Comments on: And it’s goodnight and goodbye from me as well

By: gandhi

gandhi — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:37:30 +0000

I am also joining the exodus and taking a break from blogging.

By: dj

dj — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 03:41:40 +0000

Sad but understandable. Hope to see you back blogging if and when you have the time (or passion overrides better judgment).

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:42:30 +0000

Thanks very much indeed, folks, for all your kind words. I’m pretty sure it’ll be a sabbatical rather than a departure – so I imagine I’ll be seeing you all in June. And the horrendous task of marking 120 essays when it comes around might see an earlier temporary visit!

By: Steve Edney

Steve Edney — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 22:57:04 +0000

Another piece of sad news, your contribution will certainly be missed Mark. All the best with the teaching and hopefully you’ll rejoin the neverending stoush down the track.

By: Lefty E

Lefty E — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 11:35:04 +0000

Well, I can understand Mark. 18 contact hours. Its a wonder you find time to log on and even read.

I trust you’ll allow yourself the occasional dabble though. Its a big year; with reasonable odds on Rodentus Terminus.

Steering clear for good may prove burdensome!

By: Ralph

Ralph — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 10:39:26 +0000

sad news for Oz blogland

By: jo

jo — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:50:34 +0000

should that be larf?

or larrff

larff…

By: jo

jo — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:48:00 +0000

decisions made at 1.46am on a sunday morning are often the most significant – leave the husband, quit the job, come out, change cities, tell the sister-in-law you hate her guts…

and take time out from your own blog, in a federal election year.

thanks mark – for what you’ve set up here – i do hope under your new policy – that you might find time to log on and say hi and “have a laff” (are you having a laff?”) on the sat forums etc.

whatever, your students are the big winners here.

hope to see you back in june, if not before.

By: Sacha

Sacha — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:57:24 +0000

Sometimes you have to prioritise. Hope that your focussing is productive, Mark!

By: James Hamilton

James Hamilton — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:54:55 +0000

All the best Mark, but first it was the OC and now you. Where will I get my humanity. Sigh, I guess I’ll have to just lurch to the right.

Please hurry back as soon as you have the opportunity and until then I hope the break makes your day to day life easier.

By: Guy

Guy — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:33:19 +0000

You’ve probably made the right decision Mark but I am quite sorry to see you go, even temporarily as the case may be. Be sure to make the most of your newly available free time!

By: Dr Marvin Monroe

Dr Marvin Monroe — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:43:37 +0000

Decisions made at 1:46 am on a Sunday morning are rarely good decisions.

True, all too true. When, oh when, will the government ban late night blogging?

Sure, it’s “edgy”, “wild” and “crazy” fun, and “everyone’s doing it”, but occasionally some unfortunate kid has to pay the price for this reckless abandon.

This weekend it was poor, young(ish…) Marco. Now that he’s kicked blogging in public, it’ll be at least a couple of weeks before he comes back for another hit.

All I can say is that it’s a damn good thing he didn’t give up something important. Like smoking, say, or purple.

By: Kim

Kim — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:56:31 +0000

It’s the right decision for Mark, but very sad for the rest of us! We’ll certainly try to keep the joint ticking over in anticipation of his return!

By: Brian

Brian — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:44:29 +0000

Mark, when you joined Troppo as a blogger, on 18 October 2004 from memory, I thought (but didn’t say) it imprudent in terms of what your objectives were at the time. I could mount an argument that I was right.

But what then unfolded at Troppo and here at LP was a revelation that makes my opinion at that time irrelevant.

I was always lousy at time management, so I respect your decision to trim your commitments. But what Nabs said about the election.

I’ve learned heaps and thanks for the opportunity to get on and have an occasional rant.

By: Graham Bell

Graham Bell — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 11:34:34 +0000

Robert Merkel [11:32am}
I would like to Second your Motion .....

David Tiley:
Your wisdom and your encouragement .... again ....;-)

Helen:
Thanks ..... sessional employment does have its place [done a bit myself] but rarely in something that demands continuity, like education.

Mark:
Don’t be bashful …… is there anything WE can do for YOU now?

By: Tony

Tony — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 11:00:05 +0000

…and, unless Kim keeps up her end, LP without Mark will also be LP without references to the Pope!

To more seriously continue your church analogy, wpd, does that make LP now more Anglican, or Lutheran?

By: wpd

wpd — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 09:59:47 +0000

Decisions made at 1:46 am on a Sunday morning are rarely good decisions.

I hope (know) he will be back.

LP without Mark would be akin to the Catholic Church without a Pope.

By: Harry Clarke

Harry Clarke — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 09:04:38 +0000

Mark, Why not cut back your commitments? Why the need to make such a definite move and why the need for a public declaration? Are you, as Sir Henry suggests, suffering from a blogging behavioural addiction.

Like a relapsing cigarette smoker you want to try to pre-commit to overcoming your addiction but the chances are you’ll be back.

BTW the issue of heavy teaching loads of untenured staff at universities seems worthy of a post in itself. This is an indirect cost-cutting measure that affects the quality of programs. I think the maximum load should be about 7 hours with a maximum of 2 units being lectured per semester.

You have certainly established a widely-read blog in LP and deserve congratulations for that. Good luck with your resolution.

By: Helen

Helen — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 06:43:42 +0000

Essentially, what Graham Bell said (all of it, that is, including the observation that sessional academic employment sucks). I hope very much that you’ll take it as a sabbatical rather than exiting the blogosphere entirely. We will miss you. I hope you make it to another Melbourne grogblog this year.

By: Phil

Phil — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 06:39:13 +0000

Enjoy the break Mark, and I look forward to seeing you back in time. I’d also like to publicly thank you for inviting me to write at LP, my time here was an exciting and energising experience and I learned a lot. I was always grateful for the opportunity to reach the wider wider audience you created at LP.