It is with great sadness that I make the following announcement. After 10 years of proudly serving the Tori community, The Dent will be retired on May 5, 2006. After that date, The Dent will no longer be updated, but will remain indefinitely on the same server at thedent.com for archival and research purposes. This announcement will explain some of my reasons for closing The Dent and will also give more details about the closure. While the end of The Dent will be a sad event for many of you, I do want to mention at the end of this announcement the fact that some trusted friends of mine are beginning a brand new Tori news and information site that will keep fans updated on the latest Tori news. While I will not be in charge of that new web site, I will be endorsing it and suggesting that Dent readers check it out. But first of all, I want to explain the closing of The Dent. Click the details link for more about this...

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I must first say that I did not take this decision lightly. I have thought about it constantly for over half a year, carefully looking at all the pros and cons of the decision, and evaluating all the alternatives. It was not an easy decision to make. Today, March 25, 2006, is the 10 year anniversary of The Dent! A decade is an eternity in the life of the Internet. Back when the Dent debuted on March 25, 1996, the Net was still in its infancy and was still not very common among the general public. Tori had just put out her Boys For Pele album, and was in the first month of the Dew Drop Inn tour. Since that time and counting Boys For Pele, Tori has released 7 albums, 2 DVDs and a series of official "bootleg" recordings, and the Dent reported on all of them. The Dent has also thoroughly documented the 6 major tours Tori has done since the founding of The Dent. I never dreamed when I began this site that my little Dent in the Tori Net Universe would grow so large and have such a devoted base of readers.

The 10 years I have maintained and updated The Dent have been 10 of the happiest years of my life. Before The Dent, I was rather isolated in my love of Tori's music. By running this site, I was able to meet so many fans, especially during the concert tours. Some of those fans have become good friends. This gave me an outlet where I could meet people, despite being incredibly introverted, and also helped fill me with more confidence as a person. The Dent (with the help of some negative folks in the old Dent forum!) also led me to my soulmate and girlfriend Amanda, which has been incredibly wonderful and has changed my life. I have had the privilege of meeting Tori several times, and she has been very kind in her support of The Dent. I have also gotten to meet so many readers of my site while following Tori on tour, and it was always fun to meet you and shake your hand. The Tori community has been very kind to me and has been the main reason that The Dent has been so successful. By emailing me news items and articles, you have made this site a true community effort, and it has been amazing.

I want to make very clear that I am still a devoted fan of Tori's music, and the ending of the Dent does not reflect any dissatifaction with Tori's talent. I am still a devoted Toriphile who plans to see as many future concerts as possible and will always be one of the first in line for her new albums. I would go so far as to say that Tori's music resonates with me more now than it ever has, and in many ways the development and growth of Tori's music has complemented my own growth as a person.

I always said that I would continue to update The Dent as long as I had the time to do so and as long as I could maintain it at a high standard. I am finding that lately, I am having a difficult time finding the time to do that. There are many reasons for that. My real job as a computer programmer/analyst has become more demanding lately. I have developed new hobbies and interests and that results in me not being home as often as I used to be. I am 39 years old now and will be 40 in late January 2007. In the years ahead I will most likely be getting married, and perhaps even raising a family. I have decided that there are still so many things I want to do with my life, and therefore I need to take more time for myself. While I love updating this web site, I think the time for me to move on has arrived. With my limited free time, I feel that I can no longer take the time to make the site as complete as it used to be. Since I do not want the quality of The Dent to suffer, and I need to use my limited free time to explore new areas of my life, I made the tough but necessary decision to retire The Dent after 10 years.

I have also experienced some health issues over the last couple years that need some time and attention as well. None of the various problems are serious yet, but they could get more serious if I am not careful. This has also caused me to do things like try to get more sleep and to carefully schedule my life so there is less stress.

I carefully thought about allowing other people to maintain The Dent while I just remained something like an executive director. But then it would still be The Dent and I would feel compelled to remain heavily involved. The Dent has been my baby for 10 years and while I am giving it up, it is something I truly love. Only by separating myself from it completely can I hope to move on with my life. That does not mean I will no longer be part of the Tori community. I will still be on various mailing lists and forums, as well as posting more often in my LiveJournal page.

That leads me to some positive news. Even though The Dent is leaving, I feel the net universe still needs an unofficial Tori news site. Despite the growing presence of private forums, blogs, chat rooms, instant messaging and so on, I am convinced that having a reliable, unofficial web site for news is important, especially for busy people who do not have the time to wade through forums or blogs looking for Tori news. That is why I am pleased to announce that even though the Dent is closing, some trusted friends of mine are beginning a brand new Tori news and information site that will keep fans updated on the latest Tori news. This new site will have the name undented.com and it will launch in May after the Dent's final update. This name reflects the fact that the new site will not be The Dent and will not be run by me, but will have the same spirit of The Dent, which is to inform fans in a trustworthy, reliable and respectable manor. I will be linking to undented.com once The Dent ends and encouraging people to check it out. I will even be included on the editorial team for this new Tori web site and will help to post some news stories as my schedule permits. You will hear much more about that soon. I also of course urge you to continue to check out Tori's official sites at toriamos.com and everythingtori.com.

I will continue to actively update The Dent until May 5, 2006. If you have any concerns or questions, feel free to email me. The Dent has been one of my greatest achievements in life, and I leave it very proud of what I accomplished. It has been an honor to provide you with reliable and respectful Tori news over the last 10 years. Of course none of it would have been possible without the help of all my readers. Thank you for your support of The Dent and for all the articles, reviews, news items, announcements, photos and even criticism you have given me over the years. I will miss updating The Dent, but I will always remember the past 10 years and how affirming and wonderful they have been. Thank you all so much for making it possible.