The Years Of The Kat

goodhunting

This is a memorial post for Krazy.com, a domain that I registered in February of 1995, back when Network Solutions was the only domain registrar and the annual registration fee was $0. I had recently closed my computer bulletin board system, which was called the Coconino County BBS, after the home of George Herriman‘s classic comic character, Krazy Kat. In it’s place, I put up a web site that grew to be the most complete and best known source of information on the now somewhat obscure, but dearly loved early 20th century newspaper strip about a Kat, named Krazy, who loved a Mouse, named Ignatz. This Ignatz found Krazy quite silly, and showed his disdain by throwing bricks at his/her head (Krazy’s gender was never identified). Offisa Pup, the local Kanine Konstable, who was in love with Krazy, arrested Ignatz every time he caught the mouse in the act. And all of this action took place against a surreally fluid landscape of mesas, monuments and moons inspired by Herriman’s love for eastern Arizona Navajo country, with it’s painted desert and monument valley.

pupslept
As my nptech crowd knows, I just got too busy over the years with other things to properly grow and manage this web site. As much as I love Krazy Kat (and my son’s middle name is Ignatz, no lie!), I have to prioritize my current pursuits. I am blessed with the opportunity to do meaningful work at Earthjustice, to blog, and to help out the nonprofit community where and when I can, as a board member at Idealware, a contributor to Techsoup, and a steadfast supporter of NTEN. There are only so many hours in a day.

Krazy.com had the distinction of being a short, catchy, .com domain name, which means that it’s sale value ain’t hay, and, while my life’s pursuits are pretty rich, I’m not. I got an offer that matched what the domain is professionally valued at, and I couldn’t afford to turn it down. It’s a melancholy moment — one of those decisions that isn’t difficult to make, but is sad all of the same, like trading in a beloved car that will cost too much to keep running.

In the more than 15 years that Krazy.com got steady traffic, from visitors that included Herriman’s great grand-daughter and Krazy Kat book cover artist Chris Ware, I built my career, got married, had a child, built a house, and lived a life that continues to be happy and rewarding. Krazy Kat is fond of singing “There is a heppy lend, fur, fur away”. My heppy lend is right here, and I’m sorry that I have to move away from my beloved Coconino County.

PLAQUE

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