Partying with you has been a stone groove.

Hello, *Insert friend's name here*. Its great to have a moment to talk with you. Are you still doing *insert friend's passion here*?

A quick note to let you know about some changes that I'm making in my life. I sincerely wanted to talk with everyone in person (or at least with a personalized email), but you know how _that_ goes. The road to Hell is paved with wishes of keeping in touch with those who are most important to you (or something like that).

Time marches on and I finally realized that its better to give everyone a spamlet than to do nothing at all.

The present:

After 5+ years, I have decided to hang up my "small business owner" chapeau (you know the one with the propeller and fuzzy ear flaps?). It has been quite a ride and has taken me through some of the highest and the lowest points in my life. I have pushed it as much as I reasonably can and I feel in the depths of my soul that it is finally time (perhaps a bit late) to crawl back under my rock and fortify my mental position.

The not too distant future:

I have been accepted as crew on a sailboat which is sailing from the Galápagos, Ecuador to Papeete, Tahiti. The trip starts in late March 2007 and will take me through the Marquesas and down through 6 or so of the Tuomotu islands before arriving about 3 months later. I haven't met the owner of the boat yet, but I have spoken with him on the telephone and met up with someone who knows him well who had nothing but nice things to say. I'm taking a little bit of a leap of faith, but I have a good feeling about it! I better - the boat is 35' long and when we first meet in the Galapagos our first task is to sail 25 days straight without landfall. My main purpose in all of this is gain some perspective on my life and to learn everything I can about blue water sailing. From everything that I have been able to gather so far, this is the perfect opportunity to do both. (Those of you who have braved outings on BOTE with me at the helm know how much I could use some formal sailing knowledge. For anyone who has seen her, the boat that I will be crewing on is a whopping 1.5 times as long and 2 times as wide ;)

The Future:

My plan is to spend some time in Tahiti and weigh my options a bit. I have loose plans to meet some folks in Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro so I will either: hitchhike from Tahiti to New Zealand / Australia and on to Africa; come home for a bit; or head over to do some traveling early, Africana styles. Everything at this point is speculation though so bear with me as I change my mind, aspirations and goals even more so than usual. It will also depend how well I take to Ocean life with 35 feet of runway. I've been going pretty hard for as long as I can remember and if I arrive at port in a straight jacket then obviously some options may be taken away from me. Don't think ill will of me if I am back in the rat race come July :)

Your not too distant future:

Coming to my party in February. Details to come. (It may just turn into going out somewhere for a few drinks, but further to the point above - I am extra-specially flighty these days).

Much love and best wishes for this Boxing Day and beyond. I miss you!

Mike

P.S Those of you who aren't reading this because of the massive holes in my contact database, I apologize. I only hope that I will talk with them soon.