Interestingly, I was contacted by a reporter from the Strib. He wrote an article on slacking bloggers. Because the Strib doesn't archive articles, I've reposted it here.

Ennui and exhaustion are idling some online opiners. Next year may see a decline -- or at least a leveling off --in the blogging boom.

By Jon Tevlin, Star Tribune

Last update: December 29, 2006 – 2:10 PM

Dan K***, the man behind the blog "And I am somebody," still is (somebody), even though he's been missing from his Minnesota blog since August.

"Bunny Edelman's World," another local blog, apparently stopped spinning in July. "Ghost Noise and Psychic Dream Butter" hasn't rattled its chains since August. Even the confidently named "I Blog Therefore I Am" website posted only once between Dec. 4 and 17, an entry consisting simply of the word "yadda" repeated over and over.

"Yes, life has intervened," K*** said recently. "I'd love to keep the blog going, but I'm fearful it may have gasped its last breath. It was great for awhile, but it became a chore."

K*** isn't alone in feeling all blogged out.

The technology firm Gartner Inc. has announced that 2007 may be the year the blog world loses steam. Perhaps hot air is a better term.

Said Gartner:

• There were more than 56 million active weblogs ("blogs") in October 2006, according to Technorati, but the average life span is three months and declining.

• Given the trend in the average life span of blogs and the current growth rate of them, there are already more than 200 million ex-bloggers. So, the peak number of bloggers worldwide will be around 100 million at some point in the first half of 2007.

• MySpace and Facebook lost visitors in September, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, a Web-tracking service. The number of unique U.S. visitors at MySpace fell 4 percent to 47.2 million from 49.2 million in August, and the number of visitors to Facebook fell 12 percent to 7.8 million from 8.9 million.

• Today's overexuberance will level off to a stasis of at least 30 million active bloggers and 30 million frequent community contributors worldwide.

That's still a lot of yapping, but consider that Google recently estimated that the average blog is read by one person. In other words, for most bloggers, that means your mom's not even reading you anymore.

The reason, according to Gartner, is that people have gotten bored with their blogs, or just found the responsibility -- not to mention the strain -- of saying something profound or even interesting every day just isn't worth it.

"A lot of people have been in and out of this thing," said Daryl Plummer, chief Gartner fellow. "Everyone thinks they have something to say, until they're put onstage and asked to say it."

A veteran's counterpoint

Rex Sorgatz, who founded the local site MNSpeak and is now Innovations Director for msnbc.com in Seattle, doesn't think Gartner's data portends the end for blogs.

"I'm honestly no blog triumphalist, but when did 100 million people involved in contributory media become a disappointment?" he said.

Sorgatz thinks that the definition of "blog" is changing: "There's something happening on MySpace that is blog-like, but not exactly blogging. The same goes with Twitter, where people are sort of insta-blogging. I can imagine a near future in which blogging completely disappears because it has been replaced with more effective forms of communication that we haven't even seen yet. "

Burned out, seeking balance

For now, many blogs --especially more personal ones -- clearly have a shelf life.

Take the New York blogger who goes by the pen name Elvira Black. She announced a serious case of "blogger burnout" last February.

"I've literally let several seasons go by, hardly noticing, because I've spent so much time indoors blogging," she blogged. "There was a time when this kind of homebound lifestyle would have horrified and depressed me, but this past year I blithely blogged the weeks and months away as spring became fall and fall winter. I'm not exercising, I'm not eating right, and I'm smoking so many cigarettes I have no idea how many packs I'm going through each day."

Black is back but says her pace is often determined by her depression.

"During my initial blogging fervor, I became a self-professed 'blog pimp' and 'comment whore,' " she said in a recent e-mail. "Although I'm again very involved in blogging, I am trying to balance it more with 'real life,' though I still find the internet to be hopelessly addictive."

A Twin Cities blogger who decided to give it a rest is Kevin-M, at the Insomnia Report, who wrote this in October:

"Over the past couple of weeks I've grown less and less enthusiastic about keeping up this site. So I've decided to stop doing it for a little while. I don't want what should be a fun hobby to become a burden, and I'm really looking forward to reacquainting myself with some of my less solitary hobbies. ... So, this is goodbye for now. "

Goodbye, Kevin, and perhaps even goodnight.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Jon Tevlin • 612-673-1702 • jtevlin@startribune.com

Agency.com, an interactive shop with offices around the country, and a couple overseas, was pitching business from Subway - a client who in the past decade or so has gone through ad agencies every one or two years. Yet they have a lot of money, and agencies who pitch them hope to be the one who can hold onto the business, leda them in their thinking, and "do good work." As part of their spec creative, Agency.com created videos of their pitch process and posted them on the latest user-generated-content site - youtube.com. It's never been done before and has taken the industry a little by surprise.

Check out the video.

And read the blog that's been documenting the buzz around the work.

