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Posted on November 1, 2004

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Posted from Seattle, Washington (USA) at 11:48 PM local time

Welcome to the ONEWORLDIMAGES.COM Blog!

Well, here we go! On the eve of the 2004 presidential election at home here in Seattle, I pound out my first official blog entry (that's a "web log" entry for the non-geeks among you). So welcome. The ONEWORLDIMAGES.COM blog has been created so I can keep the millions of interested parties out there up-to-date on where I am and what I'm up to. (Perhaps I should say where we are and what we're up to, since I travel and work with others at times and hope to incorporate a few of their thoughts and experiences as well.) I plan to stick primarily to the themes of this site - travel, photography, international news and politics, and social causes with which I become involved. That said, perhaps the defining characteristic of a "blog" is the personalized, "free-flow" nature of the content generated by its author(s) (which means I may wander off topic on occasion). Unlike other Web content, blogs are by nature unscripted, even unedited (perhaps unpolished is a bit more accurate, as I certainly hope to avoid tpyograhpical errors and produce at least marginally coherent text). A blog is a forum for an individual to voice his or her opinions; it is the 21st century Speaker's Corner on the edge of Hyde Park, though with broader scope and reach. (That said, this little electronic soapbox cannot compare to being in London - Speaker's Corner, I hope, will always have its place.)

I have vowed to avoid becoming a slave to this forum. I hesitated to call it a blog simply because I don't anticipate posting the volume of entries typical of many bloggers. Technically, the forum is quite simple. On launch, entries from the past 30 days are displayed with most recent entries atop the list. The [Blog Navigator] at top right allows movement from one entry to the next, one month to the next, etc. Reflecting the nature of this site, there's a [Map Entry Location] button available - wherever I post from, you can pinpoint my location. There's an archive list (organized by month), along with thumbnail shortcuts to the most recent six photographs I've posted. Oh - this is important for getting information to my wonderful grandmother - there's a small [Printer] button from which a "print-friendly" view of entry content can be generated. From the print-friendly view, text can be enlarged for the benefit of people who have trouble reading my smallish fonts.

At present, I don't plan on enabling email notification for every entry posted (you'd get sick of the messages, I'm sure). But for those interested in receiving periodic updates via email, you can add your address to the site mailing list at any time (accessible at the time of writing in the site menu at bottom right). That's about it (for now). I'm excited about using this space to share the smiles and stories of people across the globe!

Oh - my election prediction: John Kerry, without court intervention. I believe newly registered voters have been missed in the polls, significantly skewing the numbers in the direction of Mr. Bush. The presidency - I believe - will go to Kerry. And fortunately or unfortunately, his work will have only just begun.

Happy Dia De Los Muertos! | Day of the Dead Explained | Photos by Mary Andrade