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.

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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.

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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.

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