First, some perspective, I have a theory: Holidays, like other human inventions, are born of necessity. This Labor Day so feels like a Sunday for good reason. It was a tough week on the business front... it's the end of the Summer... there was a full moon AND a total lunar eclipse no less. C'mon! Too, much. I so need this time off to recoup.

Here, allow me to unburden myself. I know I risk conveying a constellation of bad karma but I do promise to be extra careful. That said, let me tell you why this holiday comes at a good time. Last week was a total cluster fuck (excuse me). I mean, it was an unconscionable and deadly cloud of toxic radiation, killer bees and crushing disappointments. Arrrgh. Seriously, God really outdid herself. Anyone even passively familiar with the Bible knows of her penchant for obstacles, resistance and spontaneous open-sore bleeding.

Okay, after the site had crashed no less than four times, we learned that we'd been variously attacked. First, by some prolific but smarmy Russian comment spammer and then by some knucklehead hacker actually trying to futz the database. Then, dear Brian (God love 'em) decided to update the Serendipity blog script. A five-minute task regrettably turned into a seven-hour trial of skittish access and broken links. Then, when it rains it pours, of course, Technorati decides to burp. They're out of sync (again). Excuse me but fucking with the index, fucks with viewership which impacts our numbers and to Hell we spiral in the "let's redefine friend" Scoble world of PR as "PageRank."

That, of course, says nothing of the myriad of shit that's been frustrating our growth. Our production house for Strumpette Couture after 5 months emailed us last week to tell us that they could not live up to our quality standards. And our plans for video were somewhat chilled after a series of bloody wrestling matches with Adobe and Sony. (Sidebar: Those battles continue.)

And the topper? This was a particularly intense week for annoyance on the personal front. Apparently -- better said preliminarily as it is not confirmed -- I've been diagnosed with Asperger. That certainly explains a lot. A creative addition to Bipolar if I must say so myself.

Anyway, all to say, God is being incessantly annoying and especially petty. I've been dancing with swarms of bees while slowly pecked to death by rabid ducks. Everything is broken. Everything's an obstacle. I spend my time bathed in tedium waiting for the next sure disappointment. Bottom line: I'm totally exhausted fighting it.

As such, I'm spending the day at the pool.

Happy holiday.

Love,

- Amanda

PS In the spirit of always end on a positve note... As of this writing, I understand the site is now streamlined and secure. The server's kernel has been updated. Comments have been shut off. And hey, if it all works out, we've got a great new HD camera and we're all set to start doing some video. And lastly, thanks to our contributors, we've got several great articles on tap. A few things to live for.

So stay tuned. Thanks for your patience and continued support. See you here bright and early tomorrow.