This past January, as in previous years, I set a few goals for myself. In the past, I was never good about keeping New Year's Resolutions, so this year I just thought of them as goals. And I think that's why I actually achieved them this year. So here's to continuing that into 2017.
3. Start a new podcast
Admittedly, The Marketers Next Door Podcast was mostly my wife Marissa's idea. She had been wanting to try something new, and she saw how much I enjoyed podcasting. I was looking to devote some energy to a new podcasting project. We had toyed with the idea of starting a podcast together, and our mutual interest in social media seemed like a natural entry point. And that's how the show was born. The format is different than any show I've ever done, and I'm really loving sharing a hobby with Marissa. Looking forward to continuing this into 2017 and beyond.
2. Catch up on comics
In 2015, I doubled down on getting back into podcasting by starting Supergirl TV Talk with my friend Tim. At the start of 2016, I was missing another old hobby: reading comic books. Not just the old books in my collection, but also keeping up with ongoing series. I had just about given up on DC Comics, but I was into indie books like The Walking Dead, Invincible, Invader Zim, Giant Days, and of course Mark Waid's amazing Archie reboot. These plus a few choice recommendations of classic Marvel stories got me off to a respectable start early in the year, but then DC came back into the picture over the summer with DC Rebirth, and everything clicked right back into place. I've been reading a bunch of DC titles since May and I haven't looked back. The ritual and the joy of reading new stories featuring some of my favorite characters week to week and month to month has been refreshing.
1. Bring back the blog
This was the most audacious goal for 2016. Finding time to collect my thoughts and write long-form pieces is more difficult than ever these days. I really did want to find a way to return to blogging in some capacity. Looking to some of my favorite tech blogs like Six Colors, Daring Fireball, and 512 Pixels, I realized link blogging was a totally acceptable form of expression. I do often find myself wanting to offer an opinion on new tech developments on Twitter, but sometimes those thoughts are a little longer than 140 characters. I decided that by adopting the link blog format, I could update FrankRamblings.com on a regular basis without biting off more than I could chew, while occasionally writing longer posts when I had the time and willpower. I'm really proud of how often I posted to the blog in 2016. I hope to write more long-form pieces heading into 2017. Ideally, one longer piece every other month on average would make me happy. I'll starting looking for opportunities to do that. In the meantime, here are some of the longer, non-link-based pieces that made me particularly proud in 2016.
- DC Rebirth: It's About Heart
- 50 Years of Revolver
- John Paul White Goes Solo With "Beulah"
- How To Podcast For Free
