Merry Christmas to All My Friends

I'll be doing very little blogging today; maybe this evening I will post a couple of thoughts, but I'm going to concentrate on family and friends until then.

Speaking of which, I'd like to send out a very Merry Christmas to all of my blogosphere friends. I'm going to mention a few who made my first few blog-months special (if I don't mention you, it's because I'm under the evil influence of Christmas carols):

* Alicia at Twilight Café started blogging at the same time as I did, left the first comment and linked to me first, and designed my logo. She's a special blog friend, and I hope you all take the time to check out her blog over the holidays.

* Hugh Hewitt gave me a tremendous boost in readership and in confidence in what I've been doing, and I can't express how much I appreciate it. Appearing on his radio show as a guest was one of the highlights of my entire year. Merry Christmas and thanks!

* The guys at Power Line have also been tremendously supportive, frequently linking back to me with glowing descriptions of my writing. (The check's in the mail, gentlemen ...) The Big Trunk has especially been so, going way out of his way to make sure I was ready for that radio appearance.

* The Northern Fleet, my blog-neighbors in the Upper Midwest, have great sites and great insight. The folks at Fraters Libertas have a great sense of humor, and it's been fun skewering them and being skewered in return. (I know that sounds R-rated, but get your minds out of the gutter, it's Christmas.)

* I have three regular correspondents (besides Alicia) both within and outside comments sections: Jon at QandO, Brant at SWLiP, and the Commissar at Politburo Diktat. Merry Christmas, guys, and thanks for all of your encouragement.

Last and foremost, more members of my family and friends are reading my blog these days, so I'd like to wish all of them a Merry Christmas, long-distance, and tell them all that we miss and love them. We wish you were here to have a white Christmas with us, but we'll be sending pictures and posting some here.

Now that you have read this post, read the most recent entries at the new Captain's Quarters at http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/!