Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Blogiversary! And a giveaway...sorta...

So, I realized this week that today...January 5th, 2010... is my one year anniversary of blogging!

I would give you some stats for the year but soon realized that would be futile. I didn't post as much as I would have liked to (97X). I don't have many 'official' followers (A whopping 2! lol.) I don't have many google feed subscribers (10) but I've had an impressive sounding amount of visitors (1,097).

The most searched terms for my blog are:

1. "harry potter naked"
2. "te quiero barcelona"

So, I apologize to all the screaming teen girls, perverts, and Spanish speaking people of the world...I'm pretty sure you didn't find what you were looking for.

I've learned a lot this year, by writing this blog and reading so many others' (my google reader is completely obnoxious). I found out that I love to blog and I wish that I could find a full-time job blogging (if you're hiring, please feel free to contact me! ;-) I also discovered that the blogging community is filled with incredible content and extraordinarily interesting and talented bloggers. I would start a list, but that's another post all-together. Look for it soon.

When I realized this anniversary was upon me, I immediately wanted to do a give-away. Because...well...why the heck not! Tyler and I brainstormed a bit and came up with a few amazing prizes:

1. A ROUND TRIP TICKET!! (on the MTA from Brooklyn to Manhattan)
2. A moleskin notebook! (with my notes already in it)
3. Home-made ice cream! (Sent by post)

I soon realized, there wasn't much I could give away. You've seen the stats. This blog isn't exactly pulling in the big bucks. I don't have any sponsors. Shocking, I know. I could give you something out of the kindness of my heart, but let's face it, my heart is kind, but my pockets are not so...er...full. I'd give you a crap-load of free toys (ask me about my day job offline some time :-) but I would promptly get fired. Nobody wants that...

So, I really thought about it. What could I give my loyal followers? All 1,097 of you. (So...half of you wanted to see Harry Potter naked. But that's my favorite stat, ok?)

It surprised me that I didn't think of it sooner. After all, it's what this blog is about.

Without further adieu...

An excerpt from 'He Who Shall Not Be Named'...my work in progress...(A prize will be given if you can find a name for this damn book)

My main character, Elisabeth, and her new friend, Dallas, are on a swing set. At night.

"What about this run-away sister of yours? How’d she get out of going to Northfield?”

“She’s developmentally disabled,” I knew no other way to say it, so I threw out the politically correct term.

“How’d she get to be that way?” he asked.

I realized that very few people asked it like that. It was always what was wrong with her. Or why she was like that. Never how. Which was, of course, the one question I didn’t want to answer. Had never wanted to.

“I guess that’s just the way she is,” I lied.

“So what exactly is wrong with her?” he urged.

“It’s unfair to say there’s something wrong with her,” I said defensively.

Ok. Then what’s right with her?” He offered.

“It’s not as simple as that.”

“I’m sure it’s not. I was just kind of curious.” He was so sincere.

“She just…doesn’t connect with people,” I started pumping my legs harder again, pulling back severely on the chains so that we quickly fell out of sync, “I don’t know how else to say it.”

“Not even with you?”

I considered this, “No.”

“How can that be?”

“You ask it like there’s some kind of answer. If I knew…if people knew, they would fix it.”

“Maybe it’s not meant to be fixed,” he said simply.


I grew frustrated, “You asked me what was wrong with her. When you ask things like that, it assumes that’s something that needs to be set right. I don’t want to make those kind of judgments. I can’t.”

I wanted to concentrate solely on the task at hand, trying to get higher and higher in my swing. In my peripheral vision I saw Dallas’ sneakers as they reached up into the air.

My sincere thanks for reading this blog. I hope someday you get to read this book. :-)

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