AWV - The year in review

   The end of the year approacheth, and, as most bloggers seem wont to do, I am writing a year end wrap-up/best-of Aurora Walking Vacation post. Actually, I am finished writing it. This is it. Sorry, is that confusing?

   I didn't write one of these last year because my old computer broke down middle of December, and I didn't get a new one until well into February. Not that I left my dear readers entirely out in the cold. That would be quite beyond me, Just so's you know.

   In February, I was caught speeding on my way home from Ottawa. I mean really speeding. Went to court, and entered A plea.

Skeptical topics began taking up a significant amount of space here in 2006. An early effort in that direction was Face in pant leg Santa Claus? A fellow AOL blogger had a question about a photograph she had taken, and I undertook to answer it. I learned a lesson that week, when my rational explanation for what appeared in the picture was met with outright hostility by that blogger. Often, those who ask questions are not really looking for honest answers. In many cases, they are simply looking for someone to confirm their existing preconceptions for them. As Dr. Carl Sagan once said, "You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe."

   In April the AOL journaling community was hit hard by the death of one of our founding members. Pamela Hilger was blogging on AOL before the product was even officially available in its beta testing stage. Over the almost three years she was blogging, she touched virtually every person in our fledgling community. The extreme grief I felt on her passing greatly surprised me, and speaks to the strength of the bonds that we form in this online world. In tribute to Pamela I wrote My friend Pamela, and I found a few small words.

   Later in April, I had a surprise visitor, and a skinny one at that. He stayed with me for several days, and we had a few fun adventures. I recounted them in six entries, beginning with A Tuesday story.

   Usually the saying is, "April showers bring May flowers," but this year we seemed to have a late spring, and the showers were deferred until The frog days of summer. This is one of my favourite entries from the past year.

   Continuing on the path of skeptical blogging, I tackled people's preconceptions about Homeopathic Medicine in Serial delusions, and took a local television station to task in Breakfast television with little or no effect. That Carl Sagan guy sure seems to have these people pegged.

   August brought a first for Aurora Walking Vacation, with a guest blogger. Well, I called her a "guest blogger," but all I really did was cut and paste an e-mail my wife sent to her co-workers, and CC'd to me. Still, it's a funny story, and she told it well: Apparently, it's all my fault.

   Then, in September, I foolishly picked up the topic of my wife once more, in Look at how my children play Commando in the Cul-de-sac. This entry brought a lot of comment from outside the online world, when my father mentioned it at the dinner table one night, bringing it to my wife's attention for the first time. She said she was going to write a rebuttal for me to publish as her second guest stint, but she never did. I guess the truth is just unassailable.

   October's archive is jammed full of interesting blog entries, including several controversial skeptical topics, a fun meme called National Carry Your Camera Everywhere You Go Week, and other various and sundry offerings. In the end, I felt that the entry I really wanted to highlight here was one that explained a bit about why this journal has taken on a bit of new direction this year: Why skepticism?

   November is grey, and cold, and it seemed to me to need something to lighten the load a bit. Nothing like life to provide fodder for that. An ill-considered action is a true story of human frailty and failings. But light, you know?

   Which brings us to December, and the end of the year. Do I have an entry to highlight this month, kind of a wrap up for a year of Aurora Walking Vacation? How about this one: There, is that 'meta' enough for you?

Tags: blogging, Aurora Walking Vacation, 2006 year in review