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Apparently, and this has been brought to my attention on several fronts, I have not kept up the kind of rigorous schedule of posting that readers expect or require of me. How did we get to this place, you and I? A place where I kind of have just become indolent, flush with the lethargy born of years of practiced irresponsibly? A place where you can barely be bothered to care, challenged only by the vaguest sense of a tickle in the backs of your minds—a curiosity—that prompts little more than a whatever happened to... Whatshisname?

So last Thanksgiving, the Monk and I took a week's vacation to travel northbound in order to visit one of her long-sequestered college chums. After a relaxing time away, we returned to a house that was in desperate need of cleaning. I took on the dishes and halfway through, whilst scrubbing a glass tumbler, said glass broke and lacerated my right hand to the bone. Essentially, I couldn't type well for over a month. After that I just kind of got out of the habit and while occasionally considering renewing my interest in the platform, just couldn't get up the inspiration. This earned lethargy continues apace even today.

This does not mean that I have been inactive though. My use of Facebook has been fruitful, I have written several book reviews, my participation at Christ and Pop Culture continues undaunted, and I've even begun a Twitter stream that I am attempting to keep worthwhile despite the fact that the platform actively thwarts worth. In any case, if you're interested, here are a pile of links to things I've produced of late.

Christ and Pop Culture
While primarily occupied as what I like to think of as the backbone of the site's commenting citizenry, I was recently asked to guest write an article in regards to Michale Karounos' recent review of the movie adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. The book and movie were great fun and the review's author both didn't get the material but made a number of foolish statements in its regard. So much so that Gaiman posted how thoroughly amused he was by the ridiculous effort. My article in response is found here: "Sticks and Stones: Being Hurt by a Christian Review of Coraline".

Book Reviews
2666 by Roberto Bolaño
The Absolute Sandman (4 vols.) by Neil Gaiman
Silverfish by David Lapham
Emma (7 vols.) by Kaoru Mori
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Twitter
Twitter, to me, is a bastion of obnoxious nothings. There are a very few people performing on Twitter that are worth the trouble. As an evolving medium, people are still trying to figure out what to do with it and I think they'll continue to wonder until Twitter itself evolves. Part of Twitter's allure is its limitations, but those limitations also fuel my frustration with the medium—as they actively hamper value. Facebook offers something similar to Twitter, but adds the ability for user interaction with comments. This destroys Twitter's model in some ways. Yet Facebook's post-interactivity is limited to those who are your friends. One cannot simply just Follow worthwhile people on Facebook. As I said, media in flux.

In any case, my experiment with the communication vehicle lies here.

As I said there are very few people who make Following a really worthwhile endeavor, but one of those people is Merlin Mann of You Look Nice Today. I'm following Neil Gaiman, who is sometimes interesting, and Melanie Cogdill, who is likewise sometimes interesting. But really, Merlin is the only master of the medium I've encountered.