Recently in Friends Category
Well, it's not quite that dramatic. But I note with sorrow that Alan is retiring his personal blog (at least for the time being). Alan, you'll be missed. Fortunately he's still forging boldly ahead with his food blog, which has contributed at least one delicious recipe to the Rau family kitchen.
Personal blogging is a real challenge to keep at consistently, especially when time is limited. Readers of this humble blog will note that 2005 was a fairly grim year as far as posting frequency went. For me, besides the ever-present factor of limited free time, I've found that the lack of focus in a personal blog sometimes makes it difficult to keep at it. Perhaps bizarrely, I find that blogging is most rewarding when it's done under at least a few topical constraints. Having a blog at which I can post, well, anything that springs to mind actually intimidates me a bit; it feels a bit too scattershot for my tastes. I know that some people like the stream-of-consciousness, whatever-will-he-write-about-next style of blogging, but speaking for myself, I am particularly fond of blogs that follow some sort of ongoing conceptual thread, no matter how slight.
And so I'm sad that Alan is closing his personal blog, but also glad that he's found a successful and focused outlet for his creative energy in his food blog. Nicely done, Alan... and I do hope you return to personal blogging at some point when time and energy allow.
Allow me to congratulate Mark and his family on the new job, and to wish them luck as they get ready to make the big move from southern California to St. Louis!
I must confess that I am pleased by this development, although I'm sure many of Mark's family and friends in southern California are dismayed by the news. For years, I've been waiting for Escondido's seemingly unbreakable grip on my childhood/highschool friends to loosen. I've been patient for years, content to let the lure of the Midwest do its work. And at last, I can claim a victory of sorts. St. Louis is not quite within easy driving distance, but it's a lot closer to Grand Rapids than Escondido is.
So Mark, allow me to officially welcome you to the Midwest. Once you get used to our charming ten-month-long winters, you'll come to truly love it here. It's a good life... yes, very good. You'll see.
This news is a week or two old already, but if you're not aware, Jon, husband of Kim and fellow refugee from hell (ha ha) has returned to the world of blogging with a very cool new blog focused around sci-fi literature, a subject in which Jon is about as expert as they come.
This is rather timely for me, as I've been recently feeling a desire to read a bit more sci-fi literature. In that spirit, I'm currently making my way through Perdido Street Station by China Mieville. Thus far my feelings on the novel are somewhat mixed, but I'll wait until I've finished it to comment further.
Congratulations to Jay and Elizabeth, who just got engaged! Jay is a longtime friend of mine and is currently the pastor at Boston Square CRC in Grand Rapids. Elizabeth is a minister at Church of the Servant. They got engaged during a visit to Mackinac Island late last week. Congrats to both of you guys! Yaaaay!
My friend Raymond just placed not one, but two winning entries in a gaming fiction contest put on by Interplay. The stories, Moonlight and Mirror, are both excellent and placed at #2 and #4 respectively. I found the latter story, which takes an amusing look at the whole idea of fantasy, especially entertaining. Well done, Raymond! (And it looks like he got some cool prizes, too.)
At last! Fellow Californian Mark has arrived on the scene with a blog, The M-Pire Strikes Back, that you should add to your daily blog-reading routine. His opening salvo is aimed in the general direction of that wacky recall business happening way out there in the Golden State. Good stuff!
Jay has joined the wacky and wonderful world of blogging. Nicely done!
My esteemed associate Bill has now joined us in the wild and wooly world of blogging. Jolly good show! Bill is one of my closest California friends from way back in the day. One of my fondest memories of Bill dates back to a Halloween when we were kids in 4th or 5th grade. We were getting ready to go trick-or-treating; I was dressed up as Zorro and Bill was dressed up like a Marine. We got into a pretend swordfight--except Bill was using his grandfather's actual military sword, and I was using a fake plastic sword from Target. I think a concerned parent put an end to that after blood (mine) was drawn.
A fun trip down memory lane, eh? You should definitely go check out his blog. It looks great, Bill! Awesome to have you online.
It's a day for grand celebrations--good friends Jon and Kim (she's the freewheelin' one) are now contributing to the fast-paced world of blogging. Michele and I met Jon and Kim at... at... I can't say it, at that horrible horrible place where they made me study all those ancient languages. Jon and I had the same advisor, who shall not be named lest his attention be drawn and the gaze of his dread Eye fall upon me. Ha-ha. At any rate, you really ought to make reading their blogs part of your daily routine.
Wow, my humble blog has only been online for a couple days, and already it has attracted the notice of blogging industry giants. Alan, friend and sometimes opponent on the field of battle, gave me a cool mention on his blog. He also has written some reflections on ST: Nemesis which are worthy of your immediate attention.
