2:31:01: So three months ago, I had the momentum and the time and the content to put out another Issue of the Dash. Fate on the other hand (after toying with me for so long, when i tried to switch to a new host) was not done weaving her trickery. Some short time after I typed up the original introduction (see below) my entire inter-life came to a abrupt halt. My Macintosh G3 Powerbook decided it had, had enough and destroyed it's own system. As a stubborn male geek type I tried in vain for a month to retrieve all of my data and fix my computer. I spent weeks waiting for long distance tech friends to resound via library access, but for naught. No one would be able to give me the quick fix, and finally with an impending trip to Phoenix AZ (how Ironic now that I think of it), I sent my computer to the good people of CafeMac (Hollywood CA). Two weeks later I returned to LA to find my computer working with all the old data recovered, and only a few small problems which will hopefully be taken care of soon.

It is with baited breath that I bring forth a new Volume of -30- to those who have continued to check in despite our lack of forward momentum. I hope that what I bring forth now will take us into a new direction.

-Samuel Graber

11:20:2000: Well it's been a long year. I sit here almost unable to acknowledge it has an in fact been a year. It is this fact that gave -30- it's month long hiatus, which I apologize profusely for. Our contract with pair.net came to an end and I went out seeking newer better, and cheaper hosting. Which I found. Unfortunately the process of switching servers proved to be a sloppy one in which our new hosts (not to go bad mouthing anyone) were unable to complete their duties in one foul swoop.

I hope that you've all found your way back to -30-, Hopefully the word of our decease has been overlooked. It is because of our month long fight to come back online that I've put together a new double issue. One of our most exciting issues yet, this has more content, new content we've never seen before and all the majesty of the past.

Space is still a major concern here at the Dash, due to our almost non existent income. Because of this I've had to make some accommodations, hiding some of the larger files on other systems. We pray and hope that all those servers will remain up so all our links will work till we can find better ways of accommodating them.

As always I need to thank many of my friends and family for all the moral (and otherwise) support I've received in what has been a personally challenging year. I also need to give special thanks to Dan Mcnamara, whose has gained a long lived seniority on my ever changing volunteer staff. Dan brings to us, along with my own alter ego, a new section of editorial critiques and essays. Dan Focusses on John Donne's "The Sun Rising ". Also critiqued this month is William Ernst Henley's "Invictus" by Samuel Proof. I personally welcome the essays and critiques of all our readers, of both poetry published on the dash, and the classics.

Also new to the dash is our freebies and downloads section which is currently hosting 5 desktop themes. I take personal pride in the creation and displaying of the 5 pieces which showcase some of the work that has been published on -30- including the two classics mentioned above. We hope to continue to bring our readers and guest new freebies, including screen savers, Netscape, Kaliedoscope and other software themes, and much more.

Dash30dash also teams up with "If Tomorrow Comes…" and online animated series, done in Flash, that will begin it's run in 2001. We currently have the trailer for "If Tomorrow Comes…" and wish it much luck. We believe "If Tomorrow Comes…" follows are standards for beauty and artistic skill and it will be a lovely item to showcase in our pages.

As always this month showcase several poets, many who are new to us and I would personally like to thank them for their submissions and wish them all luck with their future writings.

Getting back to our new host, we've finally gotten ourselves the abilities to run CGI and Perl scripts and this gives us an exciting chance to get dash30dash.com moving on whole new levels of interactivity. Though I personally know almost next to nothing about these languages and thus it may take some time before they are implemented and then finessed in to perfection, but we are excited about the possibilities. Of course if anyone comes along with any semblance of knowledge in these fields I will eagerly welcome the help. At the top of the list is a working newsletter for announcements of the newest issues, and also to finally get message boards that are contained within the site, and that are attached to each piece and area of dash30dash.com. I have also been working on an online submission scheme, and would like to see that work nicely. Other options are chat rooms, online magnetic poetry, and similar poetic devices and entertainment's, perhaps a random generator and who knows what else. As always I'm taking suggestions on anything and everything to do with the site.

As a final note I would like to welcome you all back to a new and improved dash30dash.com. Now more than ever I think it's important for the readers to come forth with their suggestions and voice where they'd like to see this site go in the future. As always we are always taking submissions in just about any form, style, etc. Once again I'd lie to thank all of our readers and contributors.

Sincerely,

Samuel Graber

-Senior Editor

-Webmaster@dash30dash.com