Open Letter to the Reader

Dear Reader,

It is with deepest gratitude that I write to you today, for ultimately it is to you that I owe the privelage of writing to anyone at all. Yet sadly, the time has come for the fredburgessblog to go the way of Brad2000, the short-lived blog of Dave Pruitt. It has reached its end for the time being, and it is known nowhere else but my very soul.

However I say to you Reader, do not despair. What we accomplished here together can never be unwritten. We have aimed, shot down, and hefted over our shoulders the carcas of many a neccesary thought. What you carry is for your own sustenance. It's your own fatty reward.

There never was a burgessblog manifesto. The message was always writ "with air on air," as one of our Vonnegut entries put it, and no other nature would better suit it. In fact, the blog has been saying it all along: "Remember life includes suffering complete change and no ultimate personal identity" (Ginsberg); "I do not introduce myself lest I lose myself.... He loves to migrate towards everything. Traveling freely between cultures, there is room for all who seek the essence of man," and "Identity is multifaceted. It is neither a citadel nor is it absolute" (Darwish, in "Homage to Edward Said); finally, "I believe that what's most important is what CANNOT be measured" (Murakami). But such impermenance does not necassarily translate into chaos or loss. It can also allow you to recognize when one archaic structure is prime to be replaced by an even greater one. Bigger muscles only grow by the tear and breakdown of the last.

And of course, there have been many another theme and thread running throughout the blog -- all timely, all worthwhile. I encourage you to peruse the archives and reconnect with them, as the blog will remain as long as the Blogger company will allow it. And whose to say? If the factors of my life allign, the burgessblog will make a comeback yet, but only if sharper, more poignant levels are reached.

And so good friends, I put the end of my paddle to the sandy lake bed and push off to the opposite shore. It is not a permanent departure but rather a temporary exile with which I seek to find the greater sea. And tomorrow, with eyes fixed on the reward, we will breathe deeper, swim harder, and set our sails to the very wind that will set us free.

Sincerely,
fredburgess