Alex and I discussed the selection of this week’s theme yesterday, as moving back the Romance theme from this week to last week left a hole in our theme schedule. We had several candidates: “Home Improvement,” “Homebrewing,” and “Interior Design” were all in the cards. None of them were really clicking, however. We’re increasing loathe to step into a theme week under-prepared.

So we’ve decided to free-ball it this week, going completely sans theme, as an opportunity to blog through some ideas and stories that we’ve had waiting in the wings but haven’t quite fit into previous weeks. It also gives us an opportunity to re-tool how we approach the themes, which have been both a unique rubric to work within on the site, but also a liability for reoccurring readership. Many of you have expressed how a theme week in which you have little interest will cause you to stray, stepping away from Dethroner until a particular theme week is over, often neglecting to return the following week.

I love the themes. They are integral to the site and won’t be going anywhere. But there is certainly a better way to integrate the themed content into the rest of the site in a way that will make everyone happy, even if a week’s chosen theme isn’t particularly interesting to everyone. I suspect something as simple as leaving the theme content for the afternoons would do the trick, but your suggestions are welcome, especially if they aren’t retarded.

If you have a tip or a story idea for Dethroner, please feel free to send a tip or drop us a line on AIM, or just add it in directly to this week’s schedule on the wiki. In addition to theme-related links, we also welcome regular submissions to Ask Dethroner and Dapper or Crapper?. Upcoming themes are available for your perusal and suggestion on our Planning Commission Wiki.