18 Things I Learned in 2018
I started these annual lists of things I learned at the end of 2007, and they stand as good testaments to where I've been year after year. As has been my tradition in recent years, I'll be splitting this list up into different segments that focus on different things. On this first page, I'm going to get into my personal life, something I write precious little about around here. 2018 turned out to be a pretty important year for this blog and my writing in general, and it's seen me pass the dreaded threshold of forty years, with all that entails. On the next page, I'll get into politics, and on the last page, I'll talk about pop culture stuff. Feel free to read whichever page floats your boat, or to read all three. Just know that, no matter what else I do on this site, I'll always have time for these annual check-ins.
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#1. I've Found My Niche
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#1. I've Found My Niche
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Longtime readers will know this website went through a pretty dramatic change over the summer, in terms of content. Ever since I launched emagill.com, I've known that the key to success is providing a niche, narrowing my focus to a single topic and writing about that. I could never seem to find it, though. For a while, I wrote almost exclusively about politics, but while I did earn a handful of fans for it, I never found it particularly satisfying. I've also tried writing about video games and pop culture, but I could never narrow either of those down beyond their umbrellas into anything that could be defined as a "niche." When I started writing my summer blogs in advance so that I would have more time to dedicate to my son when he's not in school, I accidentally discovered my niche by choosing to build up three months' worth of discussions about Arthur C. Clarke, one of my idols. Forcing myself to read and review science-fiction classics (and their many film adaptations--I gotta use those expensive college film courses) has been more rewarding and satisfying than anything else I've ever done for this site, and it has improved my primary writing career in more ways than I dare count.
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#2. Rejection Doesn't Get Easier
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#2. Rejection Doesn't Get Easier
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Whenever I complain about getting rejection letters from prospective agents concerning one of my novels, inevitably somebody will pipe up with an anectdote about some famous author or another and how, after a whopping twenty-seven rejections or something, they finally got published and became the writer they are today. I know you mean well, but please stop doing this. It's not helping. You know why? Because I've been rejected hundreds of times. Hearing that some writer had to face the unbelievable exhaustion of mere tens of rejections doesn't make me feel particularly happy. You'd think I'd be an old pro at getting rejected, but if anything, it gets harder, not easier. It's soul-crushing, existentialist horror being thrust in your inbox on a weekly basis, far more terrifying than the most Lovecraftian Old One. It makes me cranky, irritable, angry, depressed, upset, and deeply insecure, and knowing that other writers managed to succeed after only a handful of rejections makes me think I must be a worse writer than them, even if I am keenly aware of the reality of the publishing industry, how brutally the odds are stacked against even the most talented of unpublished writers out there. It also doesn't help that I'm well past the age when I thought I'd be an established, legitimately published novelist.
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#3. Turning 40 is Stupid
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#3. Turning 40 is Stupid
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I've thrown my back out. I've had to endure a colonoscopy. I've had hemmorhoids. My hair is vanishing rapidly. My son has reached double digits in age. I talk about that year I was in a band in my twenties like it was a defining moment in my life. I keep my multiple medications in a portioned day-by-day case. I like quinoa. And yet, despite all of that, nothing has made me feel older than enduring a fortieth birthday. I remember, when I was a kid, we threw my aunt an "Over the Hill" party when she turned forty, complete with funereal black ribbons over everything and a cake shaped like a gothic coffin. That was a horribly cruel thing we did. If you're reading this, Aunt Linda, I'm sorry for my part in it. (Not really. It was hysterical.) I chose to celebrate my descent into old age by letting my neighbors get me blackout drunk, an experience I'd say I could never forget if it weren't for the fact that I don't remember it at all. So yeah, not only is turning 40 stupid, it made me stupid, too.
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#4. It's Not Too Late to Learn Something New
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#4. It's Not Too Late to Learn Something New
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My son, Thomas, influenced by his karate classes and my penchant for watching kaiju flicks all the live-long day, had the wild idea to learn Japanese last year. As a parent who wants to encourage him to follow his dreams, I went ahead and downloaded some aids, eventually paying for an app with a pretty awesome set of tailored lessons we can listen to in the car or watch on our tablets whenever we want. In the span of a few months, I learned the Hiragana alphabet and some rudimentary Japanese words and phrases, and I have started really diving deep into Japanese culture in a way I never have before. Thomas hasn't gotten as far along as me, but the plan was for me to get ahead and teach him as I go, and so far, that's working pretty well. I'm actually surprised at how it's going. I wouldn't call it easy, but it's not as impossible as I had assumed. I may be an old dog, but I can still learn some new tricks.
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#5. Vegetarian Indian Food is Actually Pretty Good
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#5. Vegetarian Indian Food is Actually Pretty Good
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I am a carnivore, born and bred. Still, just down the road from St. Louis' Pageant, where my wife and I frequently go to see the best Pink Floyd tribute band in the midwest, El Monstero, is a little, vegetarian Indian restaurant called Gokul that has a killer buffet. If you had told me in 2017 that I'd go to it multiple times and enjoy the experience, I would have slapped your momma, but it's true. God help me, it's completely meat-free, and it's really delicious. It makes me question everything. (Yes, I know I mentioned this restaurant in passing last year, but I had just discovered it at that point, and I didn't realize how often I'd go back to it in 2018.)
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#6. Air Fryers are Awesome
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#6. Air Fryers are Awesome
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A late entry, this one, as I've only just learned about the wonders of an air fryer. My wife bought me one for Christmas--an extra large beauty with a ton of silly accessories--and in the two weeks since then, I've been trying it for just about everything. The name is deceptive, because while it can "fry" things (so to speak) with just a minimal amount of oil, it does far more than just that. In reality, it's more of a modified convection oven, and in theory, if you get good enough at using it, you could throw away your microwave, oven, and toaster, and rely entirely on the air fryer. I'm not willing to go quite that far, but my eyes have been opened to the endless possibilities of this thing. I am in love. The ability to perfectly reheat leftover pizza alone is worth the money. Come on over and I'll air-fry you something--anything--just because I can. French fries from scratch? Simple. Grilled cheese? Hand me the butter. Chicken nuggets? Hell yeah. Apple pie? You better believe it. Pork roast? It can be done! Peanut-butter glazed salmon with capers and roasted marshmallows on top over a bed of grilled kale? You're a madman, but I'll do it. I'm even ready to try an air-fried cake if you give me a good recipe.
-e. magill 1/3/2019
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The Movies of 2018
The Geek reviews a ton of movies this year, including Black Panther, Ready Player One, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, The Predator, Venom, and Aquaman. [12/27/2018]
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17 Things I Learned in 2017
From politics to the personal, here are seventeen things the Geek has taken from the previous year. [1/11/2018]
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