ON HIATUS: Taking a blogging break to focus on screenwriting...

This message might be redundant to those who have already noticed my absence from blogging. But I thought I'd make it official: I'm on hiatus from blogging for the foreseeable future.

The main reason: most of my energy, spare time and creativity is currently dedicated toward writing a feature screenplay adaptation of my recent short film, The Golden Pin. Turning a 15-minute short into a full-length feature is proving a tricky exercise, balancing the original story's varied characters and tensions, keeping in mind market expectations (I'm also a producer on the feature) and trying to remain true to our artistic vision. Needless to say, when I have a free evening, I feel guilty if I'm not working on the script. Hence, why blogging has fallen by the wayside.

I do love blogging. I love the immediacy of typing thoughts and feelings and publishing them to the world. I'm even enjoying writing this post right now, it's easy to remember the appeal. So I know I'm not through with blogging for good. But for now, with so much on my plate, it doesn't seem likely I'll have much time for it in the near future.

There are many issues on the queer liberation front that deserve commentary. Just this week, we saw a major victory when the U.S. finally ended its despicable ban on allowing HIV positive people into the country. Gay rights issues continue to simmer around the world. There is much to comment upon. Sadly, I'm going to have to relinquish the stage to other fine bloggers and commentators like Montreal Simon, Slapped Upside the Head, Andrew Sullivan and my friend Scott Dagostino.

With my full time job, plus my writing on the side, I just don't seem to have the same fire in the belly about some issues like I used to. Hearing that Stephen Harper hired another dinosaur to work in his office just doesn't elicit the same reaction in me as it did a year ago. Perhaps I'm becoming jaded, or maybe I just don't know what to think of our chameleon Prime Minister any more. On the one hand, he continues to show Canada's queer community official disdain (demoting ministers who treat us equally, hiring anti-gay speechwriters), but on the other hand, he seems to privately show less hatred (gay John Baird accompanies his wife Laureen often to Ottawa functions with Harper's approval.)

Michael Ignatieff's horrific stumbles this summer and fall have also taken their toll on my political self-esteem. Let me see - I endorsed Stephane Dion in 2006 and look how that turned out. And then I endorsed Michael Ignatieff in 2008, and thus far, while things got much better at first, Iggy has proven less than stellar. Is he still learning? Of course he is. Hiring Peter Donolo might actually make a major difference, I'm truly hoping so. The last thing our country needs is a Harper majority and it may just be that Donolo is the guy to help make Iggy the leader he needs to be to stop it from happening, and hell even get him into 24 Sussex.

I still have much hope for Ignatieff. New leaders always go through hell like this. This is Iggy's baptism by fire and I hope it's as painful for him as it needs to be. How soon we forget how unelectable Jean Chretien seemed between 1990 and 1993. I also described Stephen Harper as unelectable from 2004 to 2006. Things change.