Geek Speak – End Game

by Daniel

Pretentious photos by Daniel J. Hogan.

As they saying goes, “All good things must come to an end.” Well, that is true of mediocre things too.

Yes, Ginger and the Geek is coming to an end.

Our last show will be next week (recorded live next Tuesday evening). We rounded up some of our most notorious guests for the send off, so it should be a good listen.

Why is the show ending?

Plenty of reasons.

The main reason is, the show was a lot of work for something Kat and I were not getting paid to do (including my additional duties of editing/uploading each podcast, writing scripts, maintaining the website, and a hundred other little things. Kat had the Herculean duty of putting up with me each week).

Sure, our cost wasn’t much, just time, but these days, time is really expensive (like that Timberlake sci-fi movie? I think it was called Time is Really Expensive). I figured, since I am going to be sharing my life with someone else soon, I should probably free up more time.

Yes, the show was fun, and I shall miss it, but it was a lot of stress too. After about three years (give or take) of a regular talk show promoting Lansing’s people and places, I’m spent. Burned out. Tired. So very tired, like the Call Me Maybe meme.

The point of the hiatus over the summer was to see if a) any one noticed or cared and b) if Kat and/or I missed the show. The answer to both was ‘not really.’

Toward the end, I felt like, show-wise, we were spinning our wheels and we weren’t really attracting any new listeners. Each show became more and more like a chore, and when something you do just for fun isn’t fun anymore, it is time assess the situation.

The Future

Originally, Kat and I planned to keep the blog side of Ginger and the Geek going, but now that is not the case.

Kat’s fashion blogging is taking off, to the point where I would have to redo gingerandthegeek.com to make it more friendly for her audience. Being practical, I suggested to Kat it might be time for her go off on her own. I’m fine with that, honestly, because it frees up more time for me to go off on my own direction too: focusing on writing humor blogs and drawing comics for clattertron.com, and finishing the fantasy novel I have been working on for the past year.

I haven’t really been focused, or even happy, with my Geek Speak blog here for some time. The other upside is, with Ginger and the Geek done, I will have more time to contribute to other sites on a monthly basis, like Lost Highway and The Idler.

I will keep gingerandthegeek.com up though, so the old blog posts and podcasts are not going anywhere. Likewise, we will keep blogging here until Kat is ready to move on, which could take some time.

Final Curtain

I want to take the time to thank everyone who was a fan of the show and blog, and who helped us over the years. Big thanks to Belinda at Lansing State Journal, and the Lansing NOISE crew, for helping us get started. Super-big thanks to Dom, Luke, Jason, Casey, Dan, and Faith at Lansing Public Media Center. Ultra-super-big thanks to Melik for stepping up and helping us with the show these past few months.

Of course, a mega-ultra-super big thanks to Kat. It has been a fun trip these past few years my dear, and I’m still so very happy you agreed to sign on for this crazy trip. I may be losing a show, but I am keeping a great friend.

Speaking of crazy, thank you to the Once and Future Mrs. J. Hogan, Stephanie, for putting up with my Ginger and the Geek related shenanigans/melt downs/other nonsense for the past few years. I know it hasn’t been easy at times, but I was always thankful to have you in my corner and, because I will never heard the end of it if I don’t mention this, thank you for suggesting I ask Kat to team up for a show in the first place.

The last, and most important thanks goes to our fans. Yes. All three of you, thank you.

Jokes aside, thank you for listening, for reading, for commenting, and everything. Without your support and feedback, Ginger and the Geek would not have lasted as long as it did.

Spin-Offs

For those dreading the loss of my golden NPR drone, well, fear not. This past Saturday, I took part in the first ever Lost Highway B-movie podcast. If everything goes to plan, we will do a new show once a month (and I’m just the ‘talent’ side of this one. All I have to do is phone in on Skype and ramble). UPDATE: Our first outing, a high brow discussion of the 1982 classic, The Thing, is online now.

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Daniel J. Hogan is the Geek half of Ginger and the Geek.  Read his comic and humor blog, Clattertron. Follow Daniel on Twitter, @danieljhogan.