Taken from the original About page…This needs to be updated a bit, but most of it still holds true almost three years after the original launch.  Unfortunately there are still a few knuckleheads using Shutterfly instead of flickr, so everyone’s photographs aren’t in the same place as was originally intended.
I have been asked more than a few times how I arrived at the domain name of TheRegalBeagle.com. I grew up watching and thoroughly enjoying Three’s Company. While many children of my age were prohibited to watch such a risqué show, my parents allowed me to watch it, figuring (and rightly so) the more adult humor would be over my head. Watching it now, more than twenty years after it first aired, I have to admit it isn’t nearly as funny as I remembered; however, it still holds a special place in my heart. For those that don’t know, The Regal Beagle was the bar on Three’s Company. The Beagle served as a second home to Jack and the rest of the characters of the show, providing a place away from Apartment 201 to socialize and enjoy a few beers.

Firstly, we needed a place where everyone could view our digital photographs. Photographs are not a new phenomenon. Digital photographs are no longer novelties themselves. The proliferation of digital photographs, and specifically photographs of our group, is still interesting viewing for most. We needed one place to look at these photographs. Previously, to view the weekend’s pictures, you would have to visit Snapfish.com to look at Travis’ pictures, then to oFoto.com to look at Joey P’s, and finally to TheRegalBeagle.com (where you would have to type what some likened to secret code) just to see all the pictures you wanted to see. Now, there is one place. Thanks to the generous contributions of many (especially Joey P, Travis, Radlmann & Dan), everyone can view every photograph that was taken at every event at TheRegalBeagle.com Catalogue. Admittedly, this is a glut of photographs. Very few people can palette more than one shot of Joey P sticking out his tongue, or of Colin flicking off the camera. I hope that the sheer number, lack of quality, and relatively mundane subject matter of these photographs do not deter weekly visits to Catalogue, but I can see how these factors could affect some of you.

Secondly, I want to have a personal site, for which I am responsible for every aspect of the design. Graphic design as a paying profession is not a fine art. Too often a designer’s work degenerates far from his original idea due to the meddling hands of wannabe artists and the people who are paying for his work. TheRegalBeagle.com allows me the freedom I don’t usually have in my field, which for creative people is often necessary. I want to be proud of this site, and I to feel confident in answering questions about its design.

Thirdly, I want this site to be a source of entertainment…a place to visit for fun, for wasting time, for when you are at work with work to do, but not feeling much like doing it. I want this site to be an archive. Due to digital cameras, digital movies, digital communications, these past four years have been the most documented of our lives…IMs, funny receipts, Photoshopped pictures…The way we interact now is much different than when we were nineteen, and I believe technology has had a large part in keeping us together and entertained daily.

Finally, I have made this site for my friends. As we trudge through our late twenties and move forward through adulthood (some of us rather begrudgingly), our lives will become increasingly more disparate. It is my hope that this site will strengthen the ties to this community and allow those who aren’t always physically present to always be around. We are far away from Pumpkinhead on Smith Street and singles beerpong seasons in 704, however we are not that far. We still find stupid things funny, and we still have a beerpong table in our house. There are not too many groups that have remained this close for this long, and its longevity is a testament to the humor and the personality each one of us offers this community. Everyone contributes, and as I have said many times, it is a rich tapestry. So while I designed it, remember that much of the content is and will be yours. If you have a good idea, tell me about it, and we can work it into the site. If you had a nice dining experience, write about it in the forum. Try as I might, I don’t have enough content to fill these pages and to make this a worthwhile site.

I thank all of you for your previous and future contributions of time and content to TheRegalBeagle.com, for posing for a picture when you didn’t really feel like it and for writing that review when you didn’t really have the time. Finally, I thank you all for your continued friendship and support. With that, let me welcome you to TheRegalBeagle.com.