I’m not a nostalgic type. There are no “good old days”. Just figments of our deluded sense of linear time mixed with fuzzy granules of pleasant memories. Some of these are the posts put out by bloggers who are now inactive or sporadic. Most of them were highly active during the “pioneering” days of Sri Lankan blogging (2005-2009). I refer to this period as the “war years”. When Sri Lankan Blogosphere essentially swirled around. kottu.org. Digital archeologists may call it the middle to late period of early Sri Lankan blogging.
At the risk of appearing nostalgic this post is a sort of “memorial” to those blogs. Their bloggers I’m sure are leading far more productive happier lives.
- Gyppo The Bohemian Gypsy : Went quiet in November 2012 after writing a long post about home.
- His diasporic rhythmicness, London Lanka and Drums : Last post was in February 2013 about going the grind on a Monday. Must still be there.
- Kalusudda Comments : went to sea (literally) in mid 2009 and never returned to blogging. Hope he’s ok.
- Two bloggers I enjoyed have taken their blogs off line. Luckily the drummer has written a good post on both. These two are:
- Then there is the now retired The Missing Sandwich which is nicely obituaried by the drummer. At least we know that its blogger has gone on to higher creative realms.
There are of course more but in typical fashion I don’t have the time to keep on typing.
After all, blogging is hard. It involves writing something larger than a tweet or a Facebook comment. That takes time, and a prioritisation of life’s tasks to slot in the act of writing into the daily grind. The availability of lazier alternatives adds another layer of distraction. I suspect that some of these factors led at least one of these bloggers to go quiet. Or perhaps it’s the natural last stage of 7 – or is it 6? – ages of a blogging.
To end on a positive note, there are a few of the “old” masters still out there. The Court Jester continues to be terrifying in his nonchalant way. Brandishing the usual excuses, the grand old man of Sri Lankan blogging is back – in a blunter, briefer form. Venerable kottu.org steams on, revived and very much evolved. Things could be worse.
Do you have any blogs that have gone quiet? Feed free to share.
Cerno 
I’m still lurking around Cerno, thanks for the mention. Your post prompted me to write a small one myself. It’s a start!
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Welcome back! 🙂 glad my post smoked you out of hiding.
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I can’t believe they don’t have anything to say all of a sudden. Perhaps the daily grind is taking it’s toll. I hope others come out of their slumbers just like RD.
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I think its the grind tho sometimes blogging can be exhausting internally. I agree with you though I hope they come back in some form.
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The daily grind is a big problem. I’m a new job and so busy I barely have time to check email, let alone blog, which is why you may have noticed posts coming out only on holidays of late. The lack of debate is also a problem, its not much fun when it feels like talking oneself…….
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Know that feeling. With the voices, there’s never a moment of talking alone 🙂
In Sri Lanka the only tradition of “debate” I have seen is a process of shouting louder and intimidating the other party into submission. Often with personal attacks.
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Hi Cerno, I followed those blogs. Some are gone but you should check out Kalusudda. His wife has posted a new post.
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That’s terrible news 😦 What a loss. Appreciate it for letting me know.
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