Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution
When I first contemplated taking the National Blog Posting Month challenge I figured that it would be much easier than taking the Slim Fast challenge or the Pepsi challenge. And it was. Because blogging is fun AND easy.
So, here we are, 30 days later. Let’s recap the month one last time (by category):
Music Essays
It takes me longer to write music essays than humor essays and as a result of the daily NaBloPoMo schedule I only managed to write 3 music essays this month. But all three were rock solid (get it? “rock” solid!)
The Curious Case of a Band Called Ambrosia, the World’s Only Three-Hit Wonder discusses the weird fact that Ambrosia produced 3x one-hit wonder songs. I still believe that they’re the only band to accomplish such a rare feat.
Album Review: Mark Karan’s “Walk Through the Fire” (2009) attempts to highlight what is perhaps the greatest solo album to come out of the Dead family.
I Hate, John Mayer! discusses the ambivalence (or Mayer-bivalence as I like to call it) that we all feel about Mr. John Mayer.
Original Humor Essays
The train is my muse – or at least it gives me some free time to write silly essays. NaBloPoMo inspired me to tackle some of my favorite subjects and I wrote 12 all-new humor essays this month.
Hey James Beard, what’s with all of the Awards? talks about the endless awards that TV chefs seem to crow about.
Magnum, P.I.’s Short Shorts and the Golden Age of Television talks about my love of cheesy ‘80s TV mysteries and Magnum’s penchant for wearing Daisy Dukes.
Can We Just Give Hawaii and Alaska Back Already? is my argument against non-contiguous states.
The Red Sox Fan’s Guide to Delivering Snappy Responses to Yankees Fans if (when) the Yankees win the World Series was my only way to fight back against the dreaded Stankees winning the World Series.
Will the World Finally Come to an End Already? talks about the many predictions of ‘the end of the world’ that we’ve survived and debunks the 2012 hysteria.
Are We Really Still Bothering With NASA? allows me to rail against the waste of money that is space travel.
I know Your Secret, Crappy New York Diners allows me to rail against the waste of money that is (Greek) diners in NY.
Posts That Could Have or Shouldn’t Have Been allowed me to get out some half-baked ideas, including the popular new game, ‘Gay or British?”
A Handy Little Guide to Choosing the Perfect Place to Stay When Traveling Away from Home explains my love for boutique hotels.
Jets, Rails & Cars: A Handy Little Guide to Choosing the Perfect Mode of Transportation When Traveling Away from Home (not legally affiliated with Planes, Trains & Automobiles) explains my hatred of traveling outside of Greater Boston.
Having a Fine Time Doing Time provides an idealized view of life in prison.
How to Stay Famous talks about celebrity, not-celebrity and how to stay on top.
Classic Humor Essays
I have scores of classic humor essays in the archives and I dipped in whenever I was too busy to write something new (8 times, if you’re keeping score at home.) For those of you who think this is cheating, it’s called National Blog Posting Month, not National Blog Writing Month.
In Search of a Fancy Title? talks about my desire for an impressive salutation.
Freaky Friday Presents: My Psychic Gift is about my very real – and very useless – psychic power.
In Defense of (Fake) Food is a celebration of the foods that we all secretly love.
The 5 Stages of the Company Holiday Party are very real and very relevant for the next few weeks.
Cross-Cultural Intellectual Relativity Theory (C.C.I.R.T.) discusses the unfair advantage that British people get in America due to their brilliant accents.
Strangers I Love: Old Man Jogger is a love letter to a stranger – and the first in a series (look for more, soon!)
A Beard’s Life addresses beards, goatees and soul patches.
Getting Old Ain’t Hard to Do talks about some of the (positive) signs of aging.
Marketing Essays
Upon occasion I write about marketing or media topics and I wrote 2 new marketing essays this month.
“Personal Brand” THIS! was a screed against the “personal branding” movement that’s all over the social media wank-o-sphere these days.
Go Shopping Already, People! was an encouragement for people to hit the stores this holiday shopping season.
Clip Shows
Including this very post, I found yet another way to cut corners this month with 5 recap posts. Yes, they still count as posts.
Summary
3 music essays (10%)
12 original humor essays (40%)
8 classic humor essays (26%)
2 marketing essays (7%)
5 clip shows (17%)
Final Thoughts
I’m glad that I participated in NaBloPoMo, but I’m also glad that it’s over. I think that many people use these types of challenges to create new habits but that’s not really an issue for me. My problem is just having enough time to write. I definitely created more time this month, but I also missed reading my book on the train ride home.
I’m not sure if quality is necessarily related to effort. Some of the most positive responses were for essays (e.g. ‘Having a Fine Time Doing Time’) that I churned out relatively quickly. Then again, it took forever for me to get that Mark Karan review just right and I got a bunch of really special e-mails from that one as well. In other words, I’ve learned nothing about the process of writing, except for the fact that the more you write, the better you get.
I really appreciate all of the comments and e-mails from readers both old and new. Thanks for putting up with me every single day for a whole month. I’ll be resuming a normal posting schedule, which means probably 2-3 posts per week. If you haven’t already, please consider subscribing to the feed here so you’ll know when new essays are posted.
See you next November! (Maybe)
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Thanks as always for reading. You can find all of my NaBloPoMo essays here. Other humor essays are here. Music essays are here. You can subscribe to this blog’s feed here and you can follow me on twitter here. And please tell your friends, enemies, co-workers and relatives to stop by.
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