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Culturally Speaking #48: The Year We Had at Me Three

By Sarah Stodola

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Me Three morphed this year from a barely-breathing, posting-occasionally website into a full-fledged daily publication with an offshoot print journal on the way. It happened like this: The editors finished grad school and realized, Ooooh, we have time to work on things now! That’s it.

But our new prolific nature is not the only thing that has changed this year. Will Leitch ended his Life as a Loser column, which at first left us in a state of anxiety over what would not happen to Mondays. But then Mark Grueter stepped in with his column on the presidential race and order was restored. And in the end, Me Three gained infinitely more than it lost this year. Among the highlights were:

--Again, Grueter’s Column on the Presidential Race provided a continuing commentary on what many considered to be the most important election in recent memory. The column also kept readers on their toes, since Grueter never settled for the easy answer.

--Pond Scum: Steve Finbow reached out from across the ocean to bring us the bi-weekly column Pond Scum, which considers everything American from a Brit’s point of view.

--Memoir of a Memoir-Writing Class: Harris Bloom takes us inside a class at the Gotham Writers’ Workshop. What we all learned was that we won’t be taking a class there anytime soon…

--Sugar Spun Sisters: This fall, Darren Kaminsky’s novel Sugar Spun Sisters began appearing every Monday in serialized form. We are all excited to see longer fiction appear on the web in this format.

--RNC Coverage: Mark Grueter and Chris Fara1 headed up to Boston to cover the Republican Convention for Me Three. The results were interesting, and at times frustrating, as Me Three struggled to be seen not as a blog but as a regular old online publication.

--William Sternman became our unofficial Movie Reviewer (now we just need an unofficial book reviewer).

 

Some of our specific favorite pieces of the past year:

Fiction: Crank Call, By Thomas J. Hubschman

McCain and Powell: Honk if You Love the Status Quo, By Mark Grueter

What's Your Issue: Young Republicans Speak Up, By Chris Fara1

Shrek: Entertainment for Half-witted Adults, By Mark Grueter

Fiction: Randy's Part in the Ongoing Thing, By Lee Wilkins

The Top Ten Novel Titles of All Time, By Sarah Stodola

The Value of Cocoa Butter, By Kellye Whitney

"How Could You Ask such a Question:" The Christopher Hitchens Interview, By Mark Grueter

You Once Said: An Interview With Jonathan Ames, By Sarah Stodola

The Terrible Saga of the Nation's First Primary, By Mark Grueter

Culturally Speaking #41: The Prizewinner Edition, By Sarah Stodola

Pond Scum: The Fit and Busted (Or, Understanding America via F. Scott Fitzgerald), By Steve Finbow

Unconventional, Day One: The Unassociated Press Arrives on the Scene, By Chris Fara1

We sincerely hope that you enjoyed the past year as much as we did.  Happy New Year!

Click here for the last Culturally Speaking.

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Sarah Stodola is the Executive Editor of Me Three.  She can be contacted here.

© 2004 Me Three