Thus I will not ask you to renew your subscription fees until the next issue, volume 31. But as we embark on another year of Archipelago, I now ask each of you to renew your resolve. Consider carefully whether you have the time and energy to continue as a member of this group. Will you be able to return your packets within, say, a month of the deadline? If not, please let me know and you can withdraw from the group with no hard feelings.

Contributions to this issue were due November 8th, and as you'll recall I asked for packets no later than Thanksgiving. The first packets began to arrive in December. As I write this I have yet to receive packets from three members (Roger is on his way over this afternoon) and yet two other members have already called to ask why I haven't sent out this issue.

I recognize that sometimes events conspire to make it all but impossible to crank out a full set of new cards. But if you are too busy to write a single Hello Card or even to just return the unmodified disks in the pre-stamped mailer then you are too busy to remain in this group.

I hope all of you will decide that Archipelago is important enough to justify a few hours a month. I think the group we have now is just right and I hope we can all stay together for many years to come. But at the rate we're going Archipelago will soon grind to a complete halt. So if you decide to stay you've simply got to find a way of getting your procrastination under control.

As for me, I hereby renew my resolve to keep receiving and processing voice cards for as long as other people are willing to send them. My life is now much busier than it once was and Archipelago is a considerable drain on my time, 30 or 40 hours per issue. But, as I hoped it would, Archipelago has become more and more rewarding as the years accumulate. And I am full of new ideas for the issues ahead.

Here's to a lively new year!