home) my reading and writing time is reduced. Doubly, as Karen needs to make use of my availability in order to catch up on those things she no longer has time for during the week.

I’m keeping up for now, but if the trend continues we may not be able to for much longer. First quality will go – if there is any quality there in the first place – then frequency.

The Big Bad Blog isn’t going to close anytime soon. But we wonder how much longer we can maintain business as usual.

For the last couple of months, when I look at the list of websites that direct people to the Big Bad Blog, I notice the following pattern:

1. Google
2. Facebook
3. SQW Racing Journal

The first two need little introduction. The third may look a little odd.

While we are growing accustomed to seeing this in our statistics, others may understandably wonder why a triathlon blog refers so many viewers to the Big Bad Blog. After all, two years into the Big Bad Blog, this is the first time that triathlon has been mentioned.

First, the flashback

For answers, we must first step back approximately twenty-five years.

At that time, I was a young boy growing up in Kingston, Ontario. Like many children, I was involved in several different organized sports — most memorably (but not only) soccer in the summer, hockey in the winter.

I was not the only child involved in these things. For instance, Adrian Leslie played on my soccer team.

And, after St. Mary’s folded from the CAL and I joined the Chalmers team, Adrian Leslie played on my hockey team.

Why Adrian Leslie? Because I thought he was awesome when I was nine. I cannot remember him in a sporting (or any other) context after the age of thirteen.

Also on that Chalmers hockey team was a kid named Simon. I’m guessing that Simon also did lots of these sports, though my only pre-high-school memories of the guy are with the hockey team.

For the record, our hockey team was awesome.

Flash forward, just a little

Moving ahead to a mere twenty years ago, I no longer played hockey but had joined the cross country running team in high school.

Why cross country running?

I couldn’t tell you. I had never run a race prior to joining that team. I had also never run a distance longer than a soccer field. But it seemed to be the thing to do — after all, anybody can run (if not run fast), I had always done sports, and there were people I knew on the team.

And one of these people was Simon.

I remember him being good at hockey, but he was an excellent runner. And suddenly, halfway through high school, Simon was gone. Off to Australia, I was told, to practice triathlon.

That seemed incredibly strange to me. I was never Simon’s friend. He was just a guy who went to my high school who had been on a couple of sports teams with me. But … Australia? To train in triathlon? As a teenager?

It just did not seem to jive with the kind of advice the guidance councillors at the school would tend to dish out.

Flash forward, a little bit more

It’s the summer of 2000, and I am at my mother’s house for reasons unremembered.

In the morning, I grab a coffee and flip on the television. The Olympics in Sydney have just begun, and there’s a little bit of a time difference so I am watching things on replay.

What do I see? That Simon kid from high school crossing the finish line and winning an Olympic gold medal in triathlon.

In retrospect, that decision that seemed so strange in high school starts to make sense.

Flash forward, for the last time

It’s September 2010, and I’m on a bus. I’m drunk on a bus.

In fact, I am quite drunk on a bus. Maggie is expected in approximately a month, and I won’t drink this much again for the foreseeable future. Also, I’m bored and my mind is wandering back to the 1980s.

So I tweet at Simon about the glory of our hockey championship in the CAL. The next day, the Big Bad Blog is linked to from Simon’s blog, and our seemingly out of place #3 on the referral list begins.

Everything I know

Who are these people arriving from Simon’s blog?

There is some chance that they are common acquaintances from those halcyon Kingston days. Or they could be people who, reading about all things triathlon, decide that the Big Bad Blog is their next stop. This latter group should be warned that my knowledge of triathlon is as follows:

1. First, you swim.
2. Then, you ride a bicycle.
3. Finally, you run.
4. All of this is part of a single race.
5. This guy I knew when I was a kid — name is Simon — is very, very, very good at it.

Hence, the spectre of writing about triathlons is daunting. I have never done a triathlon. I have never even been in a bicycle race. I am a horrible swimmer, though I can manage to not drown and can theoretically rescue a drowning person (a skill which has thankfully never been tested). I have my White badge, and everything.

Actually, I think I could be pretty fast on a bicycle. Giant thighs.

But you will have to forgive me for ignoring this seemingly significant demographic, and never writing about triathlon again … at least, until August 2012, when I will wander down to Hyde Park to cheer Simon as he tries to add to his Olympic medal collection.