A few things.

I KNOW!  It’s been a long time.  I just haven’t really had anything to say.  I don’t know how often I’ll be updating, but I’m around and I’m chugging along on one thing or another, and I love it when people stop by and say hi.

A few things I have learned in my over-2-month absence:

Presented without comment

Adam Lambert’s 2012 music video.

Except: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

An end-of-the-world compromise

A lot of commenters have been asking to read my thesis in its entirety – an epic undertaking at the best of times. When I wrote it, I never expected more than my advisers and my parents to read it, so the prospect is pretty awesome. However. It’s over 100 pages long, and a good portion of those pages were written in the last week before my thesis was due on no sleep, and at least some of it has to read like the ravings of a madwoman. I haven’t gone back and read it yet for that reason. I’m going to work on editing it into something acceptable, but until then, I have my thesis presentation, which is sort of a 20-minute version of the 120 pages of the original thesis. The video of me reading my thesis presentation is here (I have a better version lying around somewhere, but I can’t find it right now), and the full text is after the jump – but be warned, it’s nearly 15 pages long.

A Beginner’s Guide to the End of the World

Eschatology – the study of last things, specifically the apocalyptic beliefs of world religions.  (Don’t ask me to pronounce it.  I don’t know how.  I faked it through my thesis presentation, but no one ever called me on it, so I don’t think anyone else does, either.)

I didn’t really spend much time on religious apocalyptic beliefs in my thesis (the Oxford Handbook of Eschatology is over 1000 pages – I’d never have gotten to the sci-fi part) but I did write up sort of a primer on religious beliefs so I’d be able to see the roots of the modern patterns.  They’re all short little entries (only a couple hundred words long, usually) about the eschatological beliefs of most of the major religons (ancient and modern) of the world.

So, for your edification and reading pleasure: A Beginner’s Guide to the End of the World.

Guest-blog at io9!

At long last, my post about trends in apocalyptic literature in up on io9, complete with a gorgeous chart by their graphic designer, Stephanie Fox.  (for comparison, that picture above’s what mine looked like.  excel basics only for me.)  Check it out!

Also, I’m going to try to get some more posts up about apocalyptic lit today and tomorrow.  This little blog’s been woefully neglected recently – I’m trying to get a job, etc. etc. the real world sucks!  In the meantime, check out this post and this post.

Haunted house!

So, the nearly two-week silence from me recently?  This is what I’ve been doing: a haunted house. I was in charge of all the detail painting, which translated into mostly putting blood splatters on everything.  (me and my evil baby clown are muggin up above.)  It was the most fun I’ve ever had while getting paid.  I took some pictures and just put them up on flickr here.  There’s also a gallery after the jump (though honestly, flickr has a much better format and the pictures are bigger).  Check them out!

Choose Your Own Apocalypse

Here’s another reference that I made up in the early stages of my research on apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic literature: a full breakdown of every way the world can possibly end, ever.  Click the image above for a full version.  The quality’s a little crappy.