In Which I Say Goodbye (For a While)

I’m moving away to start library school at this end of the week, which means blogging will have to go on hiatus for about a month or so, until I get properly settled in and find a new routine that will hopefully allow me to be around semi-regularly again. For the first three weeks or so, I expect I’ll have no Internet access at home: I’ll need to find a home to begin with, then pick an ISP, and then probably wait a few weeks for the Internet to be connected. You know how it goes. So apologies in advance for not being able to visit any of your lovely blogs in the near future, and also for having been such a neglectful blogging friend these past few weeks. As I’m sure you can imagine, preparing for the move has made life very busy indeed.

You know, I started this post planning to tell you that the way I blog will probably change once I come back; that I hope I’ll have time to do it at all; that I won’t be able to post nearly as often, one of reasons being that I won’t be able to read nearly as much as I have for the past few years; and so on and so forth. But then I told myself to quit being dramatic. What does it matter if I only post three, two times, or even once a week? Also, from now on I’ll get to write about library school news, bookish events, visits to literary sites, meetings with other book bloggers (hopefully), used bookshop finds, library loots, etc., none of which I had the opportunity to do until now. All in all, things will probably even out, which is why speaking of a big change doesn’t really make that much sense.

I don’t know what my life will be like in the future – I can’t predict the structure of my days a month from now, and that kind of uncertainty is a little unsettling for someone like me, who takes great comfort in regularity and routine. But even if my blog does take a new direction, well, it’s not like it has stayed exactly the same for the past three years and a half (and it has seen me through an international move before). Our blogs are after all a reflection of who we are, so change is only to be expected. Also, fellow grad students slash bloggers like Kim and Lu have set my mind at ease by repeatedly reassuring me that finding ways to balance graduate school and blogging is indeed perfectly possible. I’m determined not to fret too much and just go wherever life takes me. If I’m too busy to post for a week at a time, so be it. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue to share my bookish adventures with you, even if in a slightly different way.

To keep my blog for becoming a complete post-apocalyptic wasteland in the next month or so, I asked a few of my fellow bloggers to occasionally cover up for me, so once or twice a week you’ll be kept entertained by Jenny, Renay, Jodie, Claire, Lightheaded, Heather, Trapunto, Trisha and Memory. They’re all smart and interesting people who have blogs I absolutely love, and I really think you’ll love them too, if you don’t already.

I’ll miss you all, and I’ll be sure to ask you to tell me all about what you’ve been reading once I come back. The hostel where I’m staying for the first week or so (hopefully apartment hunting won’t take much longer than that? – fingers crossed!) has free wireless, so I might be able to say hi on Twitter or Tumblr every now and then. Also, feel free to drop me an e-mail at any time – I know I’ve been horrible at e-mail lately, but I’ll probably be in dire need of encouragement and moral support to get me through the initial stress of an international move, so I’d absolutely love to hear from you. That’s one of the best things about having friends online – I get to take you with me wherever I go.

Wish me luck, everyone! I’ll see you sometime in mid October. Until then, I hope you have a great month, full of excellent reads and bookish discoveries.