Thirteen years in, I'm no less eager to keep pressing keys and sharing the resultant output when I think about the things I read, hear, and watch that engage my interest. If the last year of blogging was heavy on the politics and gun control, there's likely to be a greater emphasis around here on Doctor Who in its 50th Anniversary year. Building out the Episode Index has been fun and I've got a long way to go on that front. Not to say I won't continue the political and secularist postings, I certainly will, but I've got a feeling geekier content will dominate for a while as my disappointment with the Obama administration continues to smolder.
A couple of other big events are also on the horizon: Kim Stanley Robinson's next book is due later this year; and, I've got it in my head that *this* is the year I finally go to the annual Yo La Tengo run at Maxwell's -- at least some of it, the timing of the holidays this year is problematic. Between the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, a new KSR book, and Maxwell's looking a Bucket List tick off in the making, my personal triptych of arts and pop culture fandom looms large in my imagination -- each section likely to get more pixels devoted to it in the months ahead.
If you're new here, lured by the chance of chance of winning a kindle (more on that just a bit further down), you might be wondering, "If I'm not into Doctor Who, Kim Stanley Robinson, or Yo La Tengo, what reason might I have for coming back?" It's a fair question. Below are links a few posts, which have dropped off the front page, that I hope are illustrative of the mix of things I'm inclined to post about outside those topics:
- Words fascinate me. New words, old words, whatever the word there are few things as satisfying as finding the exact right word when you really need it. For example, I was using cyberpragmatics all the time without knowing there was a word for them.
- You don't have to be a foodie to post every so often about food. My food truck reviews probably are much use to anyone outside the Raleigh/Durham area, but they might inspire you to get adventurous with the options in your city? Or, I can teach you the proper way to eat Cheetos.
- Interested in video games and philosophy at all? Then you will feel like a genius when you solve the occasional riddle.
- Sure, everybody does movie reviews, but not everybody writes them while drinking dubious cocktails.
- Yo La Tengo isn't the only band I follow. All the Fugazi news you didn't know you were missing, I'm on the lookout for it for you.
- TV junkies, we can help each other out.
- If you're interested in history, especially those people and events that bend the arc of justice, we almost certainly have something in common.
Now that you newbies have got the lay of the land ...
Let's get to the fun stuff!
I gave away a kindle-sized gift card last year to one lucky reader and it felt so good I'm bringing the contest back. I'm going to use rafflecopter again; this went pretty smoothly last time and nobody complained about it so, hopefully, it'll be a painless experience.
Please note, the prize is a $69 Amazon gift card that you may use towards a kindle and I encourage you to do so because I love mine; however, you are free to use the Amazon gift card towards whatever you like.
+Joseph Riker, as last year's winner, you're disqualified from this year's drawing; but, I'll only make winners sit out one year after winning, so you'll be able to enter again in 2014.
Thanks for visiting. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway