2009

Only 60 percent of the posts I managed in 2008 (blame Facebook); a big change from occasionally meaningful school board work to entirely pointless BOCES board work; an as-yet-unknown new boss for Paul; new instruction in voice and sax for Olivia. . . A new president who seems at times oddly distant and detached; a pathetic Congress and an even worse state legislature; friends who've lost jobs while I've plodded along and survived pretty well; new book contracts for DZ; the as-yet-unknown fate of PZ's Afghan program; the last Lutwak of our generation engaged to be married. . . It's been a year of ups and downs. Thank goodness for family and friends, and may 2010 be affirmative, propitious, redemptive.

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New Look

I've changed the look of the blog so that everyone, even relatives with macular degeneration, can better read it. Bigger fonts, dark letters on light background, etc. I hope it works for all.

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R.I.P.

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Italian Daily KAZ

Most of my foreign readers read this blog in English; most are brought by googling KAZ, which, as I've pointed out, seems to refer to a character in a widely played video game. However, some dude in Rome read a translated version of a piece on Maurice Hinchey.

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Frontiernet Down

We had no Internet service all weekend--till about 15 minutes ago. I thought O would leap out of her skin.

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Blog Replacement

One of our local blogs has gone stagnant recently, so I've replaced it in the right-hand column with a not-so-local blog (well, Syracuse) that nearly always has something interesting to say about life in Central NY.

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Anniversary

Today is the one-year anniversary of the launching of this blog. This graph shows the breakdown of topics. It seems pretty close to what I would have guessed at the beginning, although I think the History and Friends categories may grow.

And here's a quick panorama of the back yard over that year, minus April, which unaccountably got lost in cyberspace.
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER

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My Czech and Swedish Friends

I've been getting an inordinate number of Swedish and Czech hits, all of them searching "Kaz Wow." The best I can figure is that they're looking for a character named Kaz'rogal in the game World of Warfare, AKA "WoW." Judging by the number of hits I've received, it's pretty popular. And of course, this post will up the number for a while. . . .

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Cross-references

I'm always curious about what kinds of searches take people to this blog. Lately, I've had a handful of hits from Turkey and Pakistan (Islamabad and Karachi), all searching for "Dryden style." I have to think that's a reference to the British poet, in which case the style would be as he himself described, "plain and natural, yet majestic." Although he set one play in India, I don't think of him as much of an Orientalist, and I don't know why Turkey and Pakistan are so interested. Or perhaps they really are looking for fashion advice from a small upstate town.

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Just Rude

Everyone I know who's hosting a fundraiser, including us, is having trouble getting anyone to RSVP. We noticed this new phenomenon a while ago, related to birthday parties. It doesn't necessarily mean people won't just show up, which makes planning really difficult. What's up with this?

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Liftoff

I've resisted blogging for the usual reasons--the no-doubt-false modesty that keeps me from wanting to clutter the blogosphere with another slew of mindless opinions about issues du jour, the uneasy sense that blogging is masturbatory and hubristic, the vague recollection of snail mail and the remembered joys of putting pen to paper. But you know what? I'm over it. For a couple of years now, I've sent out a biweekly or monthly email to family and friends, complete with yawn-worthy minutiae about our lives on the mountain in Freeville. I'm on the computer six or more hours daily anyway. This is an easier form of communication, and in theory it's not as intrusive as email--there's no obnoxious sound; you can log on or not as you wish.

I chose Blogger from all my options because it seemed easiest, and they have a bunch of new features that make it easier still. There are so many ways to go with a blog, and I had lots of great models to work with, just here in Dryden. I could be completely objective and informative and local, a la Simon, but I'm probably too opinionated and full of myself to pull off the objectivity, although I'm sure I will talk about local issues. I could expound brilliantly on books and nature per Mary Ann, and I'm sure there will be some of that in Daily KAZ, tho' perhaps less brilliance. I could include tons of pictures the way Dave does, but my life is not that thrilling, and I'm not that cute. So the blog will probably be a mishmash of opinions, trivia, factoids, local and state and national politics, education issues, and family life on the mountain. I'll try to post daily. We'll see how it goes.

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