New name, fresh start

I'm back.

My apologies to those who accepted my invitation last fall to check out this space, only to find nothing posted here for nearly five months. I'll try not to let the blog go unattended for so long in the future.

The first post of 2005 is as good a time as any to introduce the blog's new name, which may require some explanation. Fans of SpongeBob SquarePants may recall "the open-window maniac" from the episode "Hall Monitor." Without fail, I always break up during the scene in which the vigilante title character, wearing a ski mask, bursts into a couple's dining room during their meal and shrieks: "I'm the open-window maniac!" If you haven't seen this episode, trust me, it's hilarious. I guess I picture myself as an "open-window maniac." I'm "on patrol," if you will.

Later.