Gephyrophillia | Watch This Space #109

Originally Posted on 03/15/2004 by Jeff Harris

Let me be honest. I don't want to seem like I'm making a speech or anything, grandstanding and talking at you, but rather, let me speak to you.

For almost six years in its various incarnations, I've been trying to entertain, enlighten, and inform you guys and gals here at The X Bridge. For years, I've been promoting and supporting the Toonami block since I launched the site on that warm July evening back in '98. I still support it, whether those that make it care or not. I've also tried to incorporate certain beliefs I have accumulated over the years in the articles and commentaries I tend to write around here without forcing them on to you. Some tend to learn a lot while others tend to ignore my beliefs, writing them off as rantings of an old man trapped in an idealized world in his mind. I've seen trends come and go as well as looked forward to the next big thing before people even knew they were going to be big.

Okay, that may be stretching it. Though I can't remember seeing other websites aside from those dedicated to particular older shows talking about their fondness to bring back certain properties to the airwaves in any form, either in its original form or in a newer form.

I've seen executives rise and fall, and I've seen creators come from obscurity to the heights of superstardom. I've complimented and criticized them all, though admittedly, I've been a lot more complimentary than criticizing. And to those that have been criticized by me, I never met to be vile or mean. Chances are, if someone's criticized on this site, they probably deserved it. I could name a couple of folks that definitely deserved criticism, but I want to be nice. It's funny that those I criticized would try their darnedest to find ill-will with me for basically utilizing my constitutional right to make a point without being scorned for doing so. Some have learned from criticism and have dome better in the minds of a lot of folks. Some haven't. That's the way of the world.

The reason why I'm writing this column today is because I'm frustrated. I've reached a point where I've become frustrated with this site. It's not that I want to end it altogether, because that's just silly. I LOVE this site. I LOVE the fans of the site. I LOVE the fact that I have several brothers-at-arms as well as an ever-so-gracious host that would watch my back and support me in every endeavor I do. I'm just frustrated that in all these years online, I'm still stuck in the same place I'm in. I'm basically doing the same thing I was doing in 1998. As hard as I work, I'm still doing a site that seems more like a job while others are doing things worth checking out, contributing greatly to the entertainment world. I'm not jealous or anything, because those guys and gals deserve to have fun doing what they doing. I've reached a point in my life that I feel that something is missing in my life, that I'm not reaching my fullest potential. That's partially why I had the two-week hiatus. I needed to reevaluate my site and myself. I've taken many roads in life that has lead me in different directions, but I know there are roads that I haven't traveled, let alone seen on a map. I just need to have patience to realize what's next.

*end transmission*

Jeff Harris,
The X Bridge Creator/Webmaster
March 15, 2004