NEWS: The launch party was a complete success! People gathered here at my place for the debut of the new site and everything went off without a hitch. A good time was had by all! And hundreds of friends in the extended Internet community stopped by my site over the weekend for the launch. Thanks to everyone who dropped me a line. The feedback was a nice touch.

The print edition of fish - the resurrection issue has also been completed. I’ve started mailing them to my distant friends and spreading them around the coffeeshops and record stores here. I still have some more legwork to do to get the word out that the new print issue is out, but things are going smoothly. Word of word seems to work just as good if not better than advertisements.

I finished a couple of books this week. I read Mike Royko’s “One More Time” and also “Database Nation” by Simson Garfinkel. My reviews of these books and a new review of Neil Postman’s “Technopoly” can be found in the books area on the nonfiction page. I started William Gibson’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and am thoroughly enjoying it so far as I have all of his books. I’ll let you know when I post my review.

At any rate it’s been a busy but satisfying week. I can only hope that my efforts are making a difference. Direct any questions via email.

Thanks. (Signed) Daniel R Stout

NEWS: I’ve been making some stylistic changes to the resurrection issue in preparation for the Web site launch. Seems like it is finally together. I encourage you to view and read as many of the above stories and links as you can. It’s worth your time, no really!

The launch is still set for 9 p.m. CST this coming Saturday. I’ll be having a massive party to celebrate. Things will be starting around 7 p.m. — just enough time to get ready for the big dig. I’m also start promoting the site I think now that the resurrection issue is officially ready. It’s taken some time and a lot of work, but everything has fallen into place.

I hate to admit it, but I’ll do a little email carpet bombing to get the word out. danielstout.com is the most important new domain of the year 2000. I think people will understand a little self-promotion. I’m such a modest type anyway.

If you are an employer saying, “My God, this Daniel R Stout is incredible!” then please feel free to check out my awesome resume & let the job offers fly! It’s over here. Thanks for reading. You can email me.

NEWS: The official launch of the Web site is coming this Saturday at 9 p.m. CST. There should be lots of fun goings on including a launch party starting at 7 p.m. Email me for directions if you’re in the area (southeast Iowa).

At any rate last week went too fast. It was Spring Break, and I had a lot of work to do. Of course coming back now things are hitting the fan again. Plenty to do this week, but I’ll be looking forward to the coming weekend.

To do: Make flyers for the party. Promote the Web site. Make print copies of the resurrection issue of fish. If anyone wants to come over & help me fold the new issue when it comes out let me know. It takes quite a while but with some help it should go quickly.

This new issue of fish is the grandest one yet. It’s the largest both in terms of pages and words. It reflects the time I’ve had to get some writing done lately. I’ll be printing out the master pages for the issue probably tomorrow & then get the issue printed midweek.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my resume. It’s nice to get some feedback. If you haven’t seen it, it’s over here.

NEWS: The site is blossoming with newfound visitors. Thank you search engines!

The resurrection issue is completely online now though the print edition won’t see the light of day for another week and a half. First of all I’ve got Spring Break to contend with next week! It’s an amazing thing that we’re halfway through the academic semester already. I’ll be working though — I’ve got a master’s project to finish up and a research paper to write.

The days are swiftly falling away. I have been doing the job search lately since I’ll be in the market in a couple of months. I’ve had a few nibbles & the prospects look good. I finally resigned myself to getting an e-job. Computers just have always played a pivotal role in my life ever since grade school. I’ve worked before as a programmer but it was a drag. You just end up looking at the screen all day and if you want to talk to the person in the next cubicle you email them. It’s obnoxious! But a New Media job (that is, Internet) is where I’m headed.

My nomads lifestyle dictates I could go anywhere. And I plan to! Grad school has been good for the exposure to this new lifestyle. As I meet online journalists and discuss what the online world is like the more of an interest I take. I mean, I’ve been using the Internet since 1992, but it never felt right until the past year or so. I’m storming the studio and taking no prisoners.

So, anyway, that’s life here at this moment. In a day I’ll be on S.B. enjoying the time off (yeah right!) and searching the Web for those oh-so-cool job offers at some funky fresh big time sites. I added my resume to this site if you’re interested. It’s over off the ‘who we are’ page. Well, okay, here’s the direct link.

NEWS: The resurrection issue is finished. The links to the content of the entire issue are above. It’s a good one — about 11,000 words in all.

