Housekeeping, and a clearer sense of where this blog stands

If you’ve only been reading this blog recently, you might not know how far back it goes, how long of a journey it was to get here.

It started in 2005, back when blogging felt like pulling up a chair at a truck stop, and seeing who stuck around for a conversation. And boy oh boy were there a lot of those way back when.

Since then, life happened. Got married. Kids suddenly became top priority (obviously!). Careers shifted. Priorities changed. The pace slowed, picked up, slowed again. And even crawled to a stop at some point. The blog never really went away though, but it did gather a bit of dust.

Over the past little while, though, I’ve been writing again in a more deliberate way. Not chasing volume, but following curiosity. Digging into things that stuck with me. That meant posts about coming back to EVE Online with older eyes, breaking down ship fittings and early PvE lessons, but also stepping back to look at why that universe still works the way it does. It meant long-form takes on city builders and strategy games — Foundation, Frostpunk, Surviving Mars — not as reviews, but as systems worth understanding. It meant writing about science fiction again, from Arcane to Avatar, Dune & Star Wars, from space travel concepts to the stories I keep returning to with the kids.

After taking the time to look back at the history of this blog, its numbers, and its long, uneven arc, I realized something: the writing had moved forward over the last few months, but parts of this site hadn’t quite caught up.

So over the last little while, I’ve been quietly cleaning things up.

Nothing dramatic. No rebrand. No “big comeback.” Just the kind of work that happens when you care about a place and want it to reflect what’s actually happening inside it.

6 Winners in the First EVE Blog Banter Contest!

In what proved to be a very successful writing competition with 45 entries in total, James, Richard and I have narrowed it down to half a dozen articles. And though the final count should have been 3 winners and one honorable mention (4 in all), I just couldn't bare the thought of dropping 2 out of our 6 top picks. And so 2 additional contestants will receive some "special" EVE loot from me directly.

Now enough talk, here are the winners:

1. Sweet Little Bad Girl, "Who is Nibbling at My House?"
2. Into the unknown with gun and camera. "The Hokey Cokey"
3. A Mule in EVE, "He who giveth, also taketh away?"
4. Miners with Fangs. "It's the Scotch"
5. A Merry Life and a Short One. "Why Won't You Die?"
6. A Sebiestor Scholar, "Slaves"

Let me reiterate how difficult though fun it was to go over each and everyone's article, and choose these winners. Each and every article had something interesting to bring forth, some were dead serious, some a lighter read, some in-character, and some were even making fun of our whole EVE Blogging efforts (you know who you are!).

For the top 4 winners, Shae, ChainTrap, Manasi and Dee, congratulations! You've done us proud and have showed the breadth and high quality material that comes out of the EVE Blogging Community. Now if you're curious to see what you've won, just head back to the list of prizes here. Then please email me your full mailing so that we can get you those prizes! The same goes for the last 2, Hallan and Zargyl!

I'd like to thank everyone who participated in this last EVE Blog Banter, and look forward to your participation in the next one, which will be our 1oth! The subject matter will definitely get your thinking cap going!

Fly Safe!