I need a new week

Okay, Satchel called me out in the comments, and he/she's right. I've been a bad blogger. The Mother Ship has been neglected. And after all she's done for me. She's very disappointed, and rightly so. No posts at all last week? And I wasn't even on vacation?


I could sit here and blame it on various things, but they're not good excuses.

The Stepblog? Maybe, though I kind of slacked over there last week, too.

Deadline crunch at the magazine? Only because of my procrastination. Said magazine's new and improved website? Well, a little bit. It's kind of my new toy to play with. And I've posted a couple of articles there already.

The return of Dancing With the Stars? No comment. Leave me alone on this, okay? (Though I think my Man Card is in fine standing these days.)

A few new gadgets that have come into my possession? Most certainly. I’ve been playing with a new MP3 recorder, mostly because I’m in love with the sound of my own voice, and can now play it back on my computer. Actually, it's what I hope is the first step toward me getting into the podcast business. "Fried Rice Thoughts: The Podcast"? Well, probably not. If it happens, it'll very likely be sports-related, and be affilated with Motor City Sports. Believe me, I'll mention it.

(Speaking of podcasts, however, if you're a fan of The Office, I have to recommend my friend Matt's new venture. You know Matt from the comments, right? Anyway, after guesting on various comic book podcasts over the past few months, he finally decided to do it for himself. Except this time, it's for something he's truly passionate about. He's put a lot of work into it, which I think is reflected in the final product, and I think it's going to be really fun. It's called "That's What She Said," and you can download the "beta" podcast here.)

And thanks to some interesting marketing from Sprint, I am now a test market guinea pig for a new phone they’re rolling out. I'll write more about that later, but for now, you can read Big Al, who Sprint also wooed with their cool new phone.

My point is that I’ve been distracted - mostly by toys.


But at the end of last week, it also felt like forces were conspiring against me. For whatever reason ("Error 500"), Fried Rice Thoughts was down for most of Friday morning and afternoon. By the time it was finally available, the day was pretty much finished. And mentally, so was I, after tugging on my hair, grinding my teeth, and making faces of annoyance. (Fortunately for all of us, I don't have a web cam atop my monitor to capture such moments.)

So that's where I've been. That's my case. I know it's not much of one, but hey, it is a post. I'll be getting back into the swing of things this week, though. I have a couple of things I simply must rant about. And I've been going to the movies, which means some four-sentence reviews will soon be posted, too. Thanks for checking in and sticking with me.

(Images from "Pearls Before Swine" ©2006 Stephen Pastis/ Dist. by UFS, Inc.)