The final weeks of 2005 marked a period of fervent reading, if not fervent posting. Time to honor the resolution of writing more frequently in 2006. But first, a brief review of bits of culture that came to an end.

A moment of silence, please, for the death of ?the old Mainstream Mass Culture,? which gave way to the rise of ?new, fragmented technoculture,? and, more importantly, the ?empowerment of the American consumer ? which isn’t quite the same as the American citizen?; ?the beginning of the end of serendipity,? thanks to that ability to customize culture; and don?t forget the mainstream media itself.

Farewell to great TV theme songs — and the formely reasonable expectation that you?ll know everything about a TV character if you watch every episode.

Goodbye to Renee Graham, who ended her ?Life in the Pop Lane? column with a look back at memorable moments of 2005 and ?those folks who through their remarkably stupid, illegal, and publicity-hungry actions made writing this column so easy for the past six years.?

Literary theory might be dead; then again, it might be invincible (the twists and turns are duly noted); lunch boxes, on the other hand, are most definitely dying out.

Some lamented the death of coverage — and context — of daily life in New Orleans; others said goodbye to New Orleans, period. Meanwhile, the Times-Picayune proudly displayed journalistic passion.

Wishes for 2006: Recognition for women and minorities working in media; the Christian right will come on, get happy; pop culture will reflect real-world choices; and no politician will score a book deal that involves writing bad sex scenes.

Plus: In ?Me and You and Everything We Watched,? David Edelstein — who unfortunately left Slate for New York magazine — introduced his final Movie Club Discussion (featuring Scott Foundas of the LA Weekly, Jonathan Rosenbaum of the Chicago Reader, and A.O. Scott of the New York Times) on this optimistic note:

In an age in which the true workings of the world are either concealed from us or repressed by us, in which language is used to obfuscate more often than enlighten, it’s a tonic to find cinema, the most hypnotic and demagogic of media, doing its bit to bring us back to reality. 2005 was a year in which the most potent critiques of our popular culture came from within ? a glint of hope in a darkening age.

I’m off to the movies. Happy New Year.