Keeping Up with the Joneses

It’s a question I get asked quite a bit: “When do you sleep?”

Besides having a day job, and a freelance gig, I’m also a dad, and I have a cat and a dog at the house. Plus. Plus.

I edit this web site. Which involves reviewing books and movies, and that means taking time to read the books and watch the movies. And the TV show recaps, which involve taking time to watch the TV shows and writing the recaps.

Then there are the roundups, which collect the latest news about a particular topic (like Total Recall, for instance) and put it all in one place – at your fingertips right here. That involves combing through the mound of e-mail with links to news sites, gossip sites, video sites, other blogs, and then distilling it all into a cohesive piece that’s easy for you to read.

There are the interviews. Those take time to record and edit. Graphics have to be built. Time spent uploading here or to our YouTube channel.

There’s Comic Con Carne, our monthly (soon to be bi-weekly) news show about the comics industry. That takes research, and writing, and production, and graphics, and scouring the Internet and various media contacts for artwork and video.

The Geekly every Friday – compiling dates, facts, figures and factoids doesn’t happen in a vacuum. And the new comic book reviews – well, someone has to read ’em in order to write ’em.

The conventions – oh, the conventions! We don’t get to near as many as we’d like, and the ones we do attend – it’s run, runrunrunrunrun to get the interviews, get the photos, shoot the video, run some more, shake hands with the organizers (very very important).

It’s quite a bit to take in sometimes.

Which is why I’m very grateful to have the help that I have. Annaleigh Josephs has really stepped up this past year with the Geekly (which rocks, by the way) along with production of Comic Con Carne, and the contributions by other Meddling Kids – Willow Polson (who’s looking to have a really cool new gig soon…), Debbie Bell, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Adair, Mr. Hager, Mr. Curtis – have really added to the quality/quantity factor of the site. Not only do they bring great insights to the show write-ups, but they also lighten the load a bit for me. And that’s always a good thing.

Have you read any of Mr. Handley’s science articles yet? You should. He’s working on another one now.

Kudos to Rina Mehta for her work on Comic Con Carne, where she’s jumped in with both feet to host a show that sometimes is an info-dump and a half (along with putting up with me…).  And we can’t forget the ladies who make Rina pretty (well. .. more pretty?) – Jen and Heidi – and the guys who have helped make the show pretty – Mr. Parsons with his animation prowess and Mr. Hollingsworth with his music.

And speaking of comics, Mr. Singleton has jumped into the fray to take on the comic books, and so far he’s doing a bang-up job with his reviews.

Of course, you should see the shelves that have all the books that are waiting for reviews. Yes, it’s one of those things that – if I stop to take a breath – I’d feel a little (read that a lot) overwhelmed. But then I come home to a package in the mail – a book or a DVD or a something – that reminds me that what we do here is cool and fun.

So, when someone asks me “When do you sleep?” I just smile and reply, “Sleep? What’s that?”