Smoke on the Water

Bookends

Well, Marcus floundered as a fisherman, today. Not the fault of the angler, though. Tide so low you could wade 1/4 mile out to the oyster beds, and boats at the docks with their keels in the mud. Damn good thing I cooked up alternate glop! We'll get the flounder, redfish or trout, the next time out.

At least we closed the day's endeavors with good food, fine bourbon and premium cigars. I've been enjoying a bundle of fifty Nicaraguan Corojo Robustos from JR Cigars. Given my propensity to enjoy stogies in the $4 to $10 range, these are astonishing, at a price of only $0.85 each. Smooth, perfect draws, even burns with perfect, tight, silver-grey ash. And, they are utterly delicious! This is living well, indeed.

Life is good when enjoyed with a good friend of long standing. And new ones. Glad you're here.

Surely, I'd rather fish, sail, hunt, sail, ride Gold-Wings, most anything, than head back to the ol' salt mine.

On several occassions, I've applied to the State of Texas for the career position of Professional Lottery Winner. Thus far, they've not called me for an interview. Bummer.

Damn, I sure hate having to set that alarm to go back to work tomorrow.

That said, y'all have given me a Sunday here that I'll not soon forget. I've far too many e-mails and comments to respond to individually, in a timely manner. I'll just say it here. Thank you. I'm totally astonished at the good will that's been sent my way in these first few hours.

Been a good day elsewhere, too. With President Bush's absolutely, awesome, incredible, ballsy and inspiring Thanksgiving Day Gift, this holiday weekend has passed with tremendously great book-ends.

I'm glad I was here for it all. I'm glad you were here, too.

God Bless the United States of America.

Settling In

It's been a nearly perfect day here at the swamp.

Temperatures in the low 70s, almost no humidity, just the right bits o' clouds in the sky. Hell, I've been in khaki shorts and an Aloha shirt all day. Couldn’t have picked a prettier day to launch this small blog.

After spending about two solid hours on the phone with Paul in Canada, I think the site is tweaked fairly close to what’ll be the ongoing look. I say ongoing, instead of final for obvious reasons. This blog is too damned new to have a final anything.

There’s still about a half-hour of daylight remaining. My good friend Marcus is out on the flats, fishing for flounder. (his lovely, red-toenailed, whiskey sippin', cigar puffin darlin’ of a wife said he could, really!) Actually, Marcus was at the office with me earlier, too. So was Ms. DeAnna I'd asked 'em both to sit in on the conference call with Paul. That way, I can blame THEM when (and I surely will) screw up something simple on TypePad.

I’ve got the galley fired up for a simple repast. Pan-fried, spicy steak, cubed, then mixed with a very delectable butter & herb wild rice, a can of Cream of Broccoli soup. Simple, tasty and filling. And a good trade for a couple of fresh flounder fillets from only a stone’s throw from the dock.

A beautiful day. A warm welcome on the net. (THANK YOU, EVERYONE!). Good food and good friends. Fishing. Bourbon and Cigars to come.

It doesn’t get much better.

Inaugural Post

Well, it's here. My blog. Y'all can quit laughing now. No, really. It's not April first, dammit!

A bit of a story on how I found the blogosphere. I'm a latecomer to it, I admit. For a couple of years now, I've been reading Drudge, NewsMax, etc. One day on NewsMax, I saw this really great "branded donkey" icon for a tee-shirt offer. So, clicking thereon, I found ThoseShirts. Neat. Really Friggin Neat. But, who was this "Rachel Lucas" in their authorized merchandise?

Totally. Blown. Away. And. Stunned. (see, I really DID read her.) Her site led me to many links. No, I'm not going to link-whore this post, but link led to link which led to link, link, link, etc, ad infinitum. In some cases, ad nauseum, too.

From her site, I came to truly value Kim DuToit's superb works. A kindred spirit, a true and fellow American, too. In the best of all possible ways.

Here now, is where the trouble really begins. You guessed it. I tripped across this damned Acidman site. Never knew one could become addicted to 98% Sulfuric Acid, but what the hell, it works for me. Mr. Smith's quiet, but insistent suggestions that I ought to write a blog truly affected me. I was honored and taken aback, that a writer of his caliber saw merit in my efforts.

And recently.... a few kicks in the ass and well-chosen words from this fine lady whom I met in Rob's comment threads; Ms. Key Monroe. She really convinced me that I could say something more blogworthy than mere blather. This remains to be seen!!!

Finally, big thanks to Paul, who connected me with TypePad , blogware and hosting; both at a deeeeep discount. Paul also provided valuable expertise and assistance in getting this off the ground. He's a beta-tester for 'em, too. If any of you need help starting a blog, click on him. Really.

I was born and (mostly) raised in SOUTHERN California. Been in SOUTH TEXAS since '76. Got a blogfaddah who's barely older than me, and a blogmama who's considerably younger than me! ONLY IN THE SOUTH!

To everyone who pushed, shoved, pulled, pleaded and even shamed me to do this, I can only say; THANK YOU.

So, welcome aboard the Sloop New Dawn. I'll do my best to keep the voyages interesting, fun and off of the rocks. Conversely I won't hesitate to explore uncharted waters on these pages. Hopefully, y'all will enjoy the journey, and want to come back for more.

Sincerely,

Jim

Halfway, or Less?

Well, I've made progress, but I'm still miles short of where I want this to be. Paul is working on photos and the banner. Ought to be fun tomorrow, when we all sit around the phone and get stooopid.

Things I'm looking to learn:

* How to add icons/features such as Site Meter, Other Bloggers Icons, etc.

* More about managing the design of the site & layout.

* A quick study on I.P. banning & general Troll Management.

* Tips on using Archives, Calendar Links, etc.

* Should I use categories, or just let it all roll chronologically?

Okay.... enough for now.

Remind me to DELETE these "test posts" before making the blog public !!!

Chipping away at it

Well, DAYUM !!!

Nothing could have increased my respect for prodigious bloggers, until now. Setting this software up is NOT difficult. It is though, a bitch of a job. Thanks to Paul for helping steer me through uncharted waters in the Sea of TypePad.

A dozen more hours oughta get it to the point I can "launch" without undue self-embarassment. I hope.

This is Only a Test

We now interrupt the internet for a Test. This is a test of the Emergency Blogging System. If this were a real Internet Emergency, your surfing would be interrupted by a pop-up link to the Drudge Report.

Again, this was a Test.

We now return you to your regular surfing.