Yeah, we’ve been on a lengthy hiatus here at Shambollocks!. An outbreak of paranormal experiences which would fluster the firm of Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler bombarded us since our last post. My computer breathed its last breath. A friendly neighbor took my bicycle, on which I put in a good day’s work fixing, off the back porch. Locusts swarmed over this cold, gray land by the lake. I fell into some Bootsy Collins kind of deep funk.

I left you. I apologize. I do.

I can’t promise it won’t happen again. But I will tell you that I will do my damnedest to prevent it.

Today we reboot the site with what will be the first in a series of new features- The Evanston Everyman. Yes, every day you can find the very best in local online news gathered from within a tiny newsroom/ apartment a mere five or six blocks from Chicago. Will it always center on the town of Evanston? Probably not. It will most likely end up as a cranky collection of stray thought and rants. But it won’t be boring.

Today in Evanston, well, why should I lie- it was miserable here today. You expect me to get out of a funk with this kind of weather? How come Scully and Mulder never investigated the perennial mystery of where Chicago’s springs go? If you like sodden ground and potholes with puddle camouflage than today was the day for you. If you’re like me, you kept inside and reveled in digital minutiae. Today, it was how to load the mp3 player. As with most things Windows related, the process was far from intuitive. I handled it, though. Tomorrow, I handle the rest of this messy world.

- Today marked the ten year anniversary of the massacre at Columbine HS. Dozens of protestors laid down in front of the Capitol steps to remind those in power of the students killed by the two sick kids. Elsewhere in America, hundreds of people picked up their guns. What a country!

- I should share with you what machine rolls out Shambollocks! each day. The new machine is a Gateway DX4720-03, with a Acer X193W LCD Monitor. We got a great deal on both from Newegg, plus a half-price refurbished 4G Sandisc Fuze. There’s my plug for the day. Maybe I could have cut a better deal? Hmm…