Hello, internet pals. It's been awhile.

I wish I had some extravagant or gruesome excuse for where I've been the past month, but I don't. It's the same old work/kids/selling-babies-on-the-black-market thing for me again.

For what it's worth I do feel shitty about it. And thanks to everyone who has written wondering what was up. If you wrote and I didn't get a chance to write back yet, I feel shitty about that, too.

Truthfully, I'm not exactly sure what's going to happen here. I'd like to keep it all going, but it's getting tougher to find the time to do what I consider a good job on the site. Plus I never wanted this to feel like work and over the past 6 months or so, it has at times, felt more like work. But l figure we'll see what happens. I'm not ready to shut the door yet.

That being said, I'd like to share with you one of the greatest conversations I've ever had with my six-year-old son.

Lately he and his younger brother have decided that they are in a band. The little one plays drums on any surface he can find while his big brother plays air guitar and sings.

I had asked them about the name of the band and I was told they're called "The Martians".

Recently, I was privileged enough to sit down to dinner at Islands restaurant with the lead singer and drummer of The Martians. At one point I said to them, "Hey, Daddy has a suggestion that might make the name of your band a little cooler. What if instead of "The Martians," you guys just called yourselves: "Martians."

My son looked up from coloring his menu and replied, "I don't know. Let me see... (talking into a pretend microphone) HELLOOO! WE ARE MARTIANS! ... HELLOOO! WE ARE THE MARTIANS! -- Nope, it's The Martians."

Having efficiently shot Daddy down, he picked up his red crayon and went back to work on the menu.

That adorable little A-hole.

(I would like the record to show that I still firmly believe Martians is the better name (and that Brian from Guster agrees with me). So despite this awesome exchange, maybe the next trip to Islands, you pay for your own hot dog and apple juice.)