Back in business, bitches.

Friends, romans, countrymen,

I am back!

It’s been 8 months since I’ve posted here with any sense of regularity, and while this blog has become increasingly idle in that time, my life has sped up in a way that at times took my breath away.

In the past 8 months, I’ve (finally!) finished my marathon double degree, travelled 14 countries across 5 continents, came back to Australia to start a new job, move to a new city, and spent my first two 2 months here without any internet connection (remember those days? How did we live?).

Whew.

I’m not going to pretend that keeping up a blog isn’t an incredibly time consuming exercise. It takes away a huge chunk of your daily life not only to follow tennis, but to read up news reports, analysis, plann content, write, format, upload. Towards mid 2011, I was feeling worn out and exhausted by it all.

But as the cliche goes: you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. In my 6 months of world tramping, one of the things I’ve missed the most was my darling Picket Fence, the little blog and community that I call my own, the routine of sitting down and tapping away at a keyboard every day, and all of you who shared it with me.

Now that I’ve settled back into “normal life” once more, it’s time for me to rebuild Picket Fence. I’ve never pretended that this blog is anything more than an amateur fan blog – a place for likeminded fans to vent some steam and talk tennis, and it will remain that way.

Having said that, I do hope the content of this blog will become more balanced from now on. Federer will always be the resident Leviathan of Picket Fence and of my tennis fandom, but ultimately, no man is bigger than the sport. I’d like to think that my love of tennis is broader than a (let’s face it) mildly creepy obsession with one player.

A massive, MASSIVE thank you to PJ, LJ and Matt Zemek for keeping the blog alive in my absence. I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of helpers and I hope you’ll come back and contribute during slam time.

So here we go. Clay season 2012. Are you ready?

xx doots

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Picket Fence Announcement

I like to think of Picket Fence as more than a tennis blog, but rather a forum for chatter and silliness and the occasional giggle. Over the years, I’ve tried to make this site more personal than ‘newsworthy’, which is why I would be remiss if I didn’t update you on some personal developments in my life.

As most of you already know, I am about to set off on a trip around the world to study, travel, watch a bit of tennis and enjoy my last semester of a marathon tertiary education. Yes, tough life, but somebody’s gotta live it. 😉

The flip side of this is that unfortunately, travelling isn’t conducive to following tennis. At least not in a way that requires constant upkeep of this blog while I’m trying to sample all that the world has to offer. So I have decided to go on blogging hiatus for the next 6 months. As for what happens to this site after that, I will have to reassess once I get back. As much as this site has been a huge part of my life, it has also eaten away chunks of my time, and seems increasingly at odds with my career choices. It’s a sad, but realistic assessment of my situation right now. If only there was such a thing as “tennis law” …

In the meanwhile, All I need is a picket fence will go into caretaker mode. I have entrusted my slice of cyberspace to the hands of some familiar interweb pals of mine, who will be guest blogging here in my absence. I’m sure they’ll be introducing themselves soon.

As for myself, don’t worry. I’ll still be around: commenting, twittering, and sending you some updates from tennis tournaments I plan to visit on my trip – namely the US Open and the World Tour Finals. Will I be meeting any of you there?

So long, bitches. Time to gobble up this world.

xx doots

PS. Find me on Twitter or Tumblr, which will serve as a micro travelblog for the next few months.