A Quote to Start Things Off

""I'd love to go to Santa Fe at some point, Emmett said, but for the time being, I need to go to New York. The panhandler stopped laughing and adopted a more serious expression. Well. that's life in a nutshell, aint it. Lovin' to go to one place and havin' to go to another. Amor Towles in the Lincoln Highway.

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Pictures of Memories I

Pictures of Memories I
Snow kidding! These "kids" now range from 17 to 23

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Goodbye to NaBloPoMO

Each week I tell you about something I have done or I am doing that works for me and link it, appropriately enough, to the Works For Me Wednesday post at We Are That Family. This is not one of those posts. In fact, if you ever see a post for National Blog Posting Month (NABLOPOMO) at Works For Me Wednesday, rest assured, it will not be mine. Let me tell you why NABLOPOMO does not work for me.

Blogging each day, every day, for a month, seems simple enough and it fits some peoples' blogging style to a tee. Life happens one day at a time and for some it is useful, even cathartic to post daily. That's not how I roll. I'm a catahrsis smatharisis kind of guy. My blog is less a journal and much more a variety show. I am part Ed Sullivan, part David Letterman, part Bill Murray making up his own words to show tunes on Saturday Night Live. (Star Wars, The sequel to Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, They're at it again)*

Variety shows are on at most 5 days a week and generally just 1. It's exhausting to put quality infotainment out 7 days a week.

Another reason why blogging everyday cramps my style is that my blog is about my life. Attempting NaBloPoMO made my life revolve around my blog. My wife took me on a secret surprise date, the night before Valentines Day. My first reaction was, when I am going to write my post?? I put something of no consequence together and went out with my wife. Now, if your blog is your variety show, why would you ever put on a sketch that was of no consequence?

Last Saturday morning I did a number of chores around the house. When they were completed, I took a shower and started getting ready for a nice weekend with the family. The first thing I thought of was "I have 8 more posts before February is over and I only know what 3 of them are going to be!!" Showering is about getting clean, thinking of jokes, and calculating the White Sox Magic number (163), when blog panic sets in, that's not a shower, that's a wake-up call!

Finally, blogging each and every day makes me use material faster than I am comfortable with. I generally have 3-5 blog ideas in my arsenal at all times. Blogging everyday has a tendency to leave the cupboard bare. I have heard that people who lived through the great depression, had a tendency to hoard food for the rest of their life. Having suffered in the past with writers block, I tend to hoard ideas for fear of a recurrence. If I continued to blog everyday for the next few months, I'd be doing beauty tips and recipes.

For the most part I enjoyed NABLOPOMO. I ended up posting 29 times in a 28 day month. I will try it again in a few months. Maybe by that time I will find a way to make it work for me.

* Sung to the tune of Star Wars

Next Time: Useless Stats: Face Book

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

:) just smiling dave, you have me smiling :)

Anonymous said...

I very much understand the panic behind posting every day. We have enough responsibilities - to people who actually KNOW us!

But I love the way you describe your blog - infotainment. Brilliant!

jugglingpaynes said...

LOL! What you've said is exactly why I don't do NaBloPoMo. Too much pressure. When would I have time to write my comics?

Oh right. And spend time with my family? I was just going to say that...

Peace and Laughter!

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