Thanks as always to The Other McCain, Pirate’s Cove and Bacon Time for the Rule Five links, and welcome to our 400th ‘Goodbye, Blue Monday’ post!  Hat tip to Kurt Vonnegut Jr. for the theme:

This sketch – and yes, Kurt Vonnegut did draw it himself – is from his 1973 book Breakfast of Champions, which was sort of a fiftieth birthday present to himself – it’s roundly funny while still maintaining Vonnegut’s signature pessimism.  There was a movie made from the book in 1999 with Bruce Willis, but don’t bother with that.  It was pretty awful.

It’s been an interesting time, keeping these virtual pages going the last few years.  The current iteration started in January 2014, after a WordPress crash corrupted a bunch of files and wiped out the original site, which I started in September of 2010.  Before that I maintained a blog of sorts on LiveJournal, from 2004 to 2010.  So I’ve been at this a while.

Why?  Well, that’s a good question.  You’ll notice that I don’t have any advertising on the site, nor do I solicit tips, not that there is anything wrong with so doing.  I pay for the hosting and maintenance of the server myself.  That way, as I see it, I am beholden to no one and can say whatever the hell I please.  And that’s the why, True Believers; I write whatever the hell pleases me, and leave it to you readers to either agree with me or tell me I’m full of shit.  I run this site for my own amusement and entertainment, although it delights me no end that each and every day between a thousand and two thousand unique readers drop by and peruse my latest ramblings.  So, yes, I do it for you all, too.  And, yeah, I have a little fun in the process.

So stick around!  I’ve been at this for eighteen years, counting LiveJournal time, and I anticipate I’ll be able to keep it going for at least eighteen more.  If there’s anything you’d like to see more or less of, let me know in the comments.  I’ll read all suggestions, and if possible, I’ll accommodate requests.  Criticism is always welcome, as long as it’s civil.

Thanks again – and watch for the upcoming 400th Saturday Gingermageddon in a few more weeks!