I'm back.

I used to have a web site, called Signal to Noise, but circumstances conspired to keep me from updating it. It's not that I didn't want to do it, it was just that the process was a complete pain in the ass, because I was creating the site with native HTML. Adding new content meant formatting table tags, adding line breaks, and a whole host of other things that made the actual writing less interesting. On top of that, I started working for RollingStone.com, so in dealing with the World Wide Web every day, I lost interest in it as a leisure-time activity.

So, why now? First off, I bought a domain name with a bunch of web space attached to it. This was primarily for a permanent e-mail address, but at the same time, it would allow me to rebuild a site for myself. Second, those two barriers that kept me from writing have been lifted. I've installed Moveable Type, a content management program, and it looks like it will automate a lot of the grunt work that was holding me back before. I've also lost the RS.com job to corporate acquisition (by Vivendi Universal, who consolidated staff in San Diego), but that was a long time coming, so while I regret not being there anymore, I'm not down about it. Plus, I've got an awful lot of free time.

So, that begs the question, what is NotAbbott.com? It's basically a bunch of rants and ramblings on, well, stuff. The stated goal, in my mind, is to use the site to house two columns that I expect to start sending to friends via e-mail, one on what's going on in Chicago, musically, and one on soccer and the Chicago Fire. If I were smart, I would have just had those two, and maybe a main weblog, and be done with it. But, as is usually the case, I got ambitious. I also started importing sections and ideas from Signal to Noise, the last website, so we'll see how it goes this time.

Unfortunately, the site apparently doesn't work well with Netscape 4.x, due to that browser's tenuous support of style sheets. If I can figure out a way to fix that, I will, but it's tough. There are also some oddities in navigation that I need to address, but that's much easier to do than in the past.

And I hope I'll update it more frequently than once every three years. Thanks for coming by.