Monkey Prose is Back On Line!

(Monkey Bob and my granddaughter - Rhiannon)

Hello again! For the last 1+1/2 years, I was not actively involved with Monkey Prose. This was due to a job that consumed almost all of my time - and a number of family crises that took up what little time was left.

But now I am back.

A number of factors motivated me to reactivate this site:

There have been over 28,000 visitors to my site, so a number of people have found some value in it.

The family situation has calmed down, especially since I moved and left no forwarding address.

I have managed to reduce my weekly work schedule down to about 70 hours per week, which leaves just enough extra time to eat, sleep, and write a few words.

I turned 60 last March, which was a major milestone. If you haven't reached this age yet - avoid it. (Changing your birthday to Feb 29 is one way to slow down the process.) Turning 60 doesn't make you feel positive about your body or your chances of paying off long term loans. But the one good thing was - I realized that I'm not going to be around forever. This motivated me to increase the literary legacy that I am leaving for my family.

And finally, I want to make writing my next career after I leave the wonderful world of corporate sales. So in order to become the next Garrison Keillor, I need to hone my craft by writing on a regular basis.

Therefore you can look forward to more pithy prose from Monkey Bob in the near future. I welcome your comments!

Monkey Prose is Mentioned in Wired Magazine

The November 2007 issue of Wired Magazine (page 30) features an excerpt from a Monkey Prose article - Toxic Cloud May Have a Silver Lining. This was a commentary on Creatures From the Black Lagoon by Guy Gugliotta, which appeared in the September 2007 issue of Wired.

The story was about researchers Don and Andrea Stierle, who discovered cancer killing microbes at a toxic waste site in Montana.

This is my first article to be published in print, and it is very exciting! I would like to thank my parents for pushing me to take those "Write for the Internet" classes back in the 1960's. At the time, I didn't see the point, since the World Wide Web wouldn't be invented for another 30 years. But Mom and Pop were visionaries, and they turned out to be right. Go figure!

Now, if I can only get my daughter Britton to invest in those Moon Real Estate Futures, then the family legacy of clairvoyant counseling will have been passed on.

Thank you Wired Magazine for publishing an excerpt from my blog, and for teaching me how to spell "excerpt"!

Monkey Prose Reaches 10,000 Site Visits!

Today Monkey Prose reached 10,000 site visits! Monkey Prose was created in September of 2006.

The original focus of MP was to present information about monkeys, but I have since expanded it to include articles about food, wine, restaurants, movies, music, art, consumer issues, and anything else that I think might be of interest to readers.

I am grateful to:

• My wife Trudi, for just putting up with me, and for offering much encouragement and support. FYI, Trudi just started her own blog - Ginger Snaps - which will cover food, wine, and related topics. Trudi is a phenomenal cook, so I encourage you to visit her blog.

• Aliza Sherman Rizdahl, for writing The Everything Blogging Book - which has become my blogging bible.

• The people at Google for providing excellent customer service.

I never in my wildest dreams thought that Monkey Prose would reach 10,000 site visits. I am most grateful to all of my readers. I will continue my commitment to bring you interesting and humorous articles.

I welcome your comments.

- Monkey Bob

Monkey Prose Reaches 5,000 Site Visits!

Today Monkey Prose reached 5,000 site visits! And that took place in the last 2 months!

I am deeply grateful to all Monkey Prose visitors for your support and encouragement!

In order to thank my readers, I am offering a copy of Jill Greenberg's wonderful book Monkey Portraits to the first 3 visitors (in the US) who respond by e-mail, with an evaluation of my blog. I am looking for both positive and negative (constructive) comments. This feedback will help me to continue to improve the quality and content of Monkey Prose. I am limiting this offer to the US because shipping to other countries would be too expensive. (Sorry Sri Lanka!) However I welcome comments from visitors all over the world.

My e-mail address is Bobsher54@verizon.net. Please be sure to include your complete mailing address, so that I can assure delivery of the book to you.

I will announce the winners in a later post, and will also include their comments.

Thank you again for your support! Please visit Monkey Prose again in the future, because a lot more cool and interesting stuff is coming!

- Monkey Bob