Update, 6/5/06: I've just heard by e-mail that Rhodester has taken the post down... it must have been intended to temporarily serve as a "Work In Progress" sign. So with the post down, the comments are down, and so is the story. You'll just have to trust me on this one... it was short, sweet, funny and a whole lot of fun to read. So what are you doing wasting time here, anyway? Go read Dave Rhodes.

Dave Rhodes is redesigning his blog; working on a film noir look, and he's asking for reader input.

The other day he gave us a glimpse of a work in progress, his new banner. I'm not going to post a link to the banner itself, I want you to go read the whole post and click on the link there to look at the banner.

In short, I think the banner is AWESOME.

I liked it so much that I threatened to steal it. In response, Rhodester wrote a hard-boiled little story about tracking down the guy who stole his banner.

This quick little story, something Dave just threw together just to be friendly, literally has everything in it. Everything. Damn, but this guy is a good writer. I said that back when I first discovered his blog... but the thing is, once you get in the habit of reading someone daily, you get to where you take their chops for granted.

I can say that about almost everyone in my blogroll, by the way, lest anyone feel slighted.

Anyway, Rhodester threw together this quick little story as a fun, friendly comment and I loved it. It made me laugh, it totally engrossed me, and it ended up getting me kind of misty... as you'll see if you read my followup comment.

It makes me sick, ya know? Not in a mean way, just in a jealous way. I know that Dave just tossed this story together in fun, probably put little thought into it... and it's still an outstanding read. A short, fun, silly, outstanding read. For some people, writing well just comes naturally.

It could be that I'm a sap... or it could just be that Dave Rhodes can freakin' write. I think it's both.

Go read the post and read the comments.