Some time later today — I dunno when — this weblog will close for the year. By the time it returns — I dunno when — it will have had a makeover with a new design, new software and a few new features. Before you send me scathing e-mails telling me why the new look sucks, remember (a) what you pay to get in and (b) that I do all this myself with no help. However bad it is, it ain't bad for a guy who works on Groo the Wanderer.
During the changeover, you may see a blank page here, a half-finished page, a wrong page, a page where links don't work…things may even get so bizarre you'll see me endorse Newt Gingrich. (By the way: I just posted a Tweet that noted that Newt is now saying he's considering Sarah Palin as his running mate. Because we all saw how well that worked last time.)
I will post an "All Clear" when I think I'm finished reconfiguring and rearranging. Until then, it might be safer to not try reading anything here. We will not be responsible if you get hurt.
None of the old postings will disappear forever but the ones from between 4/23/03 and 12/20/11 will be offline for a little while.
As everyone in the known free world has informed me, this site has not been listed on Google for a few months. What happened was that a hacker installed what's called a "cloaked" site on this one. In fact, he or she installed two. The same folders on the server that contain the files for this blog were also secretly hosting the files for a site that sold fake Louis Vuitton handbags and one that sold pills that induce erections. Make up your own joke about what those things have in common. The sites were hidden in a folder hidden in a folder hidden in a folder hidden in a folder (etc.) and I didn't spot them…but Google's webcrawling spiders did. This caused them to delist the entire site.
I think I got rid of all the parasites but since some of the legit files pointed to directories containing evil pages, Google's automated sentries think those files are bad, too. That's not the only reason I'm chucking the old software. I was thinking of changing over anyway and now I have a fine reason to do it now. Let's see how long it takes me to get back in Google's good graces.