Sunday, December 31, 2017

No Rest For the Weary

Happy new year, Neighbors!


Once I finished the run of Neighborhood episodes, I know I said I'd be taking a break until the end of the year...but as you can see from the "recent updates" section of the Archive site, that didn't happen.

The last few weeks have given me the chance to tie up some loose ends and take care of some stuff on the back end of the site. Some of those updates that you may not notice unless you look closely include...
  • Combining the "Cameos, mentions, etc" into one general list called "In Pop Culture and Beyond." Ultimately, I'd like to create an index on this site that is a sort of table of contents for anything that a browsing reader may be looking for. Maybe this page will be the springboard for that project-for-another-day. For those of you looking for something specific on the site, there's always the search bar at the top that is quite accurate.
  • I've cleaned up the page with links to purchase episodes through Amazon and also updated the Daniel Tiger episode pages for those episodes newly available for purchase.
  • Speaking of Daniel Tiger, I added the stragegy taught in each episode underneath each episode's title on the episode index page. I figured this would be a convenience for anyone simply browsing the episodes and not looking for a specific strategy.
  • Also, I'm FINALLY caught up on the Daniel Tiger episode summaries. I'd been holding off on those since last May as I wanted to make my way through the run of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood first. It's such a good feeling to be completely up to date on both!
. . .

In an average month, I tend to make 12-15 updates to the Archive site. Looking back at these last two months, I made 56 in November and 48 in December.

Whoa.

. . .

The Neighborhood Archive had a nice mention recently in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. If you missed, click the image below to check it out.


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Here's to 2018! I couldn't be more excited for all that is in store!

Sunday, December 24, 2017

The Neighborhood Archive Blog Returns

When the Neighborhood Archive debuted nine years ago today, it was in the format of a humble blog with coverage of various topics in no particular order and organized in no way at all. Over the next few years, the Archive evolved into the site that it is today -- organized, cross-referenced, and detailed. As social media sites became the hub of discussion and commentary, the blog was ultimately phased out in September of 2013. Since then, the site has continued to grow with no signs of slowing down any time soon -- but I have to admit, I've missed the ability offered by the blog to share commentary and random bits of news that don't necessarily justify an acutal page on the site.


So, Happy Holidays, neighbors! After four years, the blog is returning to the Neighborhood Archive! I don't know how regular posts will be to the blog, but as they appear, I will include them on the main page of the Neighborhood Archive site under the section listing recent updates. There will be a lot to cover this year from Fred Rogers' 90th birthday and the Neighborhood's 50th anniversary to brand new book and film releases.

As for the Neighborhood Archive site itself, we'll be celebrating our 10th year online while I take the information gathered from the 895 episodes to complete the character pages and move into a section detailing the various Neighborhood locations. Of course, I'll continue hunting down Neighborhood trivia and memorabilia to share including many items I've been sitting on while I completed the run of episodes. The podcast is always something that has taken a back seat to other parts of this site, but I'd love to breathe new life into it this year with conversation with former Neighborhood cast/crew members as well as with some of you regarding your thoughts on various Neighborhood topics. In addition to a new season of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, I also hope to increase my efforts to learn more about the Children's Corner and the Neighborhood prior to its national run.

There is so much to look forward to as we say goodbye to 2017 and enter the new year! I hope you'll follow along as we celebrate, remember, and continue to build this online archive of all things Mister Rogers!

Happy holidays, neighbors!