Technical Difficulties

So late last week I notice that my most recent post has vanished. I log in to locate it, but the log in won't work. I read a notice, learn that Typepad, the service that hosts this site, is down.

Not for the first time.

My first thought is to save my vanished post. Thankfully Google cached it. But what to do with it? I know, mirror sites! That's what I need. So I copy the post and paste it in to a new Blogspot blog and a new Blogsome blog and now I have a triple redundant backup mirror system that shouldn't be too hard to keep going because all it requires is cutting and pasting the same post thrice.

So if you bookmark the mirror sites, you'll never miss another episode of Outer Life. I hope.

Now that I've shored up the technical side, all that remains is a little tinkering with the creative side. I'd like to blame Typepad for the lack of action here, but the truth is it's all me.

I used to write short, now I write long. I used to post daily, now I post weekly. I used to struggle with too few ideas, now I struggle with too many. I used to have too much time to write, now I have too little.

And last week I had a chance to review some of my old posts and some of my more recent posts, and the difference startled me. What happened to my sense of humor? What happened to the nonsense? What happened to the outward-looking observer? When did I start taking myself so seriously?

The other day I joked to a correspondent that I should rename this site "The Before Picture." Now I think that wasn't a joke.

So your continued patience is appreciated while we sort through these difficulties.