Banned in China!

From time to time, I've wondered about what I want this blog to be.  It started as a place for me to document what was going on with my family.  This helped quell the constant complaint from my mother that and I quote, "I never know what's going on with your family."  This is a falsehood but documenting life in the Den went a long way to tone that lamentation down.

As I look back on the last four-plus years of blogging, I've stayed pretty true to keeping this a personal blog.  Sure, I've waged a mini-war (albeit one-sided) with one particular airline.  I've questioned Mother Nature time and again.  I've shared more than one personal experience, embarrassing or otherwise, that if I had a better filter in my head, I probably wouldn't have shared.  My inability to filter is your gain, people.  You're welcome!

I've never considered commercializing the blog or making it a revenue source. I've hoped that people would read it, get some laughs, and on occasion, walk away from the Den feeling like they've learned something.  Although I think most people rather than learning something, seem to wonder why the stunningly patient and mighty fine SML remains willing to put up with all she does from me. That, my friends, is a whole other post.  In spite of that question, based on the feedback I've gotten from you, I'm doing something right here.

Yesterday, though, the Den garnered what I consider to be its highest compliment yet: BANNED IN CHINA!  What?  Here's what went down - just as Church was winding down, I got a text from a globe-trotting friend of mine, stating the following:

You'll be pleased to know that you have been specifically targeted as a Chinese dissident.  Your blog is blocked in China. ??? What have you done to them?

J, my globe-trotting friend, to answer your question.  I have no idea.  Maybe they didn't like my 'Mitt Antoinette' post, although I doubt that.  I'm thinking this goes back to my first trip to Shanghai several years ago when I served as the host for a business travel management conference.  As I entered the ballroom where the meeting was kicking off on the first morning, it was a sea of flowers, each more beautiful than the next.  And each more fragrant and bent on sending my allergies into hyper-reactive mode.  By the time I took the podium to open the conference, one eye was essentially swollen shut.  The other eye was now acting as an uncontrolled fountain competing with another fountain, my nose.  I was a train wreck.  There was no way I was going to get through my opening speech, let alone the whole conference, with this floral attack zone enveloping me.  

Now I get how important and symbolic flowers are to the Chinese.  As I was giving that opening speech, in the back of my head I was trying to work out how I could talk the conference managers into changing out the flowers without causing an international incident.  In the end, I think my swollen, snot-encrusted visage convinced them that something had to be done about the flowers.  That and whatever they got from the herbalist next to the hotel seemed to do the trick.

So all these years later, is this banning payback for the Great Flower Incident? Who knows? I kind of doubt it but it did make for some excitement here.  I will admit though that the 'dissident' label seems a little harsh, if you ask me.