
Celestial Reviews 310
Celestial Apology ­ November 14, 1998

I have been experiencing extreme computer problems recently.

The fact that they are my own damned fault doesn't make them any easier to
bear.

I accidentally erased numerous files when I tried to follow an Apple guru's
advice to recover from a system crash.  In terms of this newsgroup, that means
I lost Celestial Reviews 310 (which I had already written for the end of
October), as well as a Special Halloween Issue that I had already completed.
It also means that I have lost almost all the stories I had stored on my hard
drive, the database in which I had storied all my information about the
stories, and my notes on the Top 100 stories for 1998.  I simply cannot work
without at least partially reconstructing these resources.

And that's not the worst of it.  I also accidentally erased huge amounts of
information that is important to me in my real life.  I have to give priority
to recovering or reconstructing that information.

It does no good to tell me that I should have been more careful.  I had
backups, but those backups were corrupted; and the good backups are from
several months ago.

I had hoped to get back to Celestial Reviews after a short hiatus, but I have
put it off too long.  I just can't find the time.  It will be better if I just
give up for now ­ with the promise that I may return when things get better.

I apologize for my sudden departure. I apologize especially to people who sent
me stories that I have failed to review and to the reviewers whose reviews
disappeared in my most recent crash.  There's not much else I can say.

I'll take just a few minutes to put things in perspective.

I have enjoyed my work with alt.sex.stories.  I am not quitting because I am
mad at anyone.  I am simply overwhelmed with my problems, and working on my
reviews would be MORE WORK, rather than the fun it has been up till recently.

Let me emphasize that these problems are THING problems, not people problems.
My family and friend relationships are as strong as ever. When I bemoan my
fate, I realize how lucky I am compared to so many other people.

I think maybe I have served my purpose for alt.sex.stories.  The quality of
stories really DID improve during the three years I wrote the reviews.
Certainly that's mostly because of the hard work of the authors (and of the
other reviewers and of the people who applied the Blowjob Principle).
However, I think I helped out at least a little.
 
My reviews are still in the archives, and I hope you continue to use them.  

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to thank the many people whom I have
come to know as friends on this newsgroup.  Whether you have dropped me an
occasional note, served as a proofreader or guest reviewer, collected links or
helped archive my reviews, tracked down a story for me, writing a story that I
enjoyed ­ I have really enjoyed knowing you and working with you.

I really don't know if or when I'll be back.

Goodbye for now.

- Celeste
