ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK, I hung up the modem and received a phone message. The tabloid paper that had been running weekly Misc. columns since the paper's ninth issue in November 1991 didn't want to run them anymore.
It was a surprise, to say the least.
And it was the start of a topsy-turvy year here at MISCmedia.com HQ.
The loss of a nearly-full-time income forced me to pursue any and all potential extensions of whatever reputation I'd attained.
This website was revamped twice, and got its own domain name. It now boasts new material every weekday, plus a new X-Word puzzle every week. Its popularity has grown to over 10,000 visits a month, and continues to grow.
MISCmedia, the company, has also grown. The Big Book of MISC. was successfully launched in June, with almost the entire first press run now either sold or in stores. The relaunch of LOSER: The Real Seattle Music Story is still on track for a late-'99 release. Further book projects, including several by other authors, are in the planning stages. And our freelance content-creation service for other people's websites, launched just last month, is blazing away.
Still, there's always room for more.
You may have already noticed this site got another complete redesign two weeks ago.
The old wood-grain veneer background images and the "rusted metal sign" digital effects on the header graphics had served their purpose in their day.
But with most of the site's users now accessing it from 800 x 600 screens, and an increasing number of you even using 1024 x 768 screens, a bolder and simpler look seemed appropriate.
Another subtle change: The short-lived "Misc. World" title (a relic of the site's very early days, when it was called "Misc. World HQ") has also been retired. Now the online column, and the site which hosts it, are both entitled MISCmedia.
After all, most of what gets written about here has to do, at least indirectly, with life in a media-saturated world.
And we've become a "My Netscape Channel," with a little reminder of each day's new installment which you can stick onto your customizable Netscape portal-page (which you can get and use even if you're using somebody else's browser software).
You can expect even more tinkering and improvements to the site in coming weeks. Can't say just yet what they'll be (decisions to be made, contracts to be signed), but they should be a blast.
There will be more live events and readings on behalf of the new and new-old books, and perhaps a regular series of tie-in parties and spoken-word spectaculars.
And another print-periodical venture might be in the works for late this year or early next. Just might.
None of this, of course, could ever have been possible without the support of you loyal readers. You who've bought copies of The Big Book of MISC.; you who've given constructive feedback on the site's alterations; you who've emailed your continued interest in making sure the column continued; you who've clicked on our sponsors' banner ads and bought Amazon.com stuff thru our links.
So my deepest thanks to all of you.
Now get back to work. You don't want the boss to think you're wasting paid hours reading funny websites on your office computer.
IN OTHER NEWS: A woman tells other women how to dress with dignity-- skirts, not pants. So much for the idea that the less skin showing the more respect given. Of course, she said this while clad in one of those huge body-denying robes meant to totally de-emphasize one's non-intellectual self.
MONDAY: "Diner" food makes another comeback, or did it ever really leave?
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