1 Year In

by dannomack

I began this blog on March 24, 2009; which means that yesterday marked one-year since I undertook the daunting task of rekindling my obsession with writing.


In that entry (Consisting of fewer than 400 words, what a BOFFO opener.  Great fucking job, Danno) I laid out what I suppose could be called a mission statement.  I call it that because my thesaurus does not contain a term for "directionless, whiny, ill-formatted drivel that sets the tone for a directionless, whiny, ill-formatted blog".

One sentence in-particular stands out from that entry:
"Every single day, I am going to write something.  Anything.  Stories, opinion pieces, poetry, essays, sonnets, jokes, skits, blah blah blah, I will write SOMETHING every day."
-Me, one year ago today

So, by my math, and allowing for holidays and particularly busy periods at work, this blog should contain something north of 300 entries.  How many have I done, you ask?  Well, including this one you are reading, and the controversial deleted series, I have published.... fourteen (14) entries.  Just barely more than an average of one update per month.  I am my own biggest fan (and I'm your biggest detractor), and even I think that's absolutely pathetic.

My biggest regret of this lackluster year of blogging is the complete dearth of fiction I posted.  I wrote a lot of long-winded insights into my feelings on life, and I think the series on my visits to Church was interesting - even though I took them down - but I truly meant to use this more for fiction than livejournalling.  My reasons for not doing much fiction here are silly, but I actually don't foresee it changing any time soon, unfortunately.

My three most recent entries (iCarly, David Sills, Effexor) have brought more traffic in the last three months than the previous 9 months combined, which could be construed as encouraging as this moves forward.  Still, the last year cannot be called anything but a failure, as traffic was not the goal here, writing regularly was.

So, why did I fail at this goal when it was merely a matter of doing something I love every day?  Well, the problem is: I'm simply not as good at writing as I used to be.  I have no strong opinions about anything, and everything I start I end up deleting because it isn't quite up to my own ridiculous standards (actually those are my ridiculous standards.  Let it be known all across the land that italics Dan rules this blog!).

There is an entry about Roy Halladay which I have started and deleted 5 or 6 times since November.  There is one about Drake and how his success is a condemnation of the "Screwface Nation" Toronto music scene.  There is one about Canada finding its identity in a corporation (Tim Horton's), and how pathetic that is, and there are two or three others... all of which are sitting in my blogging software in draft form, likely never to be published.

So, here is the new plan...

I am going to repackage myself as a blogger.  I am going to actively search out items about which I feel enthused and opinionated and post them here, along with my own thoughts (and mine!).

One thing that makes the blogosphere so interesting is that it has somehow gained a modicum of credibility without any accountability.  What does that mean for me?  It means that I can be reckless with my opinions, I can be irresponsible with my research, and I can be downright libelous should I choose to be.  Oh what fun.  I also have talented friends who I may ask to write things for this blog, because if I am underutilizing my allotted bandwidth, someone else should be allowed to make use of it for their own enjoyment.

I'm also going back to University in the fall, so perhaps this time around I will become an impassioned student advocate and you can all enjoy my libertarian takes on things I see on TVO (yeah, like I'd allow that to happen).

Hugs and kisses,
-Dan
Posted by DannoMack at 3/25/2010 11:52 PM
Categories: Non-Fiction
Tags: blog anniversary 1year year blogosphere birthday
 

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  • 3/26/2010 10:52 AM michelle wrote:
    where are you going to school??
    Reply to this
    1. 3/26/2010 2:26 PM DannoMack wrote:
      Well I hope Trent takes me because I'd like to be able to commute from here so I can keep my job part-time at least.

      The process for going back as a mature student is long and contrived, and the deadline for getting in for the fall is fast-approaching, so I am only applying to the one place for the fall (and hopefully get all the required documents in under the wire, but there's a lot of documents!).  If I don't make it in in time, I'll apply to more than just Trent for the following semester.

      I've been talking to people at the office of the registrar at Trent and it seems promising that if I get everything in on time I shall be accepted.

      I view this as sort of a last chance to be the person I always envisioned myself being at some point down the line, as sad as that may sound to say in one's early 20s.

      Reply to this
  • 3/27/2010 10:20 PM Anonymous wrote:
    "Diary of a Life Bust"
    -Enjoyable!
    Reply to this
    1. 3/28/2010 12:54 AM DannoMack wrote:
      It's a sports metaphor about how much of a roaring failure I am!
      Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

      Reply to this
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