If you’ve taken the time to scroll through this blog’s archives — and truly, thank you if you’ve actually done so — you’ve walked a path largely littered with neglect and failed ambitions. Trying to maintain my version of a newsletter here definitely fell victim to that.

I enjoy newsletters a lot (although I’m trying to pare my subscriptions down during the new year) and would like to take a swing at one myself. (In a future post, maybe I’ll list some of my favorites.) But I doubt that I’d attract enough subscribers to make the venture worthwhile. If I’m wrong about that, please let me know and I’ll activate the MailChimp (“mail… kimp?“) signal.

However, I have no business running a newsletter unless I can produce content regularly. There’s a writing resolution for 2019. And if I want to actually create a newsletter, calling it “Not a Newsletter” while it’s in blog form probably sends the wrong message. After tripping over the phrase “overzealous recycling” a couple of months ago, I thought it could be a good title for a newsletter. So here we are.

These sorts of posts largely began as collections of links to my writing and articles I enjoyed. I haven’t written anything that I’d care to link to in recent months, but hope to change that. And I still find plenty of stuff that I think might interest you. Yet a newsletter should include much more than that. There should be some original writing, mixing in other content like video, photography, audio, and… recipes. (Those seem to be popular!)

Much like comic books often reboot when they want to start continuity over, I’m trying the same thing here and hitting the reset button. I’m aiming to have these done every Thursday (I’m aware this is being posted on a Friday), but in time for the weekend.

Thank you for clicking over, as always! And if you do want this to become an actual newsletter, let me know via the comments or e-mail.

The Reading Links!

** A very close friend of mine lost a very dear friend recently, and far too suddenly. I can’t think of a better legacy for a teacher to leave than one of his students writing about how much of a positive influence he was. [Brenna Noyes]

** Maybe you’re already on your 2019 resolution diet, but read this before going hard in any direction. (This also demonstrates just how much misinformation we’re regularly exposed to when it comes to food and diet.) [Grub Street]

** This Andrew Sullivan piece is more than two years old, but it’s a good reminder as 2019 begins to spend less time online for the benefit of mental (and physical) health. [Intelligencer]

** Mike Piazza thought owning an Italian soccer team would be a fun way to occupy himself after playing baseball. His wife calls it “a midlife crisis.” Piazza probably should listen to his wife more. [The Athletic – $]

** Plenty of food fans might argue with this, but no one has been more influential for food truck culture than Roy Choi. Now he’s opened a restaurant in Las Vegas, which is where the big boy chefs roll. Choi definitely belongs among them. (Note to self: Plan a trip to Vegas in the next year or two.) [Los Angeles Times]

** “Reading more comics” might not be an ideal New Year’s Resolution for me (largely from a financial viewpoint), but “Best of 2018” lists like this one provide a good starting point for new titles, especially non-Marvel and DC, to check out. [io9]

** I thought it was curious that Travel Channel (or the vowel-less “Trvl”) exiled Andrew Zimmern’s show, The Zimmern List, to Saturday mornings. Was that because of what Zimmern said about Chinese restaurants in the Midwest or is “Trvl” phasing out food travel programming? The Zimmern List is a good show that deserves better. [Page Six]

** But Zimmern’s remarks — specifically, calling Midwestern Chinese food “horseshit” — definitely pissed off some chefs and restaurant owners, notably in Zimmern’s home region of Minnesota. [Washington Post]

** If you grew up in metro Detroit and enjoyed live music, chances are you caught at least one show at Harpo’s. (But maybe not, as most of the acts they booked were heavy metal groups.) This oral history captures an era so well.  [Metro Times]