DEC. 21:Working full time as a content engineering consultant for Chicago-based tech company e-Me Ventures. This means splitting time between Charleston, Oak Park and Cedar Rapids, where e-Me is helping Gazette Communications build an innovative semantic publishing tool.

Thanks for stopping by, and here's your quick orientation: I'm a cartoonist who became a cavalry sergeant who became a newspaper editor who became a novelist who became a Web geek. I also do video.

If that sounds tough to fit on a business card, consider this: I'm best known in some circles as an expert on new media and online news business models. Go figure.

But here's what I really want get across: When you strip away the externals, I'm a basically competent, compulsively creative person who enjoys making things happen. And while I'm not usually a pushover, acting like a decent human being is important to me.

Nice to meet you.