Thursday, March 17, 2011

"If I Should Die Before I Wake..."



Beware the Ides of March! (No, not the band that recorded "Vehicle" in 1970, silly.)

Here's some food for thought, fellow babies, although you may have a little trouble digesting it.

No one lives forever. All of my readers (mostly other bloggers) are adults of varying ages, and have probably considered how they want their own affairs tied up by their survivors and or executor(s).

However -- and please forgive me if this sounds frivolous -- have any of you Blogger-bloggers considered what will happen to your blog (or blogs) when you die?

Occasionally, when I'm caught up in events pressed upon me by what I refer to as "the real world," I'll post a photo of a can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. This is a light-hearted "internet tradition" begun by Mark Evanier, writer of the highly-recommended website, www.povonline.com, and its companion blog, the equally-endorsed www.newsfromme.com, which says, in effect, that the author is (temporarily) too busy to post.

To these posts, I also often add "I'm not dead." Ha-freakin'-ha.

Such will not always be the case. And no, I'm not trying to prepare you for any as-yet-undisclosed medical situation of mine. Just stating a simple fact. I may live another fifty years and die in my sleep. I may live another forty and be choked by a jealous husband. I may postpone quitting that stupid habit I have of inhaling the smoke from finely-cut, burning tobacco leaves... until it's too late. I may sign a lucrative screenplay contract and dance blindly into oncoming traffic. I may even fall victim to whatever is delivered by a strong easterly wind from Japan, according to the recent news (and no, that's not an effin' joke)...

I'm not sure how long I'll actually be blogging, of course. I may continue this blog for another year or two. Maybe even less. I may be plodding away -- or should that be "plogging?" -- thirty years from now, if I live that long (although I'm hoping I don't). Whatever. But being one of those pains-in-the-butt obsessed with a "sense of closure," I've actually gone so far as to write my own "final" post for this blog, in case it's still going when circumstances beyond my control kill off its author (meaning me, fellow babies). I plan to give a close friend -- one who will hear of my death soon after it occurs -- my Blogger password, with instructions to post that final post at his earliest convenience. So when I go, you'll hear about it.

Now. Having said all of that... What are your plans? I know a lot of us have grown very close to one another, although the vast majority of us have never met their 47, 69, or 8,000,000 followers. I for one would sure appreciate knowing what's become of someone whose posts have inexplicably stopped, just for that maddening sense of closure I mentioned above. I'll only feel "good" in terms of knowing for sure why you "disappeared," but hell, at least that's something.

So, again. What are your plans?


(By the way, if you're wondering what the first photo is all about, it shows the death of Zorro from The Mask of Zorro!)

Next time, I'll try to post something a bit more cheerful. But looking at the world around me lately... I'm not sure what I'll be able to manage.

Wish me luck... and thanks for your time

12 comments:

  1. Silver Fox,
    Thanks for visiting my blog and post on Orson Welles. He was quite the cutting edge of his day. What should I do with my blog if I were to die. I guess I'd let my wife handle that. She knows my password.
    I know a fellow blogger, Matty, who hadn't posted since Chritmas time and the thought of him passing away did inter my mind. I even emailed Betsy about him. But a close blogger friend of his who has his cell phone number, called him and said bloggers were concerned about him. He said he had just got burnt out blogging and couldn't think of anything to post about. I've been there too. Good post, "Young Silver Fox". Have a great day! :)

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  2. Yes one could get burnt out
    Especailly when you rhyme and gloat
    But I have plenty in the tank
    So I won't being giving my blog a yank
    One day maybe I will
    But I'm sure I'll leave with a thrill
    Death doesn't bother me
    As if I'm dead feel free
    To steal my blog
    Or smash it with a log
    For I won't care
    I'll no longer be around with my rhyming flare
    Take my ashes and use them for kitty litter for all I care
    As I'll be climbing another stair
    Wasting all that money on a person when they are dead
    Just brings me dread
    Anybody wastes that on me
    And I'll come back and haunt them for free
    Nice post
    Made me think and not just roast

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  3. Hadn't thought about this before but now I will. I wonder if blogging will be obsolete before I'm ready to quit?

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  4. whats up david...you know i thought about writing that final post just in case...have yet to do it...i am still plodding along toward world domination...so far i have acquired the couch....so its a slow process...smiles. glad you are still around...

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  5. I suppose my blog will be one of that just sits and everyone wonders what happened to me. Nobody knows my password! So Silver, if I go before you do, let me apologize in advance for the lack of closure. At least leave me a comment, though, won't you?

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  6. David,
    I've got an "ending" to my blog in mind already and I hope to live long enough to finish it. It has bothered me for the past ten years that I didn't have my son's password for his email account. If I had it, I would have been able to notify his friends about his "situation." Leaving the passwords with a trusted friend or relative is a good idea.

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  7. Well, I guess now I have to give my husband my password...since he said above that I'll be responsible for his blog. It only seems fair that he gets stuck with mine, if the situation is reversed.
    Thanks for helping us set up our "will" for our blogs. The check's in the mail for your legal fees : )

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  8. The offspring knows where the passwords are. Of course, if we happen to be on the same train (or whatever)...well.

    I'm still pretending I'm thinking I'm going to live forever, though. Maybe I should re-think that. :)

    One of my all-time favorite blogs stopped without warning one day. I emailed the author (I didn't know her well, she was not the kind to "make friends" but I'd been commenting there for over a year) and all she said was that she had decided to quit. The archives were up for a while but even that is gone now. I still wonder about her and wish she was still posting...

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  9. The stuff being delivered by that strong, easterly wind from Japan is going to reach me first, dude. So if you don't hear from me....

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  10. And by the way, STOP SMOKING! ;o)

    (I did.)

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  11. I think about it... all the time. HERE would be a good place to start... Don't. Anyway, I still need to write my Vanity Beyond the Grave post and instruct my Bollywood Princess to post it when I'm beyond saving. Wait... that's now.

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