Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Farewell To Cynically Yours

I felt quite sad when I read this post by Sach telling us of the impending deletion of Cynically Yours.

You see it was one of the first blogs to be a regular for me and, as is the case with so many of the blogs I read repeatedly, I feel a bit as if I've accompanied the blogger through some of their trials, tribulations, triumphs and, in Sach's case, piercings.

Cynically Yours has been a mix of diary, ramblings, serious journalistic articles, reviews and music related casual thinking aloud type stuff. Unlike many of her readers I've never actually met Sach, but I certainly feel as if I have, that's one of the gifts of a good writer methinks.

If, per chance, you've never browsed through her blog then you could do a lot worse than to peruse some of these:

Her diary posts on the Galle Literary Festival of 2008, starting here. You may be one of the many who didn't agree with Sach's opinions, but there's no doubting her ability to talk us through the things she experienced with eloquence as well as balls to speak about the bits she didn't like.

This post, about women and careers talks interestingly about one of the dilemnas facing many women and how Sach thinks about the concept. I find these things interesting to read as I feel I have the benefit of age and experience, though some might say that's not a good thing.

One the lighter side we've accompanied her on travels to both countries and piercing or tattoo parlours. She's a girl who finds pain enjoyable and can chuck in a swear word or two when needed, clearly journalism is a splendid choice for her.

And, in the midst of all the rhetoric, a word I always thought was pronounced as "ret to rick", with the "to" sounding as in "top" without the "p", until I found out the proper way only a few months ago, our Cynical One came out with what I believe to be the single best post about the end of hostilities in Lanka. It's a photograph, with a caption and it's brilliant.

But, as I read Sach's last post I felt happy instead of sad. Why? Because Sach tells us that she's no longer the cynic she once was, that "cynic does not describe me any more". That, as far as I'm concerned, is a bloody good thing. I always wondered about her cynicism and her decision to choose it as a label, to market herself as a cynic. As far as I'm concerned it's not a great quality.

It's useful, it's often beneficial to consider the negative side of things, but, by definition it's negative and counter productive. So, for what's it's worth I'm pleased that Sach feels it's not the label for her now, not that she'll be that bothered about my opinion I'm sure!

I'll miss her blog and her writing but I hope we'll see them back under a different moniker very soon.

Thank you Sach, come back soon.

PS - Why not leave Cynically Yours up as a blog and just start a new one without deleting anything?

2 comments:

Indyana said...

Yep!She will be missed! Unless she rises like a phoenix quick enough! One of the first few I read and enjoyed on kottu long ago!

Seeing this lovely write up, I see the folly of not allowing someone I know write about me, when I had last stopped blogging!Tch!So silly of me!

Sachini said...

Thanks R, this means a lot. I've also been thinking about just letting Cynically Yours be and starting anew somewhere else. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again and keep a spot for me in your blog roll when I return ;)