As of late, it should have become clear to any visitor to this site that, as an enterprise bearing the word "fresh," in any of that word's many meanings, this site is an utter failure. It is apparent to even the occasional visitor that the site's "freshness" has long since turned distinctly stale.

That said, we here at How Fresh Is This Guy pride ourselves in what we call creative value maximization, and if our site is now a failure according to the (rather arbitrary) criterion of "freshness," then, by Jove, it is obvious that we must change the standard according to which the site -- by its own terms -- is measured. As you soon will surely see, dear reader, viewed from the proper perspective, our little endeavor could not be a greater success. Herewith, the mission statement of our new site, How Fresh Was This Guy In 1999:

Consistency
Rather than scrambling breathlessly to keep up with events in the world of freshness, going forward, HFWTG1999 shall remain steadfastly, comfortingly the same. Many websites these days change their content so often that their readers hardly know what to expect when they enter the URL into their browsers. Not so here; we hereby pledge not to stray from the high-quality product that our viewers have come to know and love so well, namely this site, as it was when it ceased to be updated, sometime in 2001.

Mystery
To those who would think that our commitment to consistency might come at the expense of excitement, we say that they could not be more wrong. A visit to HFWTG1999 is a trip into a world of many mysteries. Who built the site, and why? Why was it suddenly abandoned in the year 2001 or so? What links still function, and what others lead nowhere, leaving only the image of Freshness Past, preserved indefinitely? Viewers can check back regularly to see if more links have become broken in the interim.

Nostalgia
The outside world is always changing -- sometimes in complex and even frightening ways. But here at HFWTG1999, you can always return to that unique period in American history at the end of Twentieth Century between the date of the site's founding, in late 1999, and its mysterious abandonment, in early 2001.

Philosophy
Hard as we try to ensure that the site remains the same, does it really? Is it not, in fact, a different site -- located in a different historical moment -- each time it is viewed? Is it possible, to paraphrase Heraklitus, to visit the "same" site twice?

Zen
"If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all." -- John Cage, Silence: Lectures and Writings by John Cage, Wesleyan University Press, 1973.

All of us here at HFWTG1999 wish you many years of continued pleasure at our site, and in all of your endeavors.

Warmly,
Mr. I. Ron Blanco Proprietor, How Fresh Is This Guy, Ltd.