To Blog or Not to Blog...

And that is indeed the question.

I can't believe it.  I have been writing this blog for almost seven years and I think I only missed a deadline one time.  I started when I retired from an almost 40 year career as a librarian and I wrote twice a week.  If you look back in my archive, you will see that in addition to movies and books, Rosy the Reviewer actually "reviewed" everything from concerts to retirement to marriage to how to get a good table   in a restaurant or the perfect hotel room and much more. I was basically "reviewing" my life.  And I wasn't above dressing my dogs in costumes for a cheap laugh, either.

(Can you guess what movie Mildred is acting out here?)

When I first retired, I felt a bit guilty about walking away from a job (and the money), when I could have kept going.  But I was at the end. What helped me find purpose and get through those early days was this blog. I was able to express myself and, if you have been following me for awhile, you know I had a lot to say.

When the Internet first came on the scene, I remember thinking, "I am going to have a website and put my philosophy of life out there in the world."  Well, I never did...until seven years ago when I started this blog. I thought Oprah would discover me, find me hilarious and insightful and share my blog, thus blowing up the Internet and making me famous like she did Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Nate Birkus, Suze Orman and Rachael Ray. And when I started writing movie reviews, I was able to live out a lifelong dream I had ever since I first saw Siskel and Ebert. I thought being a movie critic would be a wonderful life, to get paid to watch movies.

Well, Oprah never discovered me and I never got paid.

But I pressed on. I wrote two posts a week.  On Tuesdays, I would rant about life and on Fridays I would review movies and books.  

But my main reason for my blog was my desire to communicate and express myself, which I feel I was able to do.  However, when the twice a week blog post made retirement feel more like a job, I cut back and decided that I would just publish on Fridays and concentrate on movies and books, but add my personal story when relevant, kind of putting the Tuesday and Friday blog into one.

And now seven years later, I am starting to feel a bit irrelevant especially in light of this time of the Coronavirus. 

Movie reviews seem a bit silly, especially since none of us can actually go to the movies. And who knows?  Movie theatres might never recover.  With all of the content we have at home - Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and more - we may never go back.  

So this time at home, sheltering in place, has given me time to reflect on my life and what I want to do with the rest of it.  I think I have exhausted the current version of my blog. I think at this particular point I've said everything I wanted to say about movies, on a regular basis anyway, and maybe I've also said all I want to say about me, as well, at least for now.

So desperate times call for desperate measures. I think it's time to make some changes. The Friday blog post of movie and book reviews is going away.

I will still keep you posted on what I am watching, but I will be posting my reviews to my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer/), where I will do short but sweet reviews on what I am watching and reading, and then, when the creative muse moves me, I will go back to my original blog idea, when I used to publish on Tuesdays, where I would talk about myself.  Then you will still find me here at this address.  I will rant about my life or whatever is annoying me at the time or share recipes or just let you know how I am doing. Hopefully, I will not only be relevant but still give you a laugh or two as I let you into my life and inner thoughts (and if you don't want to miss any of those when I do publish, sign up to follow me by email - see the sidebar - and/or "like" my Facebook page and you will get an alert when there is new content).

So thank you all for following me and commenting. 

And if you actually give a damn, don't worry, I'm not going to go away forever or anything like that. I will still be here but just not as much, but if you care about movies, television and books and/or my "1001 Movies I Must See Before I Die Project (I only have 38 to go!)," 

then check in with me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer/  I will be there every day, but if you miss my longer rants and what I think about life, stay tuned for when I do publish here.  

Also if you start missing me, check out my archive which is on the sidebar of my blog.  My most popular blog posts are there as well as an archive of everything I have written since I began. You might also like to check out "The Best of Rosy the Reviewer's Tuesday Blog Posts," which I gathered together a couple of years ago.

Likewise, you can find my movie reviews on IMDB.  When you want to know if you should watch a particular DVD or not, go to IMDB, type in the name of the movie and then scroll down to critics. Click on that and then scroll down to Rosy the Reviewer.  If I have reviewed the movie, I will be there. 

This is a very emotional day for me but who knows what the next chapter will be? Whatever it is, I hope you will be there!

In the meantime, I am so thankful to all of you who have been so encouraging, loyal and supportive.

And when this whole coronavirus thing starts to get you down, remember, WE CAN DO IT!

Love to you all, stay safe and peace out.

Thanks for Reading!

And I Hope to See you Soon... 

Here and on my Rosy the Reviewer Facebook Page!

If you enjoyed this post, feel free to click on the share buttons to share it on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn, email it to your friends and LIKE me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rosythereviewer 

Next time you are wondering whether or not to watch a particular film, check out my reviews on IMDB (The International Movie Database).

Go to IMDB.com, find the movie you are interested in.  Scroll down below the synopsis and the listings for the director, writer and main stars to where it says "Reviews" and click on "Critics" - If I have reviewed that film, you will find Rosy the Reviewer alphabetically on the list.