Nicsperiment Readers, I Am Still Alive!

Back in March of 2024, my wife of nearly 18 years asked me for a divorce. I was emotionally devasted for several months, but came to terms with the situation and immediately pivoted to planning out the rest of my life. One major element of the future felt obvious: I did not want to remain in the capital city of Baton Rouge, which has never felt like home. There are things I like there. 

The LSU campus. 

The yearly Louisiana marathon. 

But East Baton Rouge Parish is my former wife's home. It isn't mine. Mine lies across and up the river, sugar cane fields, pecan orchards, and scattered forests, spread out villages and a handful of small towns. 

Pointe Coupee Parish. 

But then I had to figure out where in Pointe Coupee I wanted to live. An obvious answer immediately came to my mind: my grandparents' old house in Glynn, Louisiana. Twenty years ago, when I spoke here of finding some employment that summer as a painter, it was this very house that I painted, as the house was being rented out by my father and his siblings. Now, twenty years later, it is my home. However, I've had to spend the last month making the house livable for my son and me, which delayed the completion of many of the artistic projects I had been working on over the course of 2024. One of those projects was my dedication to the 25th anniversary of 1999, and much of the content found its way here. I hope to finish that project over the next month. Another is my yearly "favorite albums of the year list," which I generally post to The Nicsperiment on the final day of every year. I hope to have that up here, along with my yearly reading list, over the next month, as well. With all of that wrapped up, I can dive into my planned content for 2025, including the follow-up to the most popular entry I've ever posted, last year's recap of The Sopranos first season. I will begin recapping the second season next month, for its own 25th anniversary. I have a lot of other fun writing planned for here, which will cover a much more varied range of topics this year, and won't follow a general theme like last year did, when my focus was firmly on 1999. 

Anyway, that's all for now. I hate anytime there is a prolonged period of inactivity here, though I also think I must have one of the longest-running, consistently updated blogs out there. The Nicsperiment lasted through the 00s blogging fad, and now has several pages that are the first results in Google searches. Google "Disney Star Wars Sucks," and what do you get? After Reddit suggestions, The Nicsperiment is the first result. Google "The Sopranos Season One Review." The first result, after Reddit suggestions, is The Los Angeles Times' recap of the series. The second is The Nicsperiment. The third is Rotten Tomatoes recap' of the season. Rotten Tomatoes rejected my reviewing credentials six years ago, and now I show up before them in a Google search. That is so cool. 

I am so pleased with the longevity and success of this blog. The Nicsperiment turned out to be everything I wanted it to be when I created it in December of 2004. Considering we've just hit 20 years here, I hope to make this year on The Nicsperiment extra special. Thank you, as always, for reading.
Here is s a picture of my new Pointe Coupee backyard and the surrounding fields.
To a great 2025 for us all!
-The Nicsperiment