For many of the regulars here, you've probably noticed that my byline has been nowhere to be seen for the past month or two. During that time my life has been incredibly busy and taken a life-changing turn.

Many of you probably knew that after college I went into the newspaper business. My first job was as a sports editor for some podunk paper in upstate New York. I went from there to Washington where I took a glorified internship with PBS' NewsHour progam. In the years since, I jumped around a couple newspapers in Virginia covering politics. It was a career I enjoyed but I soon realized that making a living in the newspaper business wasn't something I'd be able to count on for the years to come. So, two years ago I was approached to join a public relations firm based out of Washington. After much thought, I made the jump.

One of the reasons I maintained this blog with GN--and before that on my own blog--was to allow my creative energy an outlet. That was even more important for me once I stopped writing on a daily basis for newspapers.

But now my life has taken another turn that demands more of my attention--like 16 hours per day attention. I decided to go out on my own and start my own public relations and government affairs business. I've spent the past month or two making sure my clients would come with me, signing new contracts, registering my new business, moving, and just about anything else you'd imagie comes along with starting and managing your own small business.

And so while it pained me that I wasn't living up to my obligations here, the day job had to take precedence. Right now, I'm about two weeks into being on my own with my new business. Things are going well, and I figure that if I'm surviving now, in this economic climate, then that could foreshadow big things to come.

I've been talking with GN about this for awhile and we've transferred the site from my name to his. GN has asked that I consider writing a weekly column or contributing on occasion. At this point I can't commit to a weekly column, but do hope to chime in from time to time. Hopefully as my life settles and I find a balance with the day job, I'll be able to justify the time spent blogging.

So, I'm not leaving entirely. But I wanted to make everyone here aware that my involvement will be sporadic at best for the time being. Something tells me I won't be able to resist the urge to analyze Tubby Smith's Gophers!