There’s no doubt about it, 2017 has been a weird year in ways big and small. There were tons of divisive political stories, of course, and a solar eclipse that briefly brought everyone back together. Apple also released a cool new iPhone that is way too expensive, and the new Star Wars movie turned out to be quite polarizing. As I said, a weird year, but at least things here at the Pens and Junk blog have been good & steady.

This last year, I managed to publish thirty-three new posts, and the site subsequently saw a modest 11.4% uptick in traffic. Not too bad.

My pick for 2017 Pen of the Year is a tough one, however. Retro 51’s Bioworkz Tornado and Hex-o-Matic both get honorable mentions, but, ultimately, the emerald-green Squire Experiment by Baron Fig takes my top slot. It’s a bright and beautiful pen, and it’s no surprise that it sold out immediately.

In 2018, the blog will march on. I’ve never liked making New Year’s resolutions, so I thought I’d try a list of goals instead. So, here’s some of what I’ll hopefully accomplish on Pens and Junk this year:

1. I need to fix all the times I misspelled stationery as “stationary.” That one should be simple.
2. Finish my Nib Novice Series. I’m so close to being done.
3. Do a minor site redesign. It’s time.
4. Do something for charity. I have a couple ideas, though suggestions are always welcome.
5. Write more book reviews, two or three off-topic posts, and create some index pages to help with organization. That seems straight-forward enough.

And as always, I don’t want to forget about all the non-pen stuff to look forward to in 2018:

I’m pretty excited about that Han Solo movie (though I will tempter my expectations), as well as a new Avengers movie.  And of course there will be more – too much! – good TV to watch, the new seasons of Jessica Jones and Westworld in particular. I also still have to figure out who I’m rooting for in the 2018 World Cup and which Winter Olympics events to follow (maybe curling?).

And will this be the year George R.R. Martin finally releases the next book in the Game of Thrones (i.e. A Song of Ice and Fire) series? Probably not. But let’s not let that put a damper on our year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2018!