in just a little bit.

I never really believed that blogging was work.

Until recently — sometime last year, I guess — it wasn’t.

I open this blog several times a week, with plenty of ideas for posts, like, say, the Urban Garden Party at the Mattress Factory (Oh my god awesome), our Phish shows at Star Lake and Blossom (#turnpiketour), the 5K we just did in Canonsburg (fat, sweaty slow guy), the upcoming football season, the current baseball season (and my renewed hope for an Indians-Pirates World Series), food, beer, friends and, especially, my family.

And I look at the blank window, the one I’m supposed to fill with words. And nothing, except for a mild feeling of dread, shows up.

I spend a lot of time with the Internet. I enjoy it. It has changed my life for the better; most of the friendships I have in Pittsburgh I have because of one form of Uncle Crappy or another. But I’m finding that maintaining all that stuff — to the degree that makes me happy, anyway — has become increasingly tiring.

I also do this for work. And I’m trying to do it more — and better — there. That means paying more attention to the work Twitter and FB accounts. That means getting back to daily Newsbreaks. That means a post a week on the beer blog. And that means helping others with the stuff they want to do. Upshot: It means I’m spending more time doing this professionally than I ever have before. And that’s a good thing, although it leaves me with even less time and energy for my personal stuff.

And that’s how we got here.

I’m tired. And rather than continue to pretend that I’m going to just pick up regular posting again — and feeling like an asshole when I inevitably don’t — I’m going to give myself a break. I’m going to call it a break rather than something else more, uh, permanent, because I’m not sure that I’m done blogging here.

Although that could be the case. I wish I could say for sure, but I can’t.

I’m also going to step away from some of the more time-intensive aspects of social media for a while (and no, I don’t know what “a while” means). There are some personal things I’ll continue — I’m really digging Instagram and I’m way too competitive to give my Foursquare mayorships — and my professional accounts will likely be more active in the meantime (you guys are welcome there as well).

I don’t know what’s next. My Internet Life has paid countless dividends, and I can’t see ever giving it up completely. But maybe I’m going to try to focus on my In-Real-Life Life for a while.

And while I figure out what I’m doing, please enjoy these pictures of Miles. Because cat pictures are what the Internet is really about, right?