The Readable Theatre event on Saturday night at Comma Coffee went really well. The material ranged from the profound, to the nitty-gritty down and dirty, the silly, heartwarming and hilarious. People were asking when we were going to do it again. Poetry on a Saturday night. Ya gotta love that. I don't think I'll be able to put together another one before we leave in February so it will probably be spring at the earliest. Then I'd like to do a reading of another one act I'm working on called Sunday Feast . This one's a little more complicated than Ghostwriter but will still do well in a reader's theatre format.

I've added a new winner to the DeadBeat Gallery, renamed the page and moved it to a different folder. Sorry but the only constant in this world, after all, IS change. Anyway, here's the new address for The DeadBeat Gallery JPG Parisite Page. BTW, I just learned that this leech technique is called hotlinking. Now, his hotlink links to a butt shot. Thanks Lars.

Finally, I can see The Cat! Here's the stunning conclusion to the mystery of the missing Cat for everyone who helped me with the problem.

It's been about a month since I changed webhosts, and it took until yesterday for me to see The Cat. I must be the last person on Earth to see my website at its new location! The Cat was the special sign distinguishing the new site from the old. The problem had to be with my ISP, although they denied it to the very end. It's a wireless, broadband service and they claim they don't use proxy servers but they had to have a secret cache somewhere they weren't willing to clear. So, thanks again everyone for the help.

As for Wildhorse, I'm still getting a few hits from him, so it looks like he didn't completely clear the photo he's been leeching from me. Oh well.

Well, ol' WildHorse got wise to the swap so now, he's leeching off of someone else. It was fun while it lasted.

December 1st and still no Cat. That illustrates just how lazy I can be. However, in my defense, I've been busy. This week I've got to dump this DNS problem back on my ISP. They have got to have some hidden cache somewhere that's preventing me from seeing my website at it's new location.

December 1st and still no Cat. That illustrates just how lazy I can be. However, in my defense, I've been busy. This week I've got to dump this DNS problem back on my ISP. They have got to have some hidden cache somewhere that's preventing me from seeing my website at it's new location.

It's not a cache problem after all. I purged my computer and the network and still no cat. Damn. So now I have a call into my ISP. Fun. My webhost suggested that I change my ISP. Fat chance. We live on the edge as it is. There isn't much in the way of options. So now I'm waiting for Tech Support to get back to me.

The Cat. At least when when I'm viewing my site anonymously. Guess I didn't completely clear the cache. So, off to the coal mines.

Many thanks to everyone who emailed about whether or not they can see the cat on my website. At this point, seems I'm the only one who can't. I still don't know why.

Yes, I've flushed the cache, installed a different browser...no Cat. As I'm writing this, I'm downloading a little cloaking program from Anonymizer.com. If I can see the cat while I'm in anonymous mode then it's my problem.

So, it's a week later and I'm still waiting for this server change to finish resolving. What can be a simple thing, has become a huge pain in the ass. I've been obsessed for the last week with all this crap. In order to know when the DNS has fully propagated, I put a red, smiley cat face on my new home page. The old site is sans cat. I still see the old site, sans cat, but am assured by my new web host that the new site is up and running. If you don't mind doing me a favor, I'd appreciate it if you'd check out my site and tell me whether or not you see the cat. Remember: cat = new location / no cat = old location. The address is http://www.ashabot.com. My email address on on the front page. Thanks.

So, at last I've changed DNS servers. If you can't reach my website at the moment it should be just a temporary thing. It takes a few days for the new setting to propagate over the entire web.

I'm finally back. It's good to be home.

What was supposed to be a weekend trip starting Friday the 10th has turned into nearly three weeks and, three thousand miles later, I'm still not home. At this point, I'm just hoping to get back and change servers before my current web host goes away. Procrastination sucks. If my site shuts down for a day or two, don't worry about it. I'll get it up and running again as soon as I get home. It's been a good trip though, other than the fact that I only packed enough clothes for three days. We went to Southern Oregon, then up to Montana, over to Portland then back down to Southern Oregon, where we are now.

I'm out of orbit today, stalled on everything. Here are my notes from Sunday. Morning, with all its possibilities, looms before me, then rushes past. Mid-morning. Ideas bob along the horizon like marker buoys in choppy waters. Noon. I'm completely lost, surrounded by a flat, endless horizon towards which I row my boat in widening circles. This has not been a very productive week. I haven't decided on a server and, more than that, I dread making the switch. Up until now, a friend has hosted the Ashabot for free. He set up it up. I have no idea what I'm getting into now. Probably it's no big deal, but thinking about it is making me nuts. Also, I haven't finished reformatting an issue of my zine that needs to get done yesterday. Bad. Very bad. On the up side, I did find a place to present my one act play, Ghostwriter. It's the Comma Cafe in Carson City. The place has a great little stage, a very comfortable atmosphere and comes at a price I can afford, free. When I asked the proprietor what the space costs she said, "Nothing. It's people helping people". She makes it on the refreshments. So, here's a little fun a friend sent me. Try it out. While sitting at your desk, lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it. Now, while doing this, draw the number "6" in the air with your right hand. Your foot will change direction. See if you can do both actions without a change of direction. If you can't, you know how I'm feeling tonight.

I'm going to be switching servers for the Ashabot next week. I hope it will be seamless but if the site is down for a while, it shouldn't be long. I'm not looking forward to doing this but, as the saying goes, "circumstances beyond my control"....