Live from China!

Hi. Just wanted visitors to this site to know that I'm now blogging from China at this site -- http://ozblog.blogs.com. Enjoy!

Sneak a peak

A new "beta" Ozblog is now up here. Enjoy if yer curious.

Update

I'm currently testing a beta version of a revamped Ozblog at a different site, to be revealed in the next couple weeks (fingers crossed). This one has fuller comment and linkage potential, but I have some folks looking at the design, as I am emphatically not a design genius.

If you're interested in knowing the new site's address when it's ready for rollout, e-mail me at albjerga@hotmail.com. If you've e-mailed me about this blog in the past, you'll receive the announcement regardless. Thanks!

Fresh starts

OK, this is getting old. I've been dragging this out for almost two months, and it's time to come up with a definite plan-ahead for Ozblog. So here goes.

1. Revamped layout has been a partial success, but continuing on Blogger just doesn't do it. The site has to migrate so comments are posted efficiently. Some friends have shown some good templates, so now I have some examples to follow. Next step is to look into a new domain.

2. Good news: I'm getting a digital camera. This is going to make life easier, and the blog more interesting.

3. Obviously, there's still a readership, as I'm still getting a couple e-mails a day from people wondering what's up. Had I been in their shoes, I would have given up long ago.

So here's the plan. Gonna migrate, gonna graphic-ate, gonna move on with a Kansas-plus format. BUT (and here's the big rub), I can't promise when. If I were you, I'd stop reading this thing until I formally announce a return. I have literally saved EVERY e-mail from anyone who has ever commented on my blog, and when I'm ready to get back into a regular grind with a regular grind, a mass announcement will be sent out to all of those inboxes, and peace will reign throughout the land. In the meantime, there may be sporadic entries, but nothing to raise expectations.

Of course, the big question is, will I ever actually follow through? I honestly think so. I've gained a lot from doing this, and when the circumstances are right, I'll totally bring the blog back. But right now I'm spending a lot of time getting my foot and shoulder right, and I'm editing a book on the side, and I just haven't had the time for what is essentially a fresh beginning, and I want to start out right. Thanks again for your patience, and thank God that Kansas is always there for us, rectangular and wonderful.

Roadblogcks

Interesting -- after checking the nuts-and-bolts of the Blogger software, all comments are posted as "anonymous" unless one has a Blogger account. Kinda tough to figure out who's who if everyone's Anon. Which means that people either have to create their own Blogger account -- which is free, but still the sort of insidious marketing technique this blog would prefer to eschew -- or include ID in the post, which is cumbersome. This is a case for migrating from Blogger. Prof. Polley has written me a nice tutorial on how to do that, but first I'd like to know if anyone out there may know if there is any way to post to Blogger with a handle _without_ creating a Blogger account.

Home improvements, part 1

It's amazing how the simple passage of time creates restlessness. Take, for example, my condominium. In mid-January I will have lived here one year, and dare I say I've made great strides. I've bought several pieces of furniture, repainted the bathroom, and learned various lessons about the dos and don'ts of wiring.

But it is far, far from enough, I decide as I contemplate my household in the twilight rays of 2004. The year has somehow changed me. I grow curious at the accomplishments of Allison down the road, who, with Alabama stubbornness and a patient mother, willed a new wall into existence. I marvel at the coherent taste of my upstairs neighbor, who combines Virginia stateliness with accents from her trips to Mexico when she was a student in San Diego. And I look I my home and think, I want bamboo shades, or an equally self-expressive equivalent! I want cool new shelves above my kitchen cupboard, seemingly organic but newly placed. I want people to come into my home and think, this man has style, rather than the apologetic feeling that comes over me when I say, "Yeah, but bricks and boards are practical. And I saved so much money on bookshelves!"

This is, of course, a writ-small example of How The Man Keeps us Under His Thumb. The material achievements of others prey on our insecurities, creating desire. How can I be happy, how will I ever be loved, if I do not adhere to a standard of decor that exists only in my mind? Would a desert-tan living room bring me closer to self-actualization, or will eggshell do the trick? Will I know I've met the eluvive, indefinable standard of appropriate good taste when, literally, I've seen it? Or will I buy all-new furniture, only to think and but, and but, and but ... ?

I don't know the answer to that, but I think I know where my Christmas money is going, and if I'm successful I will within a few short months have a new-and-improved home that I will be proud of. One that is current with the times, yet timeless in its expression. One that will speak my character and reflect my standing in the world. One that looks more like ... everyone else's home.

Therein lies the trap. And the secret of the world's greatest economy.

This photo is from the Republican Convention last September. It has no current significance, except it's the first-ever photo posted to Ozblog as I continue to tinker w/format.