Wednesday 26 September 2018

Today's Review: A Review A Day

Well, this is awkward. For a blog named "A Review A Day" there seems to be a significant amount of days now without a review. I'll preface this by saying I'm fine, nothing traumatic has occurred to explain my absence. On the flip side, I haven't been off sunning myself in an exotic location either. I'm afraid the reasons for my lapse in reviewing are fairly mundane. Life has simply caught up with me lately.

Those of you who read my reviews daily (there may be a few of you out there) may have noticed over the last month or so that I've had periods of a few days where I've failed to write anything, only to catch up after the fact. Even then, my reviews have been brief, uninteresting, mundane. Simply put, I've been ticking boxes. Phoning it in. 

I started A Review A Day over seven years ago, a young man with a semblance of a dream to become a writer. I worked in Blockbuster at the time, and watched a hell of a lot of movies, alongside my hobby of eating a hell of a lot of food. So I figured the best way to hone my writing chops would be to write a load of reviews, the daily element just clicked one day, and off I went, not knowing that it would lead me on a non-stop seven year reviewing journey. 

I've reviewed through good times and bad. I've lined up a week's worth of reviews to publish autonomously while I've been on holiday. I posted reviews while my baby daughter stayed in the ICU, and once later on while I applied pressure to her almost-severed finger in a hospital waiting room (keep your hands away from doors, kids!) I've written some reviews drunk, some half-asleep, some on trains, some in the middle of nowhere. I've received care packages, interesting products, I've been invited to press events where I didn't feel I belonged. I've been accepted into the fold of snack food bloggers (there's a lot of great ones out there, check them out for all your foodie needs). I've even received fan mail. It's been surreal at times.

At first I was full of ideas, I loved coming up with unique concepts and doing in-depth analyses of mundane things. After a few years I settled pretty wholly into snack foods. They were quick to write and delicious to eat. Well, some of them. But therein lies the problem. Naming the blog "A Review A Day" backed me into a corner from the start, I set myself a deadline out of the gate. Quick, easy reviews were the best way to reaach that deadline, and although I loved hunting down new and interesting foods (and still do), there are only so many ways I can say something is delicious, or disgusting, or somewhere in the middle. I may be consistent, but I'm a little stagnant. 

They say all good things must come to an end. I've contemplated it for a while now, and was waiting for some mind of nice rounding off point. I was hoping to reach my eighth anniversary, or my 3,000th review, but they're still a ways off. But family, career, general life have gotten in the way of me consistently cranking out a review every single day, and finally letting go of that daily deadline has alleviated my overall stress levels. So here I am, signing off. 

Wow, that's a lot of writing there. I'm a modest man, I'd be the first to say I'm not sure anyone will read this, but I know I have some fans out there, and I want to thank you all for accompanying me on this awesome journey. Just know that this is not the end, just the end of A Review A Day. I may yet come back with more reviews in a different form, and hopefully a more creative one. I may establish some other form of blog, I've toyed with a few ideas in the past, and letting go of this may allow me to focus on other projects in the future. Thanks to all my readers, you're all amazing.

My rating: 5/5


19 comments:

  1. I would like to thank you for your excellent blog, I have always enjoyed reading it and I am sure you are destined for bigger and better writing/blogging projects in the future. Best wishes and thank you for your contribution to snack food blogging!

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  2. Wow - sad news - but you gotta do what you gotta do. Look forward to whatever you get up to next :-)

    that visual image of your kids finger in a door sent shivers up my spine lol!

    i did visit most days, especially a work day as its far more interesting than work :-)

    best of luck dude!

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  3. I will miss your reviews, always looked forward to them and interesting to see what new products are out there. Best wishes with whatever you choose to do and thank you for all your posts.

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  4. This is sad :(, I've been checking each day for the past week wondering if something had come up - I've been popping over every now and again for years but the last few months I've been checking in every day as i really love your reviews.

    Hopefully you still grace us with some - life does come first though. Well wishes for the future.

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  5. Well thats gonna save me a fortune buying all the snacks you recommended. It's been fun. Good luck with your more relaxed lifestyle. Gonna miss you

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  6. Have enjoyed the blog for years - wishing you best of luck with new ventures. You'll be missed!

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  7. All good things must come to an end.

    Keep us posted on whatever you do next!

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  8. I’ll miss reading this daily blog, it’s become part of my daily routine or atleast every few days coming back to find what you’d written about and reviewed. I’ve come across some great products thanks to yourself and I’ve found myself itching to see them on a shelf near me!

    I only came across this site maybe a year or so ago, possibly longer, but I’m sad to see it go. I’d like to wish you the best of luck in whatever else you decide to do! It can’t be easy trying to find new things on a daily basis and then to have to review everyday. So kudos to the amount of time and effort you’ve put into this.

    It does make me wonder though do you have a favourite review you’ve done, or maybe a top 20 of the best things you’ve come across or tried?!

    Sean

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  9. Ah - I was wondering if you were okay! - missed your company of a morning on the bus (well, virtually speaking!) - but many thanks for taking the time to explain how you've been feeling and your plans. It's very understandable and I wish you all the best for life, blogging and the rest : ) Thanks for everything, and keep us updated as and when you have time. Helen

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  10. wishing you all the best. No doubt you will be missed, but to keep up the daily submissions for so many years takes immense fortitude and determination, and just becasue the blog as ended doesn't mean that you yourself will lose those qualities. I'm sure that they will serve you and your family well in the future.

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  11. Thanks for taking all the time you have to post here and source stuff to try! The most important thing with doing anything like this is that you need to enjoy it and have fun. If it's bringing you stress, then it's time to change something. Congrats on making the best decision for you. :)

    Thanks for all the reviews!

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  12. Oh well, yours was a fun blog! See ya on the flip side.

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  13. Will miss your fun comments. Good luck for the future.

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  15. You will be missed, sir. I still chuckle thinking back at the "gust of wind" review. You've made me discover a bunch of new snacks over the years and, more importantly, you've made me laugh like a drain and cheered me up on multiple occasions. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do next.

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  16. Long time follower here, I will certainly miss your reviews but want to say a huge thanks for all those times you've brightened my days as I read your blog over a coffee, much appreciated. Best of luck in the future!

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  18. Thanks for all your posts. I enjoyed reading them. Good luck with all your future projects.

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