If you're gay and you've spent any time in Southern California, God help you if you haven't visited the Boom Boom Room - Laguna Beach's original gay bar.

In a former life I spent my share of evenings whooping it up at the Boom. There were always a mix of a few locals and many out of towners who all had one thing in common - a degree of "nice" you don't usually find in a gay bar - especially a gay bar in South Cali. The bar was a guaranteed good time, every time.

Nearly a year ago, a developer purchased the property that houses the Boom. He's intending to close the bar and turning the building into a botique hotel - ending a 60 year run as the west coast's longest established gay bar. An organization has been formed, a petition is making the rounds, and a website launched to cover the efforts being made to Save the Boom.

If you've ever spent time at the Boom, considering sending a letter to the city council and letting them know about the good times you've had in their city.

I must admit that I'm not on the up and up on Meryl Streep's previous work, but I've never seen her so sassy before and I like it!

If you remember seeing the trailer for Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, & Blonde, you know what I'm referring to. Unfortunately, the trailer contained the best line in the film.

In honor of Independence Day, we threw a BBQ / Smores Get-together last night at the house to celebrate and break in the new patio recently laid. While I didn't get any photos of the patio, there were a few snapshots taken. Including a celebrity sighting of two of our favorite drag queens, out of drag.

Remaining photos in the gallery.

I came across a shirt on a rack that I liked. I began to check the tag for materials, washing instructions, and most importantly, the price, when a large black man tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to his massive arms bulging out of his shirt in my face and he told me I should think twice about buying the shirt because across the front, unbeknownst to me, were the words, "white supremacy". how odd that Bloomies would carry such a shirt. I re-racked it and moved on.

Feeling a little frisky after my run-in with the large-armed black man, I asked one of the staffers where the men's athletic section was. It was upstairs and they had to re-open that floor then, too. However, upon entering the 3rd floor I was then on, I didn't find any athletic wear, just faux designer modern furniture classics. Why on earth would Bloomies carry a knock-off Eames lounge chair? I mean seriously.

It was at that point, I knew I was dreaming.

Recently I've seen a few relationships go sour. The pain these folks are now in seems almost unbearable. Depression and feelings of little self-worth exude themselves while in their presence.

If so few relationships work out, why do people continually seek them out? The risk factor going into them seems so high, the potential for success so low.

In recovery, I've often seen newcomers (people young in their recovery journey) latch onto prospective partners. If even a nibble is bitten off the line, they reel 'em in and hold on for all life's worth. It seems a little unfortunate on a few levels.

One, often times people who suffer from addiction will replace their drugs with a relationship. They become so immersed in it that they cannot see their lives without the other person. It's the same co-dependent relationship they had with their drugs.

Secondly, most folks in early recovery who begin a relationship, relapse. It's a statistic I've seen occur over and over again. Nobody thinks it will happen to them. They think they're different. They might admit that there's a "small chance it doesn't work out" but I'd be fine if that happened because I'm sober now. The troubling thing is that most of these relationships don't work out, and a relapse is never far behind.

Too often, too, a relationship in early recovery will go sour and while they may not officially break up, they may relapse together, at which point the drugs or alcohol become their number one friend and the partner becomes a means to an end.

Even after one has achieved some length of sobriety, seemingly has their live in order, their spiritual path heavily trodden on, and all seems well, relationships can cause great havoc in one's life.

The only method I've seen people survive with relationships is to first love themselves, and then their partners. Aside from all of that other jazz - maintaining a healthy level of spirituality, making good decisions, doing esteemable things, and being of service whenever possible.

Relationships frighten me. I haven't been seriously involved with anyone in a long time. I'm scared for the wreck that may be awaiting, and I'm fearful of becoming vulnerable.

However, it seems to me that the people who succeed in relationships tend to reap the rewards of putting their hearts on the line earlier. Is it worth it to try?

Like competition or evolution theory, these forces drive the product to new heights. And I don't mind it one bit.

Download the viral video of the cleaning hunk in windows media or quicktime formats.

Don't forget to visit the site, too - at least do them the favor of counting you as an impression.

How amazing, and strange, that she would continue to cheer after she had fractured her spine, sufferred a concusion and bruised her lung! She was back on the show this morning and Katie asked her what she was thinking. She replied with, "When I heard that fight song, I knew that I had to get the crowd riled up, and I didn't want to cause a distraction to the other cheerleaders or the game."

Honey, you were on a stretcher in the middle of the court, with 20 paramedics surrounding you. I don't think you could avoid causing a distraction at that point.

The video can be found on MSN, and photos are below.

But on a more serious note, how genuine do you think the average cheerleader is? They smile all the time, but they're taught to. Does the action of smiling produce genuine feelings of happiness? Or do they begin happy, and convey that with their smile?

But, as well all know, sometimes technology doesn't always work (in more ways than one); witness my latest email from them: