The New Year:
Typically, this is the time of year when folks make resolutions. My resolution this year is not to make any resolutions out loud. I have a number of things that are always on my mental "to do" list including cut down on drinking Cokes (not bloody likely), lose weight, get more exercise, find a better job, be more understanding and less angry in general, budget my time more effectively, etc. etc.

But there's only one resolution that I'm actually following through on, and that's because I actually went ahead and did it. I resolved that this would be the year to stop putting so much time into comics reviewing, step back and try to appreciate the medium as more of a fan and less of a pundit for a while. I've never lost my enthusiasm for comics, but the constant disappointments and analytical mindset required to regularly review comics means that I couldn't just enjoy comics on a simple level, and now I'll be able to do that.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, my semi-retirement column is here.

This should theoretically mean I'll have more time to write and update this blog, but that's sort of not the trade-off I'm going for. I'm going for more time to spend with the family, more time to waste on videogames and reading comics and watching TV. But I'll still be endeavoring to update weekly at least, and more than once a week in general.

And while I'm posting, a random LOST thought. LOST starts up again tonight, and I am loving the second season. Quite possibly even more than the first. My initial worry that these guys might "pull an X-Files" hasn't lessened, and comments made on podcasts and interviews that suggest that they may not resolve what the numbers mean leads me to believe that the resolution of the whole thing may be unsatisfying.

However... the quality of writing on LOST is so good that I just don't really care. If we never get resolution to the over-arcing plots, if some of the mysteries are left unsolved, I probably will be fine with that if the character arcs resolve. Because LOST goes beyond what we're used to seeing in "genre" writing, and I think that's why it has keyed into the mass consciousness so much more than cult hits like X-Files, Babylon 5, Buffy, etc. LOST is one of the best-written shows on TV, and it has a fantastic ensemble cast. The moment-to-moment stuff is as exciting and interesting as the suspense and supernatural elements, and that's the key.

I know some folks have been griping about Ana Lucia. And I don't get it. It seems like the same people who demand to know all the answers, now, and insist that the show is screwed up somehow if they're not giving it to us. Ana Lucia has her reasons for her personality and her actions, and that's one argument, but I thought from the start that she was a fascinating character. She's mean, she's violent, she's undeniably dangerous... she's a great character. She's just not someone you'd want to invite over for dinner. I think a lot of people want her killed off because they don't like her. I think that's missing the point. Characters don't have to be sympathetic, they don't have to be someone you like. In my mind, they should be either sympathetic, relatable (not always the same thing) or interesting. To my mind, Ana Lucia started out as interesting, became more relatable when we saw what she went through in the first 48 days and became sympathetic when we saw her flashback.

Seems to me like writing off Ana Lucia this early would be akin to writing off Sawyer as the villain of the piece based on the first few episodes of the first season. And as all LOST fans know by now, the first impression is rarely the whole picture.