It Turns Out, No Chills

My apologies, everyone.

Before I left for Young Life camp, I promised a column for last Monday. Unfortunately, in the hustle and bustle that led up the the launch of the new site, my poor column got left out in the cold, cold world of overlooked e-mails.

There it sat for the week, but it has now been revived (there was a St. Bernard, and brandy, and everything) and placed on the new site for your reading pleasure.

Here it is: Does Internet Withdrawal Cause Chills?

Starting today, this girl is going offline for a whole week. A week.
It’s a milestone. The last time I was similarly untethered by any
number of wireless devices was way back in 2004.

It was late September, and I was on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
with my behind in a beach chair instead of an office chair, my hands
more likely to grab some drifting kelp than a keyboard. Looking back,
it’s hard to imagine that I was unconnected for an entire week near the
end of the 2004 election cycle, with all the Kerry-crushing and
Rather-toppling those last few weeks offered any blogosphere fan.

On the other hand, it’s very hard to imagine being online for a week
thinking about John Kerry when your feet are dangling off your rented
porch, sun-reddened toes dug into the gritty island sand, a bucket of
steamed oysters at your side. I think I made the right call.

I coped just fine, in fact. It was rather nice to be unhooked for a week. But ever since I hit home, I've been connected like never before. Hence, the 3:15 a.m. blogging. I have many stories to tell from my week in the mountains of Virginia. More on that later. Hope you like the column even though it's late coming.