State of the Blog 2013

Squid do not molt in the wild.  But here in the blogosphere, The Armchair Squid undergoes annual transformation, shedding the skin of the previous year and preparing for new adventures ahead.  As the interests of the blog's humble author shift and reader interests shape the conversation, The Squid seeks greater refinement and more nourishing feeding grounds.  To this end, the blogging motto for Year 5 in the life of The Squid is a very simple one: Embrace the Inner Geek.


Blogging Projects

I have been very pleased with the first three months of the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, my bloggers' book club.  The idea: each month, participating book enthusiasts shall post about a favorite book from the previous month's reading.  Bloghop meetings are held the last Friday of the month.  I hope the concept will continue to evolve and expand during the coming year.  If you would care to join us, I plan to keep a sign up list in the upper-right corner of my blog for as long as the group remains viable.


Good Reading

I've got big changes planned for these posts.  Comic books have been a major guiding factor in the course of The Squid over the past two years.  Inspired by comics, I tested a new concept during a slow week in February: reflections upon original series Star Trek episodes.  I've only posted two over the past few months but with the dawning of Year 5, Trek entries shall become a weekly feature at The Armchair Squid.  I'm aiming for Wednesdays.  Embrace the geek!

I will continue my more generic book reviews as well: comics, sports books and children's literature.


Family Adventures

I'm hoping for more family travels in the coming year - not big trips, necessarily, but perhaps more frequent ones.  We have a lot of friends we haven't seen in a while and I do regret not making it to the ocean this year - good goals to work toward.  I'd like to give camping a go next summer, too.  I did a fair amount of tent camping as a kid but we've never done it as a family, apart from one overnight in the backyard.

I'm planning a theme for my own Family Movie Night choices this year - more on that in a bit.  Food, always the best incentive for getting everyone out of the house, may make occasional blog appearances as well.  Family posts are likely to launch on Sundays.


Tennis

via hermes' helix

The Armchair Squid began as a tennis blog.  I cut back a bit on my posts in the past year - weekly during Majors rather than daily.  I intend to continue the same for Year 5.  The US Open starts on Monday.  Expect my picks to win soon.


Music

via Popdose

This is my trickiest blog topic.  Music is my day job and I do my best to keep blogging and work separate as much as humanly possible.  But music is everywhere and it's silly to pretend that it's not important to me in the rest of my life.  Generally, it has worked best for me to connect music to the other topics I blog about.  For the coming year, I plan to explore music in film.


In conclusion, I am eternally grateful to all of you who have shared in my explorations.  To borrow from Jon Wertheim, if any of you enjoys reading The Armchair Squid half as much as I enjoy writing it, we're all doing pretty well.  I hope you'll join me for Year 5.

If you're interested in previous State of the Blog posts, try the links below:

2012
2011
2010