You know, I have had this website since the spring of 1999, when my good friend Ryan taught me how to write HTML code, how to upload pictures, and how to get a free website from Geocities. Back then I didn't have a name for the site, but Ryan had done one about his car, which he used to race at different events around the state. But he and I had been talking about abandoned buildings and interesting off-limits places, and particularly how we had direct access to the steam tunnels under Ohio State University. They were being talked about on campus at that time because of the attention given to a website called Under OSU: The university had discovered someone's collection of pictures and information about the legendary network of utility tunnels just beneath the streets and sidewalks, connecting all the buildings and synchronizing the clocks, as well as providing a convenient place to lay fiber optic wires for what was then a relatively new internet system.

Columbus's The Other Paper did a story about the controversy; at that time it was still a strange new concept, a website about something. I don't think the media or the general public had yet grasped just how mundane a website is; there was something eerie and omniscient about this "internet" (a word which some spell checkers still try to make you capitalize). And if the movie Tron taught us anything, it's that computers can suck you in and force you to fight to the death with throwing discs.

So the story ran about OSU's efforts to have this student's website taken down. They didn't succeed, and then they stopped trying, but it had given the kid with the site plenty of attention, including a couple of interviews with John Ruch of The Other Paper.

Ryan and I observed this from our jobs as student Operations employees at the Ohio Union, OSU's main student union. Since there was often a ton of downtime at the Union, you got to know everyone, had a lot of conversations, and spent time exploring, if you were any fun at all. One of the first things I learned was that Ryan was absolutely great; he's just one of those awesome people you run across from time to time who you know you want to be friends with right off the bat. I'm sure you know what I mean. Ryan is witty and brilliant, sarcastic and hilarious, adventurous and fun, just the coolest guy you'd ever want to meet. He still is.

It's to him I owe whatever success Forgotten Ohio has had, which I measure in the number of people who view it and enjoy it, especially when they write to tell me so.

Right now you'd be forgiven for thinking that Forgotten Ohio was forgotten, but that's very far from the truth. Although I've done several updates with the excellent digital camera a generous friend let me have, I still have many, many rolls of 35mm film which need developing. If anyone would like to do me and the website a huge favor, I have four words for you: Cord Camera Gift Cards. But of course I'm not asking for charity. I'm hoping that somebody might want to help me do updates like I used to do. I have a perfectly road-worthy car and now I can begin doing updates like I used to, but first I must develop some film, for sure.

But I do not yet have my photographs of the pre-demolition Columbus Coated Fabrics warehouse complex, and that is a genuine shame. I should have had this up a year ago. Currently a drive up North Grant Avenue from Fifth will offer you some version of this charming sight:

Jude writes about writing, though not as much about her own as I'd like. Every conversation I've had with her on the subject has been superbly enlightening.

But here, on the Fruitcake Files, she has chosen to write on something she knows an awful lot about: literature. Specifically, young adult and children's literature. Like any knowledgable person who writes well, the site goes off on tangents and in some ways that makes it the most fun. It's one of those pages you go to seeking information of a certain kind but come away with much more than you intended. So obviously, there's more here than might seem to meet the eye. Movies, music, writing (about drama and more), the Beatles--all here, plus plenty more, all composed in a manner that manages to cohere around a truly interesting central theme.

And that's what's cool about the Fruitcake Files: it introduces you to writing you'd never, under other circumstances, even have heard of. I'll bet you find something there to enjoy.

PS. If you'll be good enough to check the Fruitcake Files out, please do me a favor and become a Follower of the blog. It would mean a lot to Jude, my girlfriend, and me--and it's not like you'll regret it. It really is a neat site, and a good read. Once you click and become a Follower, make some comments of your own. I've found it's a great place to start a discussion with intelligent people who share the interests common to a lot of intelligent people. And like I said, it's fun. Thank you.