So much to do

We leave for Italy in less than a month. I am so excited about this trip (our plan is to visit Rome and the Amalfi Coast) — and I have so much to do before we go!

As I've previously mentioned, the new issue of There is soon to launch. I just have to have the latest issue live before we leave. I'm also planning to do a launch party, and I'm casting about for ideas on where to hold it. (Can I host it at home? Is that crazy? The place is actually pretty nice for entertaining.)

I'm also working on a cover story on sovereign wealth funds for The Institutional Real Estate Letter – North America (is that a mouthful, or what?), and the story is due Friday. As I've already told the editor, there is just no way it will be done by then. But the publication ships in a couple weeks — and my cover is going to have to be in it.

And then there's all the little things that have to be readied before we leave town — like getting travel-size bottles and photocopies of our passports.

Also, I just have to hope that no major volcanic activity happens between now and mid-June.

About that fallow period

Almost a year ago, I wrote a post "In praise of the fallow period", where I noted I'd been not-writing for a year. And while this blog hasn't had much activity since then, at least I have started writing again (I've gone back to the Pythia Says project, or rather, I'm doing something in dialogue with it), and a new issue of There is just around the corner.

No, really! It will be out soon (by June at the latest).

The gap in production of There can be explained by my desire to give the site a redesign. I'd hacked the thing together with some very basic Dreamweaver templates, and I really wanted to do something a little more sophisticated for the next issue. You would think, given that I'm living with a "senior web developer", that this would be easy.

So when I talked with Adam about this, oh, months ago, he basically handed me a book on HTML/CSS and said to get started on it. Now, I should say, this is probably why I love him. Instead of just building my website for me (as he has done for friends of mine! I should add), he wanted to give me the tools to build it myself. Which is a much slower process! And he hasn't been totally hands-off; he is building the complicated homepage that I wanted, and he's given some tips and done some PHP coding.

Still, I am going to use the "I had to learn CSS to get the new issue out" excuse whenever I'm asked about the very large gap between this issue and the previous.