January Update
January 12, 2025
Aloha folks!
So the good news is, we are finally on Oahu, and we're all in one piece! The bad news is that we've spent the first week on island fighting COVID-19. We are very grateful that while we have been feeling pretty miserable, so far there've been no serious complications for us, and we're all on the upswing now. But today is the first time in about a week that I've been able to string some semblance of coherent thoughts together.
This is also the latest hit in a series of events in the past two months that have put me behind schedule on the February issue. I won't bore you with all the details, but these events include moving all of our things out of our old house and putting it on the market; broken appliances and unexpected leaks; at least one member (sometimes more) of our family sick in some way for most of the month of December; and the unfortunate news that the military housing we had expected to be available has a waitlist of 4-6 months, which lead to an unanticipated housing search in Hawaii's highly competitive market.
I am hopeful (knock on wood!) that things have mostly stabilized for the time being, and that I can get things back on track this week. If things go smoothly, I think we'll minimize the damage and only be 2 weeks behind schedule getting this issue to the printers. We usually try to get it to the printer's by the first of the month, so now we're aiming for Feb. 14 - Valentine's Day.
Thanks for all your patience and support! I'll keep you posted if anything changes in the meantime!
Back Issues
I will have back issues for sale through the website soon.
The DPN Archives
Originally digitized by former editor Dan Landrum, the DPN Archives are now hosted by the Internet Archive at archive.org!
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with an ambitious mission: to provide universal access to all knowledge -- the books, magazines, web pages, audio, television and software of our shared human culture. They provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, people with print disabilities, and the general public.
You can also find links to individual issues by clicking “Archives” in the menu, or visiting dpnews.com/archives.
Digital DPN
First things first - don’t worry! The print edition of the magazine is not going anywhere!!
But we are working diligently to produce an online, digital version of Dulcimer Players News. This version will be much more than a PDF replica of the print magazine. I am trying to balance rolling it out as soon as possible with getting things right the first time. I want to avoid introducing any major changes shortly after going “live.”
My hope is that a digital version of DPN will make not only the magazine, but also dulcimers in general, more accessible to different audiences. For example, Google Chrome can automatically translate live text, so international players can read the articles, too, and text to voice tools can help the visually impaired get the most out of the magazine. Finally, without the added costs of print production, a digital-only subscription will be a more affordable option.
We have just begun testing the new platform. If you are interested in checking it out and giving feedback as we work out the gremlins, please email me at editor@dpnews.com. I’m looking for input from both tech-savvy and tech-not-so-savvy readers!
