…and by that, I don’t mean Blagojevich! The title of my blog is a play on the word “blog,” obviously, but also on Blagojevich’s name because the guy, as many of you know, lived down the street when I started this blog. We’ve since moved but he still lives down the street — just a different one. And I live in Chicago (well, duh). Hence, “bloggo chicago.”

I would like to make it clear to the public that I did not pay anyone for use of the title.

This blog is not corrupt unless some fucking hackers have managed to infiltrate the server or whatever, because I occasionally get spam comments on old posts, on which commenting has been closed. I’ve also been getting spam users registering; apparently they just love my blog. Fuckers. They’re so obvious.

*cough* Anyways, I’ve had two relapses since August but my condition is improving, which also means I’ve been busy trying to get better, trying to spend less time online. But I miss the blog and I’m trying to find a way to manage reading your blogs again. Admittedly, Twitter is so much easier than blogging. And there’s still Crackbook. I’ve suddenly had an influx of friends and it’s hard to catch up with everyone. Etc., etc.

So here’s an overview of what’s been going on in the past month, and I may expand on them later: Brian’s paternal grandma suddenly passed away in the beginning of November; one cat was diagnosed with heart disease; another cat ate a frickin’ lily and had to be rushed to the animal ER — all of which happened in the span of a week: election week, during which I had the stomach flu! Early voting is a wonderful thing.

As for the blog itself, I’ve decided to shamelessly use Amazon Associates links for past and future book, DVD, etc. reviews. Don’t like it? Don’t read it. Still working on cutting down categories but using tags. Maybe I’ll go ahead and add the tag widget soon, even if it isn’t complete. What the hell.

Here’s a shout-out to one of my oldest blog friends, who lit the fire under my ass to get this thing going again. Hi, April!

…my blog needs a serious overhaul. Since I first started bloggo chicago, it’s grown and evolved, just as I have. However, there are way too many categories so I’m going to need to get rid of some and combine others.

I probably won’t post as often, either, so I’m trying to figure out how to get the Sideblog set up. This also means that I probably won’t be reading blogs very much (not that I have been) because I’ve decided that I need to spend more time on my own writing. Since my Blogroll got screwed up way back when as some of you know, I’m starting it over. The blogs that I’ll add to the list will be from The Regulars; that is, the folks who have stuck by me through thick and thin and regularly comment. It’ll be on its own page.

Um, that is all. For now.

I haven’t been visiting as many blogs as usual because as most of you know, I was in the hospital two weeks ago and last week I had three outpatient ECT treatments. This has been the first week I’ve had to myself and it has NOT been a good one.

I’ve felt irritable, anxious, and easily agitated. Well, it is PMS week, so that could be it. I’ll write more about my physical problems in another post.

Anway, logging onto Bloglines and finding several hundred updated blogs very nearly caused me to have an anxiety attack. Seriously, Bloglines is bad for my mental health. Big time.

So what I’ve decided to do is read five or ten different blogs a day. There are so many great bloggers out there! But it’s hard for me to keep up. I think what I’ll do, too, is visit the people who most recently left comments and those whose links appear on my Dashboard (a WP thing).

Finally, I’ve also been taking time, or rather, it’s been taking me time to revamp my blog. You may have noticed that some of the sidebar headers now have the show/hide feature. This, of course, means that I can add even more crap to my sidebars! :d Big thanks to Danalyn at Weblog Design Studios for implementing this for me. (y)

Meanwhile, and I’m not sure how, I discovered this great new site called MyBlogLog — take a look at the widgets in my sidebar. It’s cool to see who’s visited, but it’s also cool to see what your outgoing links are. Someone clicked on that picture of Brian! Anyway, go sign up. Now! And be sure to join my community. Just click the button!

There’s more blog goodies I’d like to share, but I promised to write that physical health post, and I need to leave

I also finally got around to creating my Goodies For You! page that contains banners and buttons that again, Danalyn made for me. The best part? You can hotlink to them and I’ve provided the tags and everything! Have fun!

I’d been using the 2.0 version of the More Smilies Plugin, and apparently, it updated to a 2.1 version. I thought I downloaded it and uploaded it via FTP correctly, but it doesn’t even appear on my Plugins page. As a result, there are no smilies to be had, and all the old ones now look weird, like this: (b) for the beer stein one, or (c) for the coffee cup. Please bear with me as I try to get this shit fixed. I don’t even know why I bother.

edit, Tue., 1/30/07: looks like my rockin’ host, WebbleYou, got this working for me again–yay!!!!! I (l) WebbleYou!

After a month (at least) of not going to the gym, I finally went back today. Brian has been working out a few days out of the week, or at least playing basketball. I’m still playing hockey and have gone to public skate a few times with some of my teammates.

The depression has made doing anything really tough, so I’m glad that I finally went. We didn’t go first thing in the morning, which is my preference, but at least I did it.

I just did a 30-minute cardio work-out and some stretching instead of 20 minutes of cardio, lifting, and stretching, which is what we usually do on Sundays. I figure it was enough that I actually went.

See more progress on: Lose 20 pounds

Went to Target today; they had the SW LEGO sets I wanted! Made a deal with Brian–bought all three I’ve waited so long for, but can only open the extremely cool LEGO Star Destroyer that counts as a combo belated birthday/Christmas present, so we can return the other two (B-wing, which I swear is going to be retired soon, and Imperial Landing Craft) in case we need the money. Also means I have to get off my butt and sell the unopened, non-SW LEGO sets I’ve been meaning to list on e(vil)-Bay. All retired, though, so I should make a profit. When I make the money back, then I get to open them.

Been meaning to upload holiday and scrimmage pics. Trying to create and maintain a hockey blog here. Trying to fix old, old blog posts nobody reads except for the few SW fans that visit the bloggo and to get rid of the lame Amazon Associates links. Plus, I can track my moods and stuff in the archives.

Been meaning to do a lot of things like respond to comments and visit your blogs, but haven’t. Guess that’s why I feel so overwhelmed. Like Charred said in a recent comment, “Inhale. Exhale. Repeat as necessary.” And place one foot in front of the other. Thanks for sticking by me through this rough period.