A rose by any other name…  Oops! That’s smell not looks.  Well, you get the idea.  This past week and a half have been all about looks.  I feel I have been MIA from my posting duties at OWD and The Gray Dog, because I’ve been on “special assignment.”  And like all assignments, they seem to take on a life of their own.  While this assignment has been about appearances, several of the other dogs and I have scratched beneath the skin and had a look below the surface. 

OWD is an interesting pack.  Most of us have never met each other in person. After all, we not only span the breadth of this great country, but we are global as well. Sure, there are a couple of dogs here and there that may have a more direct bond, but for the most part, this is a group that is only familiar with each other electronically.  No faces or voices, just posts and emails.

As has already been announced and should be obvious to all that come to OWD, there is a new look.  There were many reasons for it to happen, too many to recount in this post.  I know to many it’s just a new ‘picture’ or ‘banner’ and “What’s the big deal?”  I’m not sure I have a satisfying answer for that question. But I found that the process of moving to this ‘new look’ to be profound.

Many of you that go to work today will navigate through a group of colleagues and co-workers, using all of the interpersonal skills you may or may not possess, to accomplish a common goal.  There will be smiles, frowns, personal history, voice inflection and body language that will guide each of you.  You may or may not be content with the outcome of your collective efforts, but you will have had the opportunity to bring all that you are to the process. 

At OWD, things operate a little differently.  There are no smiles, frowns and body language. A perfectly innocuous email remark by one dog may be seen as a grave offense by the next.  Emails that overlap in the ether cause confusion.  And let’s face it; throw a dozen aging veterans at various stages of their journey through middle age and beyond, and you have an elite group of curmudgeons capable of picking fly shit out of pepper.

But that is the allure of being part of the OWD pack.  By circumstance, we must work harder to get along; we have to!  We may paw each other across the snout occasionally, but then we get back to the serious business we are all here to do. It is a bond that grows each day.  It may never approach that which was shared with the comrades we served beside decades ago, but as with all things that pass through time, it is part of what we have and who we are now.

Just one of the dozens of byproducts of this ‘new look’ project, was a little side trip encouraged by our revered blogmeister Bill Faith.  His suggestion was for everyone to submit photos, from both “back in the day” as well as current ones.  After the first ones arrived in my email bucket, I found I was manically racing between the images emitted from my monitor and those reflected in my bathroom mirror.  I guess I wasn’t the first gray dog, just the first to adapt that simplistic sobriquet.  I’m still wondering about picture submissions.

And now, for the totally self-serving, direct from the “Who Give’s a Rat’s Ass” department, I announce yet a new incarnation of The Gray Dog site.  I had been unhappy with the look of the last site from day one.  It was over the top, too ambitious and promised more glitz than substance.  Yes, it was hacked by a group of Turkey nuts, but I was able to fix it.  I thought about staying for the fight, but now I feel confident that I could undo any havoc they might have caused, so I am peremptorily declaring victory on that front.  I also wanted a new image.  One that was more serene and reflective.  I have read from many BLOGGING resources, that the look of your site affects the way you write. I believe that is true.  I also hope that is true.

I tried on Word Press themes the same way my wife tries on clothes at Kohl’s.  Wrong color, wrong size, makes me look dowdy; I swear one theme even made my ass look too big.  I finally found something I liked; then the insecurity set in.  What would you think?  Personally, I think I can withstand the thousands of hate emails and death threats I anticipate.  I just don’t want to burn all of my bandwidth in the process.

But, all seriousness aside, through the digital smoke and mirrors magic of the internet, those that might go to www.thegraydog.us  will still see the old “Freedom is Not Free” video before being directed to the new site.  For those that book marked the more direct www.thegraydog.us/nuke URL, you will still avoid the video and be directed to the new site.  For the rest of you, please take a gander by going directly to www.thegraydog.org I would greatly appreciate you comments, suggestions and ideas on the new look at both OWD and TGD. 

My attitude about The Gray Dog site is that, it is a satellite to OWD.  Its fun to run with the pack, but occasionally you need to go home.  My site will mostly contain the same posts as OWD, but will occasionally delve into issues that are more parochial.  I won’t post every day, but I will attempt to make the site’s Picture of the Day, truly be a picture each day.  As with OWD, there is a new banner image.  OWD’s is more evocative and courageous, while The Gray Dog is more calm, soothing and reflective.  I hope that my prose will live up to the images at each site.

Contributed by The Gray Dog on September 25, 2006 at 01:19 AM in The Gray Dog | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: Bill Faith

It's interesting how even a brief phone call can change one's perceptions. I try to spend as little time on the phone as possible due to hearing and lung problem, but I've had one phone conversation with George and, more recently, a brief conversation with Zero. Neither sounds at all like I expected. I probably don't either.

Posted by: Bill Faith | Sep 25, 2006 12:28:23 PM

Posted by: ponsdorf

site looks great, was gonna comment there but didn't feel like registering.

Posted by: ponsdorf | Sep 25, 2006 3:51:44 PM

Posted by: Rurik

The new site looks really, really good. And for anybody else who goes there, its worth your while - do check out some of the archival posts. I found a couple of great posts from 2004 that are still worth the trip. Gray Dog obviously learned to write before he arrived here.

Posted by: Rurik | Sep 25, 2006 8:42:20 PM