After a hard day at work, I like a nice, furry bunny taco.

Original photo gallery available at: chron.com.

Been absent through much of March so far–really much of 2009–from the site. At the risk of going too deep with the details, I’ll be brief. Essentially, there was an intersection of twin culprits: one professional, one act of God.

Least important crisis first. The act of God. Basically, the point came where I could no longer trust the hard drive on my primary PC. Normally that would work out to about one day of down time to get everything humming again.

But these are not normal times. And the computer formerly known as Electra is no normal computer.

By any definition Electra is an ancient machine. Like seven in people years, which translate to about nineteen in terms of technology. When Electra was “born” in 2002, nearly all of the components, minus the hard drive, were cast off parts from other machines in a buddy’s basement. This means the machine is really much older.

Some have called the machine ghetto because of its ragged exterior ( which includes masking tape and exposed metal edges ) but to me what always mattered most was consistency. When the power button was pressed, the machine worked.

Until it didn’t.

Anyway, after a full reload on a new hard drive, all is lovely again. In some ways I’m happier with the box than years previous because it’s such an economical and–dare I say–elegant arrangement. The only software on the machine are tools necessary for writing and periodic maintenance. Absolute opposite of clutter. Plus the price was right. Forty-nine bucks for a new drive and some labor. The difficulty came when searching for a single block of time.

The more pertinent cause for the spotty updates stems from an intense period of professional reflection. Between the time I started pitching The Last Track and now, the marketplace changed drastically. Publishing moves in cycles like most other business, ebbing and flowing with the tides of the global economy. What is considered an acceptable risk these days has changed a great deal. Witness the recent string of celebrity book deals and memoirs.

Also the technology changed, too. Just two years ago, Kindle was a press release for a yet-to-be-released product. Now there’s more than 500,000 readers and 230,000 titles available. Fujitsu launched an e-reader product, as did Sony. Lots more will follow.

These two game changing landscapes–and other realities–have prompted a reconsideration of one of my most tightly held beliefs about writing and publishing.

While I was plotting a new course, I thought it was best to keep quiet until I had the pieces lined up on a map of continents that seemed to shift daily. This pause gave me the space I needed to really consider if I wanted to be daring, or just write about being daring.

Because what’s going down in June is a good thing, and big departure. As that month draws closer, I’ll be more specific.