The Future of Cranky Fitness?

Crabby, before you take off?
The Venusians want you to review their new power bars.
(Photo: Plan 59)

So in case anyone missed yesterday's understated announcement, my co-blogger Merry Sunshine has indeed left Cranky Fitness.

Want the inside scoop about what Merry's really like, why she quit, how I feel about it, and what happens next for the blog? Hold on to your hats, it's quite a story!

You may have thought from her posts that Merry was funny, clever, creative, reliable, scholarly, and reasonable. But the real, behind-the-scenes truth? Merry Sunshine...

is actually very funny, clever, creative, scholarly, and reasonable. Plus she's warm, generous, understanding, endlessly flexible, and awesomely amusing. She was an absolute pleasure to blog with, and she will be sorely missed.

So did you ever notice that even when Merry seemed to be blogging about literature, or philosophy, or some other high-brow subject, she was still slipping in loads of health information, inspiration, and clever puns? Well, that doesn't happen by accident! (Unless maybe there were a series of freakish high-speed space/time collisions between Merry, her computer, Shakespeare, Einstein, and the New England Journal of Medicine?)

No, it wasn't accidental. These blog posts actually take a fair amount of time to write, and after blogging here for almost two years, Merry decided she'd could use some of that time back for use in her actual life. Fortunately, Merry is still blogging at Sheesh, so you can still catch her on the web.

Just not here anymore.

Heck, I'm a grown up. I can accept the fact that someone who has a demanding full time job, and her own great blog, might one day decide to stop putting in endless hours at an irreverent health blog for practically no money.

So, after careful consideration, how did I react?

Photo: tacitrequiem

Yeah. Okay, maybe not so grown up. I'm seriously bummed.


But the good news is...

We have two new great co-bloggers coming to join us!

The first to arrive will be Jo from Head Nurse and The Wednesday Whine, and I'm totally psyched. I'd been admiring her writing for ages, and was totally shocked when she actually agreed to come aboard.

Well, I did try to sell the blog a bit. I told her Cranky Fitness gets 7 million hits a week, and that I just signed Michelle Obama to co-blog with us.

Hey Crabby, it's Michelle...
What? 1,000 words on organics?
No problem, you got it!

Oh, and I also may have mentioned that "Cranky Fitness, the Musical" had just been optioned for Jo to star in along with George Clooney, Mathew McConaughey, and Colin Firth. They play some of the interns we employ here to do research, screen email, bring us blueberry smoothies, and massage our tired calves after vigorous workouts.

I'm sure Jo won't mind discovering that these were slight exaggerations.

Now of course there are technological issues when it comes to starting up with a new blog, especially when you're working with a customized template. So we hope this works out, but we're not entirely sure the Cranky Fitness machinery will allow a new blog author to just jump in and start posting. The html gears might jam up, blowing the css gaskets and causing the whole blog to burst into flaming hrefs and onblurs and div styles.

Whoops!
Probably should have added a backslash.
(Photo: veo)

But assuming no blogsplosions, Jo should begin posting soon, perhaps by tomorrow.

Hooray!

And in other news...

Massive, Gargantuan, Big-Ass Giveaway Contest Coming!

So in about the third week of October I'll be heading off on my bi-annual cross country road trip. Yep, it's the great Provincetown to California schlep. So I'll be gone for several weeks, which means my posts will probably be a combination of "classics" (i.e., reruns), and trip photos. So thank goodness for co-bloggers with new stuff!

However... to make up for my own vacation posting lameness, I've been saving up a bunch of review and giveaway opportunities. And so there's going to be a multi-sponsor giveaway during the road trip, and the goal is to have enough prizes so that every Cranky Fitness reader who hangs in there and consistently comments on posts will win something, even if it's not a big prize. Is this possible? Well, I have no idea! No promises, I'm afraid. But so far, it's looking pretty good. And we have some very cool sponsors participating. Like remember the TRX suspension system and the way I hogged it for myself for a review rather than host a giveaway? Well, this time, it's a whole different story. Be sure to stay tuned for future details!


Got Ideas?

So as we head into a new era of Cranky Fitness, I may do some experimentation. Video? Twitter? Nude blogging? Who knows what could happen! But before I come up with some half-assed plan, is there anything that you, the readers, would like to see happen here? Seen another blog you admire run a kind of post I could steal? I'm on the lookout for fresh ideas, even if I may be too lazy to implement them. I'm all ears!

In closing, goodbye and good wishes, Merry! Welcome, Jo! And Thank You, readers, for continuing to support Cranky Fitness as it evolves!