Welcome, IBM. Seriously.
And by "IBM," I mean, "the subset of the general public that has Internet access and a device capable of running a somewhat modern web browser." Internet Brothers-Sisters-And-Nonbinaries (Multitudes)?
Well. Whatever, I've decided that it's time to end the "Soft Opening" era of my new site/blog. Lots of folks discovered it on their own. I incorrectly supposed that by hiding it behind a mysterious URL identical to my last name, I'd be able to live-test the CMS and my customizations in secrecy.
(This wouldn't seem silly if you had my personal knowledge of what a tough time people have spelling my name correctly.)
I also incorrectly supposed that I had hidden the Membership panel, so that I could test it out and let it fail in private. I switched that stuff on at 1 AM on a Friday, and awoke on Saturday to discover that I had lots of signups and lots of money in my Stripe account. Golly!
The point is that although choosing a CMS (Ghost), a host (also Ghost), a theme (Casper, one of Ghost's defaults), and then designing, coding, and debugging an unholy buttload of customizations, tweaks, and modifications to that theme was a linear, methodical process…every step afterward sort of was unplanned and accidental.
Thus, those of you who sign up for memberships will be amused to a point of nigh-apoplexy to discover that an hour before I published this post, in which I announce that my new blog is officially open, I published this post, in which I explained to my members that I was probably going to do it next week.
You'll also spot a whole bunch of previous posts in which I had set a goal for the launch, and then changed the goal. Like, lots of posts like that.
Thus, I chose to name this important landmark post "Welcome, IBM. Seriously." instead of something more direct and rational, such as:
"Welcome to my new blog!"
"The site is now live!" or
"This is my new site, and you're welcome to it."
Most of you will recognize the reference. It's a famous ad from a company famous for its famous ads:
So it's appropriate to say "Seriously. I consider the site officially open."
Is it officially done?
Oh, heavens, no. As I told my Members in the earlier post: the only hangup over the past month or so was my desire to ensure that first-time visitors would see something like the site's intended regular content, at its regular cadence.
Trouble is, that there's been lots of news in the past few weeks, and I've written lots of posts that haven't been posted yet. Because the site wasn't technically open just yet.
This allowed me two valuable luxuries:
- More time to rewrite and edit
- Going to bed at a reasonable hour
One of the disadvantages of adulthood is self-awareness, however. A Close Personal Friend whose encouragement and opinions I value messaged me in response to the morning blog post, and echoed (not for the first time) a thought that I'd been having all morning (also not for the first time):
I really should just push the button, already. It'll be fine.
Here in June of 2026, you're not seeing the site as I imagine it in six months, when I'm up to a regular cadence of posts and I've further figured out what kinds of content works (for me, the author, and you, the reader). But I'll get there in six months, right?
In the meantime, enjoy the stuff I've been writing when I thought nobody was looking and it didn't matter how frequently I posted. This is the end of a mighty long journey and if it were any more epic, Annie Lennox would be singing over the end credits and making everybody cry.
No, seriously. This has been a long, long project. It involved lots of learning and exploring and pursuing options and ideas headfirst into dead ends. You might enjoy the very first post I made on this here blog, when I wasn't even 100% sure that I was going to use Ghost.
Before I do the thing I can't undo, I remind you that this is going to be like a restaurant that's as ready to open as it's ever going to get. Which is to say that the kitchen crew is still learning the menu.
Your forebearance is appreciated.
As is your choice to become a paying member and supporter. Your time is the most valuable commodity of all, because you can't make any more of it. But your money is fantastic, too.
Okay, it's time. I'm not even going to proofread this.
Push the button, Frank!