Who’s up for a year-in-review blog recap? OK, put your hands down. I’ve gained a lot of new readers in recent months, so this might be a great opportunity for you to find some of the stuff you may have missed.

Regular readers? Stay tuned until the end. It’s your chance to give your own opinion about any of your best-loved or not-liked-at-all posts.

January
In January I shared my goals for the year and revealed why I tend to do a lot of fitness-related stuff. I was briefly interested in the fake novel being written by Fake Jason Boyett on Twitter (who was actually me and not some interloper, and who hasn’t tweeted in months). I admitted the surprising things I have NOT done. I live-tweeted President Obama’s inauguration and riffed on his “abundance of caution” misfire.

And I gave an overview of the books I have written (prior to the new Pocket Guides). If you are new to this site or my writing, follow that link. It’s a good introduction.

February
I complained about Christians and the service industry, a post that got a fair number of agreeable comments. I gave in to the “25 Things About Me” Facebook meme, only I didn’t do it on Facebook. I did it here. I discussed killing my babies as a writer. Then I got on a Jonathan Edwards kick, and this “Jonathan Edwards or Death Metal” quiz was one of my favorite posts of the year (Here are the answers). I waxed ineloquently about changing classic Star Wars quotes by inserting the word pants, as in “These aren’t the pants you’re looking for,” then I took the same approach with lines from a classic Jonathan Edwards sermon. I re-posted about how a Baptist (me) began observing Lent.

March
I made the jump to full-time self-employment in March, which was a major leap for me in terms of my career. We celebrated Square Root Day, a nerd holiday. I pointed to an awesome video about the lack of quality breakfast foods in Heaven. I then pointed to my own video of me speaking about spiritual weakness, using an illustration that made its way into O Me of Little Faith. I confessed that, yes, I had just finished reading the entire Twilight series and, yes, I had enjoyed it. So there.

Then, on March 25, I posted about a Jesus painting that both mesmerized and confounded me: Please Explain This Christian Art. It led to charges of snobbery against me (guilty) and a great discussion about the purpose and practice of art. I am still getting comments today about this post…including one a couple months ago by the artist himself (Steven Sawyer). While I know some people have a problem with me questioning the “heart” or intent of a spiritually minded artist, I still think it’s a goofy, clumsy painting. But perhaps I’m the wrong beholder of its beauty. Let’s agree to disagree, people.

April
I asked “How important is your little toe?” What, if anything, would be worth its voluntary amputation? Got some interesting responses. I returned to Jonathan Edwards, mashing him up with the gentle humor of Family Circus. I explained book endorsements and interviewed Rabbi Josh about Birkat Ha-Chamah. I asked for ideas about a church that might have $20,000 extra a month to spend on its community. We asked God our big questions and I made 10 confessions. Then we had a great caption contest about an inspirational kitten.

May
I told a children’s version of the Old Testament story of Ehud. It was not pretty. In the midst of the original swine flu frenzy, I presented 10 Stats More Important than Swine Flu. I pontificated about the glorification of Carrie Prejean and other bad Christian ideas. I introduced the Five-Sentence Scary Story Contest, one of my favorite contests to date. I quoted President Obama on faith and doubt, then went to LA to be interviewed about the apocalypse for a Mad Max DVD documentary extra.

June
I revealed my love for June (the month, as opposed to any human Junes). I got reviewed in Publisher’s Weekly. I posted a scary Jehovah’s Witness cartoon of Jesus destroying the world. I cannarf-reviewed Jesus, Interrupted by Bart Ehrman. I discovered that a photo of married American Idol winner Kris Allen was appearing in an ad for Christian singles on my site. I posted about a hilarious cosmetic line called Lookin’ Good for Jesus. I repurposed a Slate contest and invited you to name your own toy-based summer movie. Then I interviewed myself for my own blog. Wasn’t the first time I’d done that…and it won’t be the last.

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Your turn: What was your favorite post of January-June 2009? Which post do I need to explain, apologize for, or completely retract?

Stay tuned next week for a blog recap of the rest of 2009.