Celebrating Three Years of The Cooler

So it’s been three years of doing this blogging thing. And, wow, this past year went by too quickly. Glancing back at 2010’s anniversary post, I see that last February, too, I made reference to a busy day job keeping me from my (healthy) movie obsession, and here we are again. The good news this time is that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and so I feel safe predicting that 2011 will include a noticeable increase in activity around these here parts, which is great because too often this past year I felt frustratingly disconnected -- from the blog and even from cinema (I think those things are related).

And yet, now that I look back, I have to say that given the significant time constraints – and, as always, let me make it clear that I’m grateful to have a cool and demanding day job that rewards all of the time I put into it – I’m quite pleased with what I was able to do in this space over the past 365 days. I didn’t write as often as I would like – or, more to the point, I didn’t get as much time to ruminate and create as I would like – but somehow there was time enough to continue The Conversations series with Ed Howard, and to finish off my coverage of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, and to pay tribute to the King of Cool (with the help of various talented bloggers from the cyberhood) with the Steve McQueen Blog-a-thon. I also got to meet some fellow bloggers face-to-face for the first time – Ali Arikan and the Olsons (Kevin and Troy). And in online form I got to hang out in Dennis Cozzalio’s Tree House with Dennis, Sheila O’Malley and Jim Emerson, which was fun. All things considered, it was a good year.

But the year ahead will be better. Last year I got to make my first video essay, and I’d like to do a few more video installments this year. I’d also like to be less obedient to the current release schedule in order to write about films from years past – although going to the theater is such a relaxing part of my average weekend that commentary on new releases will always be a staple here. I’d like to sprinkle in a few more brief posts now and then, and when time is tight I’ll try to overcome my tendency to wait for a rainy day that might never come and instead I will write what I can, even if it's frustratingly brief. I’d like to host some sort of blogathon-type event, and perhaps more importantly I’d like to take part in the many such celebrations put on by fellow bloggers, as it pained me to miss Tony Dayoub’s David Crongenberg blogathon, and Adam Zanzie and Ryan Kelly’s Steven Spielberg blogathon and the almost-current (and past) For the Love of Film blogathon(s). And I’d like to meet more bloggers face to face – a quick trip to NYC this spring would go a long way in that regard – and also be better about interacting online (in comments sections, on Twitter, via e-mail, whatever), debating the issues and celebrating the reviews that hit the sweet spot. I’m excited about it all!

I hope you’ll join me.

Sincere thanks to everyone who has supported The Cooler, through thoughtful comments, through links via social media, or just by reading. And thanks to my fellow bloggers who inspire me over and over again with their own work. Let's have another great year.