And You Can Check Me [3STU]

At the beginning of the year, I had 10 Sherlockian resolutions for 2019.  Since we are half way though the year, I figured now is a good time to check my progress.  Looking back on them, I'm pleased with some of my progress, not sure how to accomplish some, and am overall happy to be swimming in Sherlockian waters no matter my progress.

1. Read 20 canonical stories
So far this year, I've read:
The Musgrave Ritual
The Speckled Band
The Red-Headed League
The Crooked Man
The Three Garridebs
The Six Napoleons
The Devil's Foot
The Engineer's Thumb
The Man with the Twisted Lip

So 9.  I'm a little behind pace, but this is one that will be fun to catch up on!

2. Submit an article to the Baker Street Journal
I submitted a piece earlier this year.  The piece was a toast from a scion meeting and the BSJ doesn't publish toasts anymore, so it was a no go.  Oh well, there's always next time...

3. Finish my current Sherlockian book manuscript
I'm making progress on this.  I have finished writing my first draft and am now moving on to editing.  I enjoy editing and revising much more than the writing part, so hopefully I can pick up some momentum with this. 

4. Encourage new leadership in The Parallel Case of St. Louis
This one is hard to quantify.  We have blog posts by individual members happening throughout the year now.  Joe Eckrich wrote about his Sherlockian collection and Stacey Bregenzer posted history of the royal family which were both very well received and very popular.  Holmes in the Heartland is happening again next year, and the planning committee for that is doing some great work right now.  Where do we go from here?  Who knows, but I have great "expectancies for the future"!

5. Encourage St. Louis Sherlockian social interactions
This one was a pretty lofty goal.  Going to have to keep chipping away at this one.

6. Holmes in the Heartland 2020
Oh HELL yeah, this is happening!  Look for the date to be announced next weekend.  We already have some speakers lined up, and the venues are going to be even better than 2018.  I wish I could say more, but I've been sworn to secrecy...

7. Add to the St. Louis Sherlockian Research Collection
We've added a few titles to the collection this year, and I have been given carte blanche to spend money in the Dealer's Room at the Minnesota conference next month.  I'm gonna buy LOTS of books!

8. Get visitors to the St. Louis Sherlockian Research Collection
Nope.  No idea how to do this yet.

9. Use the collection for my own research
I had hoped to spend a day in the Research Collection this summer for some scholarly articles that I've been kicking around.  Unfortunately, my children's book project, Holmes in the Heartland, and another book project I'm working on have taken up most of my Sherlockian research time.  I would love to say that it's still going to happen, but at this point it doesn't look too realistic.

10. Keep blogging!
I almost quit earlier in the year and turned this into a monthly interview blog without my individual posts in between.  But I'm still here.  And enough people read the blog each week that I can justify putting stuff out there.  So to those of you who keep coming back week after week, thanks!  I'll keep coming back each week, too.