Farewell (for now), and thank you.

Many lines from The Simpsons are imprinted in my brain, but there is one that I think about often.

Troy McClure: “Who knows what adventures they'll have between now and the time the show becomes unprofitable?”

I love it because it's a fourth wall break that slyly acknowledges that behind your favourite entertainment are workers just paying their bills. People who would stop when it no longer suited them to make you think or laugh.

An exciting new(ish) opportunity has arisen for me to get back into the kind of worlds I cover here, one which would make this blog untenable and uninteresting, and so it is time for me to step away.

I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog/stack/rant hole, and have been regularly shocked by its reach amongst you impressive and serious people, but that time has come for me to practice what I've preached here and get my hands lightly dirty for a purpose I believe in.

If you are a paid subscriber, I can assure you that I have paused payments so you won't be charged for zero new content. That's never been the point of this blog, and it just isn't my style.

If you are a free subscriber, you will still be able to view my existing posts for as long as I feel comfortable doing so (likely indefinitely, but don't hold me to that).

Finally, I would like to thank my fellow SubStackers who have amplified my blogs.

Thank you to Bryce Edwards - We've never met, but I feel like I owe you a refreshment of your choice one of these days.

Thank you to Liam Hehir - A kindred spirit.

Thank you to Grant Duncan over on Politics Happens - Always levelheaded, always a good read.

Thank you to Simon O’Connor of On Point - Your humility is rare and unwavering, I'm glad we could reconnect online after all these years.

Thank you to Graeme Edgeler of Edgelered - It's been almost 20 years since I first met Graeme at Vic Uni, he was and remains a bastion of integrity. You are as true and consistent as the sun rising.

Again, I thank you all for your support, it has meant more to me than I can convey with words - and I'm quite decent with those (I've always lacked Simon's humility).

I will leave you with this one quote by James Baldwin:

“People pay for what they do, and, still more, for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply: by the lives they lead.”

I wish you all a happy life, one led with conviction and purpose.