The weekly editions. There are many thoughts about them. In "Barbie post," Kat shared some including that Ava and C.I. are longing for the day they're offline (true) and that she (Kat) believes part of the reason the editions go on so long is that we feel the need to offer a larger number than what we used to. And that may be true.
But her post resulted in a ton of e-mails (e-mail address is thirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com). Most were variations on how mean me is making things crazy for Ava and C.I. No. Sorry. They're just tired of the grind. They're tired of never having time off. They're the only two who have participated every week since this site started back in January of 2005. In addition, C.I.'s never off at The Common Ills. In addition to that addition, Ava and C.I. are on the road most weeks talking about the wars and the attacks on the Constitution. They are tired of the grind. Their work here is only part of the grind.
Kat is very much correct that we used to write far less for each edition than we do today and that's probably part of the reason that it takes so much longer.
It's also true that we still attempt things that never work out. Every week. There are probably three articles every week that we work on for at least an hour minimum (an hour each) that never get to the point where we think they are worth publishing.
And we do have fun in the edition -- sometimes too much fun takes place and not enough writing.
But as we're close to finishing our eight year, what stands out to me are how we continue to have new things to offer. For example, if, in 2005, you'd have told me we'd do a "Barbie Roundtable," I would have said, "You're crazy." But that took place last week and was a hugely popular article.
A lot of people are wondering if C.I.'s going to call it quits come July 4th? If that happens, we'll be closing then as well. But I don't think that's happening. I'm sure by June 20th we'll learn The Common Ills is going on for six more months and we'll do six more months. I honestly don't see either site ending for at least another year. That would be my guess: End of 2013.
Doesn't mean I'm right but that's what I'd guess.
