I am usually not a procrastinator… really. I’m not. I am, in most situations and instances a get’r done kind of girl… a jump in with both feet and figure it out later, drop from the frying pan into the fire kind of lady. I mean it… I can tie my shoe and keep walking at the same time!

Not really - you try it… Hurts the chin.

Seriously though, I do think I am more than halfway intelligent and have experienced enough not to be ‘thrown’ too much by anything. That said, this web stuff has had me really freaked out for a good 3 years!

I have had this idea, this website, this URL even, burning a hole in my head for literally 3 years. I have ruminated over it, designed it, and written it all in my head. I have made imaginary changes, and even spent imaginary money that I made with this thing! I even kept the URL a secret (but for a few of course) throughout this whole time!

Yet three years later here is my first post.

OK - some life stuff interferred, but truly it was the information. The immense amount of information regarding niches, and webstats, and design, not to metion HTML! Then, I waited so long there was xHTML, and CSS, and PHP… OhMyGawd!

One day, and I am sure it was one. very. bad. day. at work, I decided I was going to DO something… I was going to BUILD something… I was going to BE something far more than an employee.

I came home and decided to register my domain name and be done with all those little people…

I live in Phoenix (Mars for sure - but it’s a good Mars) - after having come up with this idea in Seattle - (Earth compared to Mars - but too rainy). It was early July. I went to Register.com and typed in my URL with (I am sure) vengeful purpose.

Um… Really? No. Really? Someone had my URL! I had kept it secret. I had horded that thing! How could anyone have my URL? So of course, the next thing I do is go to the website… WHAT? Not only did they have my URL but they had my idea. Hmmm, sounds a little too serendipitous to be true. I mean - I have heard of twins having the same thoughts, but I am pretty sure that if this guy and I are related, he is a brother of another mother.

OHMYGAWD. I am furious!

So then I go to Whois to find out where the leak was… and y’know what? It’s some guy up in my old Seattle neighborhood, with a fake address and the last name… you won’t believe it… of Butts.

OK… but there is hope… his (MY) domain name expires on July 30th, 2008! Everyday it’s all I can do but hope and pray that Butts blows it and forgets. I mean, the guy has ONE friggin page on the site. It’s static. The idea is mine but it’s all just a little off. Like he was drinking when I was telling him about it. Or I was. Crap!

I try not to think about it but it’s an obsession. I called him once but it was a weird phone message so I hung up. I didn’t know what to say to him anyway.

‘Hey, Jerk, you stole my website idea and the URL that I thought of.’

I can hear it now. ‘$5,000 and you can have it.’

I would have blown my lid, flown to Seattle, and scratched his eyes out. so… no… don’t think I would like prison.

So on July 30th I check and it’s just waiting for me to Skype. On July 31st… I wait until midnight… biting nails the whole way…

He re-upped the URL. On the very last day in the very last moment, he paid his fee and got it for another year! HIS EMAIL LINK STILL DOESN’T EVEN WORK! The domain spells out ‘Doctor’ instead of ‘Dr’. I didn’t want Dr, because DRITUP looks like Drit up. What is ‘Drit up’ for Gods sake?

But Y’know… in the end, I have to thank him. In the last two and a half months I have made so much progress because of him! He will never do anything with it. He has had it 15 months and hasn’t done anything with it. So in the end, I am the winner and after having typed in dritup.com so many times, I think I actually like it better.

Thank you Mr. Butts.

Sincerely,

Shannon