I’m sitting here listening to Radio Not Bombs, which is hosted by Bradley Harris. Bradley’s problem is also a common problem of most punk bands: no range. He goes to the radio studio and plays the same song for two hours. It’s a big drag. Has he never heard of Black Flag? or Fugazi? or Big Black? He likes one type of song and that’s all you’ll hear.

I’ve been getting the print edition of the resurrection issue of fish ready. It’s the largest issue of fish yet though I packed it in pretty good. At any rate the print edition should be hitting the streets in fine fashion the week after Spring Break. I will be getting work done on my master’s project in that time. And then I hope to get another issue of fish out in April. That’s the plan at this point.

A couple of people are stopping by the J-School from NPR. Should be interesting. At any rate I’m spinning through the week ready to head out for S.B. My topic for my project is decent. I’m covering the rise of the e-zine as an alternative medium. I’ll rely on the 60’s for a little history, and fast forward things into the 00’s where the term e-zine has become ubiquitous. Looking at the sources I’ve collected so far there seems to be some disagreement about the term itself so I may be looking at making the argument for the definitive e-zine. We’ll see.

Spinning Spinning Spinning.

Somebody actually sent me a virus over email. The nerve! Fortunately for him he didn’t do it on purpose. It was this worm called Pretty Park that forwards itself over email to all of the people in your address book. Thing is I have a Mac so it didn’t do squat to my system. I hear all these people whine about getting bombed out in their email — like Melissa and all that — but haven’t they put two and two together? Buy a Mac & y’all won’t be having these problems!

NEWS: I finished writing the final piece for fish - the resurrection issue - this evening. It turned out well. It’s a stream of consciousness piece about the end of rave music.

So here I am at a juncture. It’s the time that’s not quite day and not quite night. I’m listening to Blue Bell Knoll — an incredible album by Cocteau Twins. I haven’t heard this album for a good ten years. It came out originally in 1988. In American terms it was kind of their break through album. Actually I think it was the first Cocteau Twins album released in the States. And they were certainly ready for a larger audience at that point.

I have enjoyed a couple of the early 90’s albums such as Heaven Or Las Vegas and also Four Calendar Cafe. Especially on Four Calendar you can hear them searching out a more basic sound. Kind of stripped down from they layered ectasy of Blue Bell. But there’s a certain levity — a lightness — to the sound of Blue Bell that is distinctly superior. This is an incredible album and it’s been on repeat on my CD player the past few days. I am just digging this album all over again. It’s a great thing.

In the morning I will be scanning four photographs, which will complete the work I need to do on the resurrection issue. All the text is written and proofread. The last two articles just came together in the past couple of days and here they are complete. I’ll be adding their links soon probably tomorrow some time.

The night is here finally now. I will enjoy it as it should be enjoyed — by reading. I read in Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil today. I think I will have to learn French.

NEWS: The resurrection issue of fish, the e-zine extraordinary, will be available tomorrow! Thanks to everyone who helped out esp. Evita and Stacey!

I’m nearly out the door to go take a final roll of film for the shots that will go with the remaining elements of the resurrection issue. I hope to drop off the masters at the copy shop tomorrow and should have the results on paper within hours.

Of course the e-zine is well along too. The electronic edition features the same photos that are in the print copy as well as the same stories. As a bonus to my online readers there are some photos taken by Evita that you can enjoy.

It’s hard to believe but Spring Break is a week away. I’ll be busy though working on my Master’s project. I haven’t decided where I’ll be going for Spring Break but it’ll have to be someplace quiet & close to a major library.

It’s funny to think that I’m nearly done with graduate school. It’s been a great experience for me. I think being a T.A. has also brought out a lot in me that maybe I wasn’t even aware of. I found I rather enjoy teaching and of course my love of computers knows no bounds. It’s a good pair & I’ve been trying to think of/look up jobs that would make use of those skills.

I’m also writing a research paper about personal privacy on the Internet. A hot topic of course. I’ve been looking at Simson Garfinkel new book Database Nation: The Death of Privacy in the 21st Century. It certainly is interesting. And of course viewers of this site are assured — everything here is strictly confidential & WE HERE AT DANIELSTOUT.COM DO NOT USE COOKIES! I just wanted to make that clear. ‘Cookies’ are what commercial sites use to track unique visitors. They’re bad, bad news. But anyway that’s a topic for another day.

Come back tomorrow evening or early Saturday and the entire resurrection issue should be posted. Thanks for reading. I’ll talk to you later.