On blogging, comments, links, and all that-some straight shootin'!

Having indulged in traveling through the web and blogosphere more and more intensely the past few years, and while slowly and methodically preparing for a-hopefully soon-website launch, yours truly decided to try his amateur hand at blogging. Thus was born this blog, which hopefully will not be taken as a work of vanity, but as a work of preservation and education, and, yes, a labor of love-love of family, friends, a time, a place...no doubt the reader understands where this is going.

When listening to Humberto Fontova's talk at the Miami Book Fair last Saturday, I realized how much "on the money" he was when he said that, and forgive the paraphrasing as my powers of recollection are not perfect, "he wrote 'Fidel-Hollywood's Favorite Tyrant' in English, because the Cubans already know this guy but there are a lot of Americans yet to be educated about him." At first I had thoughts of doing this blog in Spanish, but also realize that there are a lot of folks out there in the English-speaking world that should be educated a little bit about the Cuba that was, so they can understand there is or was another Cuba besides the one the grouchy old guy with the beard and his mouthpieces promote. People should have a chance to see what Cuba was before it was taken under "new (mis)management." It was a country with problems, but also full of potential and possibility. The problems could have been fixed in such a way that the end results would have promoted the common good. Instead, groucho-marxist came along and decided to destroy the village in order to save it.

Another thing to be made perfectly clear: this is not about the Quirogas. It is about our beloved La Habana. Therefore, contributions to this blog about the Havana of those times are greatly appreciated, and will receive proper attribution. Help us preserve memories of a great city and its good people. Our city wasn't perfect; we weren't perfect. Still, if we're going to talk about flaws...help us show what La Habana was, before el maximo loon-atic wrecked it. Another of his many crimes.

Regarding comments: they are most welcome and appreciated, and will be posted. However, to put it bluntly, as I commented on another blog, "sinister-leaning trolls and their fellow-traveler fungi" need not apply. In this great country, a man's home is his castle, a man's blog is his cybercastle. Therefore, the master of the castle/cybercastle decides who is a welcome guest, and who is not. When the fashion of putting up those silly signs which read "Fidel, esta es tu casa" started in 1959, the Quirogas bucked that tide and refused to soil the walls of our home with such pseudo-revolutionary drivel. Grouchy wasn't welcome in nuestra casa, and it certainly was not his casa. And, by the same principle, this ain't his blog, nor is it his fawning followers'. So, ye who think you can use this as a forum to apologize for and/or defend a grouchy old guy who thinks he knows everything-abandon ye all hope! As for links, the ones listed are the ones to sites we like and admire. No apologies are made for our choices, and none are required. Visit them, or not.

In the end, our goal is simple:

We aim to please.

And Happy Thanks-to-God-Giving!