There's a Hole In My Heart Today

Why? Because I couldn't break away, as I had planned, to motor down to North Carolina to be on hand for my pal Anton Zuiker's stupendously cool and stimulating blog conference, which he masterminded and brought to life, and which had to be rescheduled due to weather. So all today and tomorrow, I'll be there in spirit if not body, while I tend to some unfortunately timed but nevertheless crucial project deadlines. I know the formidable Z-man--a veritable one-man life force, a human Atlantic seaboard weather pattern--will forgive me, but will I be able to forgive myself? Oh, well, this thing called living is such an imperfect, fragile thing. And when duty calls, we must answer. And who knows, maybe someone is capturing it digitally, and I'll be able to later join that way. Hope springs eternal, especially in the spring season. May god be with you, Anton, as you share your passion and genius for online writing with yet another flock of eager students, who'll join your ever-growing cohort of alums...

Anton Even Arranges Timely WSJ Coverage. I told you he was a human weather pattern: I found it interesting that on the very day that Henry Copeland, the man behind BlogAds and now a fellow transplanted Tar Heel, is set to speak at Anton's event, the Wall Street Journal carries a remarkable breakthrough story about the increasing interest in blogs, featuring Henry himself. Here's the payoff passage (unfortunately, it's only available online for subscribers): "The Chandler campaign is evidence of the latest step in the evolution of the Internet. Blogs, once derided as solipsistic exercises by self-important nobodies, are starting to go commercial as their readership grows. The trend is in its early stages; big advertisers like Coke and Procter & Gamble aren't yet hawking their wares on blogs. Indeed, much of the advertising is found on politically oriented blogs, which are experiencing a spike in readership from the presidential election. Many people wonder if the blog ad boomlet will outlast the election. But other Internet institutions have had similarly modest origins; recall that eBay started out as a place to trade Beanie Babies and Pez dispensers. And it's no surprise that as blogs grow in popularity, they are beginning to attract advertisers."