Coming (and Going) Soon

I already said something on Twitter and Facebook, but my new website will be launching on May 8th. Around that time, I’ll be bringing this site down so I can reinvent it. The archives will be gone, though I’m sure I’ll repost some things and revisit other topics with a new perspective. This whole thing is about a fresh start, and I can’t really do that with three and a half years of baggage. I have no re-launch date for stanmanx.com, but you’ll be so enthralled by thisismattswebsite that you won’t mind.

thoughts on Heroes (seasons 1-2)

Note: I’m not making any effort to avoid spoilers, so if you’re like me and haven’t been watching for the last few years, you might want to leave now.

I am three episodes into the third season of Heroes. I’ve been hearing for a while that the show tanks halfway through the second season and just kind of sucks from then on. My experience has been different.

The first season was amazing, which I’m pretty sure people will agree with. However, I also really enjoyed the second season, but I can see where other people would start to lose interest. It seems that, due to the writers’ strike, the show was rushed to a close. Eleven episodes is not enough time to tell the same type of story that the first season had.

For example, it was jarring when Dr. Suresh told Bob that he had been working with Bennett. It was obvious that Suresh was conflicted once Molly got involved, so it wasn’t necessarily out-of-character for him to tell the truth, but it seemed like it was too soon.

Likewise, when Niki injected herself with the virus to stop herself from injecting Bob or Nathan, it wasn’t the wrong action for that character, but it wasn’t quite ready to come out of the oven.

I think the biggest disappointment for me was that once Takezo Kensei/Adam Munroe was shown to be a bad guy, there was no further twist that changed that. The “I’ve seen history and it has made me crazy” thing was kind of a weak place to take that character, and it would have been nice to see something a little deeper. Heck, even if he did ultimately end up being a villain, it would have been nice if they’d kept me guessing longer. But there was a writers’ strike and they couldn’t do that.

Which brings us to the third season. The first three episodes have been intense: Future Peter is screwing up time, Sylar has Claire’s healing ability, Angela is in charge of The Company, a rift is forming between Hiro and Ando, Matt was ported to Africa, and Mohinder has given himself powers. It’s a house of cards, and the rest of the season could bring it down.

I guess I’m cautiously optimistic. I’ve enjoyed more of the series than many people have, so there’s a good chance I’ll continue to enjoy it. It also helps that I’m watching it in chunks — I think season two may have been more frustrating if I had to wait a week between episodes before facing the disappointments I mentioned above. As I experienced them, they were just minor bumps in an otherwise smooth road.

Who are you?

I’ve been asking this question of myself for a while. A lot has changed in the last few years, and especially in the last few months, and one of the side effects has been a growing disconnect from this blog. I don’t mean that I post less, which is also true, but that I have a hard time getting into “StanManX” mode (which is what causes the less frequent posting).

What is StanManX?
It’s a name that grew out of a very small number of people calling me “Stan”. I use it as my gaming handle. It became my internet identity because I would sign up for stuff that my gamer friends used, and it just sort of made sense to keep it consistent across all web stuff, even the non-game stuff.

However, people at work call me “Stan”. That’s because the friend that got me hired called me Stan. It irks me, though, because there are people I strongly dislike calling me by a name that was previously only used by people I had a ton of respect for.

Who is StanManX?
I use the name primarily for gaming, but also on this Christian music forum I used to visit much more regularly than I do now. The entire identity of StanManX consists of playing games, talking theology, and ranting about how the Christian music industry is dumb. More recently (‘08-’09), people in the Flint NaNoWriMo group know me as “stanmanx”, but even they start calling me “Matt” when we meet face to face.

StanManX is this guy who plays games, talks theology, and rants against the Christian music industry. He’s also not me.

Okay… Now what?
In a few weeks, I’ll be bringing this site down until I can figure out what to do with it. It will coincide with the launch of something new, something more in line with the person I am and the person I want to be.

So, who are you?
My name is Matt. I play games and talk theology. I also love music, especially making my own. I’m learning how to design websites. Lately I eat a lot more raw food than I used to, and I’ve been much healthier for it. I love my wife. I have amazing friends.

And I’m sure there is more stuff that I’ll figure out when I stop trying to be StanManX.

Are you going to post more at the new site?
That’s the plan. Honestly, it’s not that I’m out of ideas or time, it’s that I’ve been having a really hard time getting “in character” to post here. By that, I don’t mean that I’m being inauthentic when I post here, just that I expect myself to write with a particular style that no longer comes easy to me and isn’t always appropriate for what I want to talk about. At this new place, the whole point is being true to who you are, so a change of tone won’t feel wrong.
What’s happening to stanmanx.com?
I haven’t decided yet. I’d love to keep it as an outlet for my cranky gamer side, but it needs some downtime first.