OK. OK. This is going to sound like a commercial message for my webmistress Julie Wolpers, and, well, it is. But at the same time, it's an acknowledgment of how much actual fun it can be to work with someone like Julie - someone knowledgable, skilled, interested, imaginative, sensitive, gifted.

Julie just worked her virtual magic on this weblog, giving form to this often questionable substance. And it was fun for her. Fun to learn about the technology. Fun to make something more beautiful and more functional. Fun for her to learn about the ins and outs of designing with Blogger so she had one more tool for her clients. Fun for her to help me so I had one more avenue open for the fun-seeking few. Fun for us to discuss the design and how we could make it more fun.

I've never met Julie. She lives in Poplar Bluff, Missouri and I live in Redondo Beach, CA. Our entire working relationship of several years has been conducted through email and telephone. And we've managed to keep it productive and fun and somehow grown closer than you'd think possible.

All of which demonstrates how, given the right people, the fun/work dichotomy isn't.