Direction of the Blog in the New Year

Happy New Year! I cannot say for certain that it will be a good one, but it will certainly be an interesting one! Since my return from the Peace Corps in Madagascar, this blog has become a hodgepodge of postings on my travels, graduate school, Madagascar, development, the Peace Corps, events I attended, environmental issues, etc.(and lots of collections of links). I enjoy this freedom to discuss a variety of topics, and will probably with such a mixture of topics. But if you have any suggestions moving forward, please let me know via email or the comments section (or Twitter!). While the blog will continue to be a somewhat random collection of issues, here are a few things you can expect:

-1 post per week average. I am really going to try for this, with some weeks seeing more than 1 post and others less. I may also start writing more frequent, shorter posts.
-Plenty of writing about "development," from small-scale implementation to tools to books to grandiose ideas. Most of my thoughts have been focused on school-related projects, but I am hoping to use this semester to flesh out ideas and concepts from my classes in more detail here. Also probably more recaps of events I attend, if only because there are some cool talks and symposiums that you might not hear about otherwise.
-More about Madagascar. With the "upcoming" elections (some day), the issues of Madagascar will be of continual interest to me (for instance, Madagascar was just denied a renewal of AGOA again). Also, it does not seem like many people outside Madagascar are really writing about the challenges and successes there.
-More about other issues in Africa, especially areas I am studying (such as Malawi). Malawi, recently a poster-child for development successes, is quickly turning into a pariah among donors...
-Once I solidify my summer internship location, I will write more about that experience (before, during, and after). It will definitely be in a developing country, and may be at a Millennium Village site, which means I may be unwittingly dragged into that debate (well it is not so much a "debate" in the blogosphere, as most are in opposition to the MVP, so I will start preparing my McAfee Snark-blocker software now...)
-Sports? I am unsure about this one; I enjoy all sports, but have trouble working them in here. Perhaps with the Olympics next summer...? In the meantime, if you have interest in Notre Dame sports (and hopefully eventually soccer/football/etc.), two of my best college buddies have a nascent sports blog they are working on here.
-Politics. Like it or not, 2012 will be the year of the 29-hour-a-day election news cycle in the US (FoxNews  fairly and balanced-ly). I will probably limit myself to international development and other international policy, and even then I am just an average person pointing out some interesting aspects of the race. For instance, with Ron "Cut all foreign aid" Paul poised to have a nice showing in Iowa tonight, I found this article an excellent read. I am not sure I will fully reevaluate my standing as a progressive-type, but Paul provides a useful voice in these often same-sounding political debates (reminds me of Nader in 2000... Not a realistic Presidential option but a fresh voice in the wilderness. Here is a music video showing the similarities of the two mainstream candidates back then, and while we are here, a music video a decade ahead of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Obviously, my digressions are not going anywhere in 2012).

So that is it for now. Until school starts again in a few weeks, I am enjoying the novelty of reading for pleasure instead of as work. I recently received a Kindle and have been reading that way (it is awesome, but I will miss "real" books). I am mixing non-fiction and fiction interests; so far I read Krakauer's take-down of Greg Mortensen and now have started the Hunger Games trilogy... other books on my to-read list include Drezner's Theories of International Politics and Zombies, Poor Economics (or maybe More than Good Intentions?), and Harry Potter in French (seems like a fun way to keep working on the language). Also, the pleasure of movies and tv: I recently saw Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (awesome, if you like confusing spy movies) and have been working through Parks and Rec (also awesome). And I need to finish Game of Thrones... But enough rambling...

Happy Apocalypse Year!