Pictures are a Start

As predicted, I have yet to follow up on my recent announcement that I would start blogging again. A major reason for that, though, is that I was way behind on my picture uploading, and I wanted to be sure that my next entries were not as boringly text-heavy as the last litany of columns. So, this weekend I went on a photo-editing and uploading spree. I’ve still December to deal with (including Mole National Park and my Christmas elephants), but my flickr page now has all of my 2008 pictures (like these headbutting Cape Coast goats) available for your viewing pleasure. So, please continue to be patient with me. And, as a reward (or perhaps a cause for more patience?) take a look at my most recent attempts at photography. (You can access my flickr account from the link in my right hand navigation.)

Return of the Hack

Wow. I owe a whole lot of you a big apology. I logged onto WordPress this week for the first time in ages to update/backfill this blog of mine for the first time in three months. Out of habit, I went straight to my stats page, and expected to find a flatline of next-to-no page views stretching back weeks, if not months. Instead I found that an average of four people have popped into this barren wasteland of a blog every day for the last month. Your faith in me based on absolutely no supporting evidence is mind-boggling and flattering. I’m honoured, and a complete bum for making you check in without recompense for the last three months.

Today I’m uploading a big pile of my unposted GO columns (including one from November 14 that was never put on the Ghanaian Observer site). In the next few weeks I will do my very best to do some retrospectives of some of my travels (Amedzofe, my mum’s visit, Mole National Park), and start putting some kind of regular updates on this thing. As we all know, though, I’m not necessarily all that good at keeping this thing afloat, so please don’t hold it against me if I start slipping through the cracks.

Briefly, though, let me fill you in on where I’m at these days—and have been lately.

FYI 4

No sooner had I gotten this thing in order, than my internet connection at home went kaput, swiftly followed by the wireless hookup I’d been using at the office. That means I can only go online on the computers used to put out GO, so I have very limited access. Basically, I get to read e-mail and that’s it. I’m writing on my laptop, so when the net decides to come back, I’ll post a bunch of stuff (don’t worry, it’ll be in order this time). Sorry!  Thanks for your patience!

FYI 3

The blog is officially up to date! Those of you who have been reading during the last month would do well to give the archives a skim, as I’ve been trying to put posts up in the order things happened, rather than in the order I got them written. That means some stories have gone straight to archive pages you wouldn’t see if you only opened my homepage. At least one has some video I took embedded in it, so it is worth the effort to go and see what you’ve missed. From now on, new posts will go to the top of the blog homepage, as they’re supposed to, so you won’t have to go on this kind of fishing mission again. Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

FYI 2

Let the backfilling begin! Yesterday I finally began to fill in my blogging blanks. I’m still getting the hang of WordPress, so it hasn’t been the speediest process so far, but I should have this thing up, running, and up to date within the next two weeks (it would be faster if the January batch of JHR folks weren’t leaving this week; I have a lot of goodbye parties to attend…). In the meantime, definitely check in, as there will be stuff going up, just bear with me if the organization isn’t exactly perfect. YAY blog!!!

FYI

To the few of you who have this URL and have turned up a few times, I wanted to give you a quick news flash about the state of this blog. Obviously, I have not updated it since I arrived in Ghana. I assure you that this will not be a permanent state of affairs. I have been writing plenty on my laptop at home, but so hate the internet cafe I am forced to rely on that I haven’t taken the time to upload photos and post text. I am working hard at getting internet at home, however, and as soon as that is in place (quite possibly this week!) I will be posting a-plenty. SO, thank you so much for continuing to check in. I promise your dedication will bear fruit in the near future!