Thursday, June 14, 2007

Behind the Scenes at Blogger Central


On the occasion of my 100th post, I thought it would be fun to reflect on the first 100 days. (Didn't they do this for JFK?) And I want to give you a little snapshot on how this all gets put together every day.

The main objective of starting this sucker was to develop some sort of daily writing regimen that forced me to be creative every day. Well, mission accomplished. Sort of. The true mark of any writer is the ability to procrastinate and get around the process of writing every day. In that respect, mission accomplished as well.

Yes, there's been a post every single day. And, yes, I am including those Monday video laughs, because it requires me to show some creativity in finding those blasted things. But, indeed, over the past 100 days, there have been whole chunks of weeks where I have not been able to write a thing. At the same time, there are some days when the mind is extremely fertile. It didn't take me long to figure out that I could store future posts as drafts and use them for those days when the mental tank is empty.

Certain posts, when written, are deemed as "evergreen." There is a subject matter that can be relatively timeless. That goes into the so-called can for future use. There have been several posts that sat awaiting turns for more than a month. Because, despite my sincere intentions to use them, somebody opens their mouth or something screwy happens in the world...and I can't resist.

I've written these things at home. I've written in the office. I've written in New York. I've written in Logan Airport when I was delayed for five hours. I have taken to carrying index cards with me, so I can jot down a funny line as soon as I think of it. I start compiling those Wednesday rants on the preceding Saturday and update them right up until Wednesday morning.

I find myself being more attentive to the world around me. I read the morning paper a bit more closer. And I find myself questioning the things around me more than usual. So, along with the increased creativity skills, my mind is getting exercises of other types as well. And the latter is always a terrible thing to waste, regardless of whether you contribute to the United Negro College Fund. (Did they just disband that or is it now known as the United African-American College Fund?)

An unexpected by-product was an enhancement of my computer talents. The first few posts were extremely primitive: they should have been drawn on the walls of caves. But, I finally got my chops down on how to use this blog site, which can be funky. I learned how to space paragraphs correctly. Loading pictures has been a breeze, but embedding videos less so. And, I have twice accidentally deleted whole drafts of posts, which I painstakingly had to recreate. In both cases, the final result was actually funnier than the original.

I never intended to do a posting daily. But, somehow, like Ranch-flavored Ruffles, I can't stop. The day is never complete without sending something through. Early on, I did more than one per day. That has stopped. Too much of me can be...too much of me.

Of course, as much as I write in advance, I do have to add the requisite dinner last night, because I am not so anal that I actually know what I will eat weeks in advance.

By the way, this whole post was written three weeks ago.

Dinner last night: grilled bratwurst and french fries at Dodger Stadium.







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