Blogger bucked me.

My last review was posted on October 30, 2011. I didn't really intend to take a long break from updating the blog, which is a hobby I enjoy very much. But there was sort of... an "incident."

I had been working on a big Oktoberfest post -- I dare say the most ambitious review I'd ever undertaken. It included several paragraphs of carefully researched information about the fascinating history of the Oktoberfest style, as well as reviews of four very different beers (Stoudt's Oktober Fest, Paulaner's Oktoberfest Märzen, Spoetzl's Shiner Oktoberfest, and Clipper City's Heavy Seas Märzen), and the remarks of a special guest taster. There was also a nice outdoor group shot of the four bottles, and close-up bottle and glassware photos of each.

I worked on the piece for nearly a week, and was quite eager to post it. Then somehow, as I was making a few final tweaks before I hit the "publish" button, an awful thing happened. I'm sure it was my fault, since I had several other Blogger tabs open with drafts of other reviews, but my laboriously crafted Oktoberfest review got overwritten with a blank template.

I frantically toggled between tabs trying to find my work, but it was gone. I carefully did a control-Z on each page, but nothing returned. Surely the previous revision would be in cache or cookies, I figured. It was not. Even Google's seemingly promising suggestions ("recover previous revision of blogger post") did not summon the lost text.

Well, after that I sort of lost my enthusiasm for a while. Like a jilted lover, I just didn't want to risk getting hurt again, and the thought of having to save every work-in-progress into a file outside of Blogger seemed like such a hassle. For days I sulked. Then days stretched into weeks, and weeks into a de facto hiatus.

But I couldn't stay away forever -- too much delicious beer to drink and write about! I'm going to try to post a new review at least every Tuesday, and I have some ideas for other mini-features that should help me keep the blog fresh without sucking up too much time. So, here's to gettin' back on that mean ol' horsie that bucked you off...