And here’s a little something extra – a digital representation of an actual Festivus gift for Kristy (yet to be completed): Cretan Memories

And did you hear about Leonidas the baby? He’s got a new site, too. Check out The Leo Show (another work in progress…).

Ideas for posts flutter into our collective mind all the time. Every day offers little gems of inspiration. Crete is an impressive place, offering many facets to explore. And we’ve been fortunate to befriend many interesting people (well… actually, most of those friends have since left the island, but we are still inspired by them).

But for all this “post-worthy” material, very little (lately, none) of it gets published (or even written).

Now we could claim that the lack of editorial attention here has been b/c we are in fact too busy experiencing all this awesome stuff.

And that would be true.

We can also fairly state that we are simply preoccupied with the more ordinary, day-to-day stuff: our work, the most attention-demanding (and cutest) dog ever, and of course, the latest (and greatest) news in our lives, the impending arrival of our first child.

And that would be true, too. Generally, life does tend to keep one busy.

Also contributing to this site’s abandonment is the “Facebook effect” – the ease of microblogging on Facebook (and Twitter). Nearly all of our friends and even much of our family are pretty active on Facebook. A simple status update or a quick photo upload is sometimes all it takes to share what’s up. No need for full-blown blog posts.

But still, this is not the entire truth.

The fact is, we have simply grown bored with this site.

That’s clearly bad. As blogs go (and websites in general), that is a death knell. If WE aren’t motivated to maintain the site, you certainly can’t be expected to stay motivated to visit the site, much less join the discussion by leaving comments. And without you… what’s the point of blogging in the first place?

The problem is this gawd awful, lame-o default WordPress theme. It is a total inspiration-killer. We’re tired of looking at it (aren’t you?). Just knowing that our words will be imprisoned within this blog’s drab skin… it makes writing feel more like punishment than a creative outlet.

Thing is, I’ve been sitting on a redesign for this site for, like, over a year. It’s been in a holding pattern so long, I’ve actually lost track of where I left off. But it was nearly complete… very close.

Now again, to be fair, I have been busy with other things. Work. Life. Etc. But to put time and effort into a redesign only to then have it sit on a back-burner for over a year (heck, maybe it’s been two years?)… I mean, this is a blog, not Liberty Travel (heh. an inside joke… maybe just for me). Nope. That’s just ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. It’s redunkulous.

Well, I’ve learned something about myself, being self-employed these past few years. And that is, I don’t get ANYTHING done if I don’t set a deadline. So that’s exactly what I’m going to do.

Before the New Year, TheKristyDave will be updated with a spectacular new design. (not an overly aggressive deadline, I know… but heck, this way maybe I can impress myself and finish ahead of schedule!)

In the meantime, we’ll try to rededicate ourselves to more regular postings. Perhaps there are still a few of you lurking around to take notice, and we can try to rebuild something of a conversation here.

So… in typical long-winded Dave fashion, what I’m saying is: please stand by… FULLY AWESOME updates ahead.

Dave and Pita

I have another story. I have been spending my days finishing my thesis updated link to my thesis…and it is finally done. Printed, bound, and sent for review. If any of you have a free couple of hours that you want to waste, you can read it here here.

But that’s not the story. I was talking about rainbows…so about 5 weeks ago, this small dog showed up in our neighborhood and decided not to leave. In fact, he moved right into our house. After being exposed to the dangers he was facing on the street (think grandmothers with brooms, big hungry wild dogs, and overaggressive cats) and his sugary disposition we decided to let him adopt us. So we have a dog. His name is Pita. (Formally, Mogwai Skilopita, which translated from the two languages we have stolen from to make his name, means ‘devil dog pie’. Amazingly, this truly is the most accurate description of his character).

Anyway, he wakes me up at 7am every morning to go for a walk. And a few mornings ago, I was greeted by this.

Rainbows over Chania Harbor

Didn’t get as good a set of photos as I wanted, since by the time I finished the dog walk and got the camera from back home, this was all that was left of it. (Yes, left of it.) I have never seen quite a rainbow as what it was…one double rainbow – two spectrums – and another on top. So even though this little dog has put a dent in our freedom, and quite possibly our plans to visit our newfound friends in their home countries, things with Pita always seem to end in rainbows…even begrudged 7am outings.

Mostly, I will be writing about farmers and agriculture and the terrible state of the food system, so for those of you who are already yawning, maybe you can skip it. But Sustainable Table is a great website, run by a great organization that is responsible for a viral animated video that made all sorts of web history and is really entertaining! If you have never seen The Meatrix watch it.

And now that spring is on it’s way (for those of you in the northern hemisphere) go to a farmers’ market, join a CSA, or visit a nearby farmer! I can guarantee you’ll have fun (if you don’t, at least you’ll be thinking of me).

Meanwhile, check out our other online stuff:

• Kristy’s Picasa albums
• David’s Picasa albums
• luispunchy.com – David’s (not quite) daily blog
• WebModia Studios – David’s professional site
• DavidGowrie.com – yet another site for David… sheesh