What's so great about being on the World Wide Web? Other than vanity, why would a person maintain a site on the web? I launched WeaverWeb in 1994 mainly to play with html and explore this intoxicating new technology. The original site included a long article I had written about a 1988 trip to the Soviet Union (see "Back in the USSR," at left). The original story made reference to flying across the Murmansk tundra aboard a Mikoyan helicopter. In November 1995, I got e-mail from Russia. It said: "Please notice that [your article] contains a mistake: Mil helicopters are named after Mihail Mil, not Mikoyan. Mikoyan made (and makes) fighter planes." He oughta know. The message was signed "Alexander Mikoyan (mik@wdcb.rssi.ru)." I've also had mail from such places as Australia, Vienna and Nova Scotia about my online opera diary. I received a thoughtful rebuttal to my observations about life in Cambridge, England from an undergraduate there. My community has become worldwide, thanks to the World Wide Web. When I launched this page I said, "I don't know where the web, the net or the cosmos is headed, but I'm certain they're on track to the future. I've always been a storyteller, and I'm convinced the stories of the new millenium will be told digitally." I'm even more convinced of that now. The buttons at the left will take you to a selection of things I've written. They're included here as an introduction -- a way to let you know something about me. Since a big part of this involves making connections, I'd love to hear from you, too. To frustrate the spam-bots, please retype this in standard email form to reach me: hweaver(at)mcclatchy.com. There are a lot of words here, I realize. But, hey, I'm a writer.