Dear Faithful Readers

I apologize for the long absence. I know you come here week after week looking for insight and entertainment only to be disappointed the past month. I'm sorry to have left a void in your workday. And I know your dinner conversation has suffered during my absence… I know how you feel. It just isn't fair. It's like when I was in college and there was this cute girl in lecture hall. Every day I would try to grab a seat closer to her hoping she would notice me. Then a few weeks into the quarter when I finally score the seat right next to her, I notice she's pregnant… OK, so it's not really related, but disappointment nonetheless!

Like I noted in an earlier post, Blogger is blocked here in the dungeon. And for me, my blogging comes in spontaneous spurts. If I get an idea, I'll need to post it immediately. Otherwise, when I get home, my energy is quickly sapped by a little three-headed six-legged monster, and then even the most gallant efforts are gone. Without that instant direct-connect at work, my once-spirited lifeline to the outside world is severely crippled.

Also, my life hasn't been very interesting lately. Haven't gone anywhere, no photo assignments, zero free food… I mean why blog unless I have something of value to offer?? Isn't the whole point of blogging to show how much better my life is than yours? (And then to follow up showing how much worse it is also??) Quite the quandary. I'm reduced to being just like everyone else.

And then there's peer pressure, or may I say, the lack of… Yeah, don't get mad at me, just look at my once-vibrant community of bloggers. When was the last time they posted? I want to know whether it's Inconceivable that the Sensible Stamper still has any sense. Are they still Living the Dream or have they dropped out of the Urban Race because they ran out of Kash?! Sadly, their once-great blogging is now cheapened and repackaged as Facebook and Twitter updates. Sigh (don't get me started). Don't they realize how much of an inspiration they were to me?? How I relied on them for encouragement and banter? Like Jerry Maguire would say, "You complete me."

So for now I'm just a lonely prisoner rambling by myself. Perhaps it'll get better. Maybe you'll invite me for dinner, take me on a trip, watch my kids for a week…. you know, give me something great to blog about... because I'm NOT going to stinkin' Africa just to have content to post (sorry, nothing personal, Ray). Or maybe, just maybe, my fellow bloggers will start blogging again...? Perhaps it is me that needs to offer them encouragement and inspiration. Maybe it's me that needs to complete them... Time will tell.

The world is changing

First off, sorry for the long absence. For the last two years I've been averaging two posts per week, but I haven't posted in 20 days. Thanks to my faithful readers for inquiring about my silence. I am fine. Just been busy. I'll try to blog fast and furious in the next couple weeks to make up.

During my absence I've noticed some action in my blogosphere. If you look on the right column, I've added a listing of active blogging friends you might know (and deleted the deadbeats). First, I would like to welcome Oli and his new blog, Inconceivable. Then Patty finally got off Facebook long enough to put in a few entries. And Stu even updated twice since my last blog! Twice! Wow, I've really been gone a long time!

Captain EO
When we were at Disneyland's Tomorrow Land back in August, the first thing I noticed was, "Hey, where's Captain EO?" Upon checking with Wikipedia, I see that Captain EO closed in 1994 :( That should tell you when was the last time I've been there.

With today's inaugural speech, I can't help but think about Jacko singing "We Are Here to Change the World" to Anjelica Huston in 1986. To me, the 80's always had the best music. It brought back great memories at a time when MJ was still likeable. Still normal. And still black. A time when Whitney was still sweet and not a crack queen. And the hardest rappers were Run DMC. Music has only gone downhill after that.

I listened to the speech today. Like many of you, I felt inspired. I felt hope. I know change is coming. But change for the better remains to be seen. Honestly I can't help but feel trapped in the back of a big bus heading in the wrong direction... But that's just me. In these violent times and crappy economical conditions, lets forget about today for a moment and relive the good times with Michael strutting his stuff. Nobody moonwalks any better!

200: Meet my readers

Hard to believe I've made it past another milestone. It didn't seem that long ago when I hit 100. But thanks to the many interesting folks in my life, I'm never short of content to post.

Actually this is post #202. I apologize, but I ran into some snags trying to locate the above photo. You see, I just HAD to post this photo. So what is the significance of this photo you may ask? Well this photo is the perfect representation of my four reading demographics.

Group 1: My most loyal readers. Some of the folks in the photo are my favorite bunch. They subscribe. They comment. They enjoy my insights and nothing I could say can ever surprise them. They send me reminders when I haven't updated in a week and often chat with me online. Thank you, you are my greatest joy and the reason for my cyberspace existence! You are my biggest fans and I am yours!

Group 2: My closet readers. Some of the folks in the photo read occasionally. This is mainly because they are married to one of my most loyal readers. They like looking at the photos and find my blog mildly amusing, but then they'll feel guilty or shameful afterwards. They can't understand why their spouse has such devotion and pretend to be indifferent.

Group 3: My anonymous readers. They visit all the time but I'm not allowed to post their photos or mention their names. They like reading about other people, but not about themselves. Some of them I don't know and will never meet. I've gotten return visitors from Napa, the midwest, east coast and even Japan! This is amazing because I purposely avoid using keywords to make my blog less searchable. So whoever you are, I'm honored by your presence here.

Group 4: My non-fans. They think this is juvenile and say things like "you have way too much time on your hands" or "I barely have time for my life, let alone have time to read about yours..." Yes, actual statements. Ouch. They use the internet the same way they commute, point A to point B, never stopping off to go shopping or pick up a donut. They don't own an iPod and listen to news radio. The only way I'll EVER get them to visit my blog is if I posted a picture of them – which brings us back to the significance of this photo :)

So which one are you?

Regardless of who you are, I'm grateful for your presence here. And to you non-fans, I listen to news radio too on occasion :) But like the photo, I hope this blog brings a smile to your face and brightens your day if even for a moment. (Disclaimer: I don't think any of the people above are really non-fans)

Just last week, a fellow blogger's mother-in-law whom I just met, came to me to express her joy in reading my blog. She liked the Blue Angel photos and have forward my post about Toto toilets to her friends. Also, she's awaiting her free GPS because of me! Isn't that awesome?! And all along I thought my only senior readers were in Redmond... :o

So thank you all again. If I haven't featured you here yet, your time will come. If I haven't offended you yet, again your time will come. Until then, send me your deals, be nice to me, and most of all, be sure to invite me to all your parties. :)

Stay healthy and have a wonderful weekend.

I'll keep this short

Several of my valued subscribers alerted me that my blogs were getting cut off on the email (or on Google Reader). Yes, it's supposed to be that way. Now that I'm starting to post more photos, people complain that the emails are getting rather large and slowing down their mail servers. So to remedy this, the emails are now truncated. You can click on the title and continue the blog on the site. Thanks for reading and hopefully this message doesn't get cut off. :)