Brooklyn's Newest Blog: A Short Story

In honor of Bob Guskind, who often used The Gowanus Lounge to recognize Brooklyn's newest blogs, I want to take a moment to introduce our borough's newest blogger: Aaron Short.

Aaron's blog, A Short Story, is less than 12 hours old, but he's already been prolific, posting more articles today than some of us get down in a week - or even a month. It's no surprise to the Optimist that Mr. Short is approaching his new media prodigiously. If his name sounds familiar, that's because up until recently, Aaron was one of the star reporters for the Courier-Life chain of newspapers. If you've been to any type of community event in Greenpoint or Williamsburg in the last year, you've seen Aaron and his notepad. The man is ubiquitous.

So, just as Bob once welcomed me to cyberspace, I now extend the same warm greetings to Aaron Short. The Optimist expects many great things from Mr. Short, especially now that he's free from the shackles of print.

In Memoriam: Bob Guskind

Of all of the events I have missed writing about in the last couple of months, I wanted to make sure I didn't let the sad passing of blogger Bob Guskind go unmentioned.

I only met Bob once in person, but I corresponded with him on occasion by email, including just a few days before he died. It was clear to be by the tone of this last correspondence that he was overwhelmed, but he went out of his way to apologize for any brusqueness I might have misconstrued from the terse response.

I had made no such assumption. Bob was always performing herculean labors of good journalism and I took it as a matter-of course-that he would be too busy for idle chatter. I'm not sure quite when Bob slept, but I presume it was infrequently and when he did, he dreamt in long posts that unraveled the mysteries of Brooklyn for all of us.

When I first considered blogging, I approached Bob and he shared with me many words of advice I have since internalized as second nature. When I did finally make my first post, he praised my early work as "promising and good natured" and shared my blog with his readers.

I am grateful to Bob for his generosity and saddened that Brooklyn will be without his seemingly infinite insights.



Thanks to Chris Kreussling, the Flatbush Gardener, for this wonderful photo of Bob.

Missing The Gowanus Lounge

The Brooklyn media has been dealt a sad blow over the last couple of weeks since Bob Guskind indefinitely suspended publication of his blog, The Gowanus Lounge. For those of you who have not been so fortunate to benefit from its daily insights, The Gowanus Lounge was (and is) the foremost resource in understanding real estate in Western Brooklyn. And in a land where real estate is king, losing The Gowanus Lounge is tantamount to suddenly being deprived of sight.

The absence of The Gowanus Lounge is far more serious to Brooklynites than the disappearance of The Sun. Please take the time to write to Bob and encourage him to resume publication or at least to tell him thanks. Writing a blog is an incredibly difficult, draining experience, both professionally and personally, and the only payment we bloggers receive in return is the appreciation of our readers.

I understand well why Bob might not be able to do it any more. As regular Optimist readers know, I have also found it necessary to retreat at times from the infinite expanse of the blogosphere to the warm confines of home. But, time and again, it is your letters and the desire to make my community better that keep bringing me back to my keyboard.

Let's hope that Bob gets back to his soon.