In the nine years since I first read Denise Levertov’s poem “Making Peace” and pulled the words “long pauses . . .” from it, I’ve bought and sold two houses, changed jobs three times, and launched a freelance business. I’ve attended nearly a dozen film festivals, interviewed several of my heroes, and developed lifelong friendships with an amazing group of bloggers, filmmakers, writers, and fellow travelers. I’ve started and abandoned a doctoral dissertation, cried in anger and shame over the actions of my country, and felt occasional but startling moments of pride and patriotism. I’ve left the church and found my faith. I’ve celebrated nine of my fourteen wedding anniversaries, suffered the loss of two people I loved dearly, and, as of Tuesday, April 27 at 4:09 pm, become a father. And it’s all documented here in this strange archive of my life. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished here at this site and am even more proud of the man I’ve become in the process.
I’d been thinking about shuttering this iteration of Long Pauses for quite some time, but the timeline was accelerated by Blogger’s decision to end their FTP service. When I finish this post and click “publish,” the last bits of content will be pushed to longpauses.com/blog, where it will stay, in this form, for as long as I decide it belongs there. I’ve archived it all and might eventually drop it into another format, but for now I’m content to let it stand as a document of this stage in my life.
I’m not sure how long — or even if — commenting will work. I’d hoped to post this a few days ago to leave more time for that kind of thing, but my daughter’s early arrival threw a wrench — a wonderful, beautiful wrench — into the works. You can find me on Twitter and Facebook, and I suspect you’ll eventually see me back here at Long Pauses.
Until then, thanks for reading.
Comments
13 responses to “To be continued . . .”
Dear Darren,
Thank you for all your work on the blog. Yours is one of the first blogs I ever read– I found it while searching for information on Tarkovsky.
All the best to you and your family.
Sincerely,
Mary from Tennessee
Sincere congratulations. I am glad to know the archive will exist. You've taught me and others so much here, about film and about blogging, though I must confess I have not combed every word. I look forward to doing so when I'm a bit less busy.
Darren, congratulations on the birth of your daughter. That's fantastic news.
In that same 9 year span, my own son has grown from a baby to a toddler to a young boy who is on the cusp of…well, I don't know. But I'm so excited to find out. It's been the hardest and best experience I could ever imagine.
Best of luck. Enjoy the ride.
Darren and Joanna…after not visiting the blog for some time, imagine my deep delight to catch it tonight before the curtain falls on Long Pauses…and of course to learn the amazing news of your foray into parenthood! I don't know how to Twitter and the like but would you snail mail us a birth announcement? We continue our sojourn in VA…blessings as you continue yours in Knoxville.
Shelly for all
What a long, lovely trip it's been…
Luckily this is not goodbye, just a venue change. Still, congratulations on the many changes in your life, and on the Long Pauses project, which is something of which you can be mighty proud indeed.
Good decision, Darren. Have always loved your blog. But you'll be extraordinarily busy for a few years (been there, done that – our daughter is now 18, and I simply have no idea where the years went) but you'll be back.
Hope to run into you at TIFF one of these years.
Talk to you on Facebook in the meantime.
Your friend,
Trond
(Nostalghia.com)
"I just got back from someplace great. Going someplace better."
Godspeed.
Major congratulations, Darren. It's sad to think Long Pauses–which has been so good for so long–won't be updated for a while, but if your daughter is half as demanding as mine has been her first two years, I think you'll be very glad you made this decision. Looking forward to whatever form your writing takes in the future.
Thank you for all you've written for Long Pauses, which has long been and will continue to be an inspiration to me (like Brian, I intend to spend a significant amount of time in your archives). I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet you in Toronto, however briefly, and I sincerely hope that our paths will cross again in the future. Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!
Darren,
You introduced me to Ordet.
You introduced me to a whole world of films that I was not aware of before I visited this blog.
Yet I am so so glad that you are shuttering this blog (at least temporarily) in order to go introduce your child to the world.
Godspeed,
Nicholas
Congratulations, Darren. Your blog has taught me much.
So glad you are leaving the writing here to visit again. Cheers and hoping for pictures of the little one via email from time to time.
K.
Hail and farewell, sir! I wish you well in your future endeavors, and hope fervently that you'll pop up from time to time with a byline, either here or elsewhere.