It is hard to believe another year is nearly complete. 2008 has been good to me overall and while I have done many things and gone many places, I have not often written for this site. For those of you who visit now and then only to find the same essay posted and no new content, I hope to make it more worth your while in 2009. There are several new articles I will start working on after the start of the new year. The topics for these articles, based on recent and not so recent events, include the following.

• The Japan Trip: Days Five and Six
  The long-awaited and overdue conclusion to my comprehensive vacation report.
  
• The New Car
  After my clutch left me stranded, I decided not to repair my car and instead purchased a brand new one.
  
• The Christmas Wedding
  On Saturday, 20 December 2008, I officiated the wedding of my good friends Erik Patten and Lauren Gleason.
  
• The Capitol Trip
  The tales of my first road trip in the new car up to Washington, D.C.
  
• The Conch Republic
  Trip report and photographs from my November 2008 trip to Key West.
  

Just yesterday, I upgraded the software running things to improve performance and fix several nagging bugs. As with any upgrade, there may be unintended consequences—especially since I run a highly-customized copy of WordPress with my own theme—so please let me know if you find anything broken. There does seem to be an issue with the RSS feeds which I will fix in the next day or two. I apologize in advance if subscribers receive duplicates. I am also entertaining a suggestion made by Erik to post more "blog" style items, to keep things fresh and current in between the lengthy essay and report articles. Exactly how this may be implemented is still up for debate, but I think I will at least try the idea and see how it goes. I never intended to make this site a daily update of every mundane experience, but I think I can find a happy medium to keep my friends from nagging me and stop the all-too-common month-long dry spells. Finally, as a reminder to my friends in Tallahassee, I am hosting my annual New Year's Eve party starting at 2100 hours. I hope to see you here tonight. Happy New Year!