The way I create this page has changed a lot since I first started this e-zine. Back then, in 1996, this wasn't an e-zine. It was just a page of thoughts put out there. It those days there were few netizens. It was at least a year before I was even listed in a directory. The fun of publishing was in knowing that faceless beings out there somewhere might or might not find and actually read what I wrote. (I had a counter on my home page for while. I was amazed to discover that I was averaging about 3 hits a week. Wow! Three people a week were seeing my artwork! In those days it was real people, not bots.) I published my thoughts just to get things out, not because I intended to actually communicate. Mostly I just grabbed some jotting that I had previously written, just for myself, and slung it out here. Now I make this page knowing that I will publish it and that someone will be reading it. I feel a little weird about that.

There used to be a site called "The Black Hole." It was an anonymous place to dump. The owners encouraged flat out honest gut sharing. I loved it. I took advantage of it. For a while that's what this page was--a dump. (Some would say it still is!) In a way, it still is but it has lost it's black hole feeling. A big part of the fun of the net was the anonymity. I've heard that CB radio was like that for awhile. Nothing but people spouting off junk and loving it. Another big part of the fun was the feeling that you were putting stuff into a black hole. It went out and you never heard another thing. No one called you up and said "Hey, I read your page." It was like posting a flyer on a lamp post. Now it's more like sending a birthday card. You know they got it and probably read it and you might actually hear about it someday. (Talk about lag!)

It is nice to have readers. I have a small, intimate, loyal group of readers. People who check back here occasionally to see if I've written anything lately or if anything has changed. Some don't tell me that directly. They drop hints that they've read this by inserting a quote or two into the conversation. What am I saying? "They" is you! Thank you for keeping in touch. I try to update this particular page about 4 times a year. The changing seasons make a good reminder. Sometimes I struggle with that restriction and feel like writing more but then I might lead you to expect more and I'm so erratic. I sometimes go for months, once I went for a year, without posting anything. You can see from my blog that I'm not really into that. Oh, sure, blogging was fun for a couple of weeks, but then it became like a job. I guess I'm trying to avoid that. Not that I have anything against work. I just want this to stay fun. Yeah. A hobby.

A couple of you have made a point of telling me what you've read or browsed on my site and what you liked. It's always nice to get feedback. It's been helpful and instructive. My goal is to keep being "spontaneous"--to keep dumping--to continue to publish whatever I am no matter what and to keep having fun. A two-way dialogue, no matter how lagged, will change things. But then that's the way things go, isn't it?