I can't keep up a schedule of three updates a week. I missed a full week, due to several different reasons, but I can't keep updating three times a week. I honestly can't. There are a couple of reasons for this.
Interesting, notable stuff just doesn't happen to me that often. Honestly. Most of my days can be summarized by saying "I woke up rather late, went to class, met someone I knew, talked for a while, ate, returned home, messed around a lot on the Internet, bummed around in my dorm, and went to bed." Coming up with things to write about was getting increasingly difficult. This isn't helped by the fact that I set a bad precedent early on for writing enormous blog entries that spanned multiple pages, and was now forced to come up with filler stuff and describe what seem like, to me, very boring activities, just to fill up space.
That's just it - the whole blog was getting increasingly difficult to write. You may have noticed, all six of you that read this, that updates were getting steadily more sporadic in the last few weeks/months. I'd say weeks. The answer to that is that it started feeling like a chore, like something I had to do. There were times when I dreaded having to sit down and come up with a couple of pages of stuff that would be even mildly entertaining to read about. And that's really not the point of this exercise at all. It's supposed to be fun, you know? The funness has declined considerably recently. It almost feels like an annoying, recurring homework assignment.
So I present to you a couple of options for the future of this blog. I'll let the readers, such of you as there are, decide. (Note: Anyone who reads this blog but doesn't often [or ever] comment, well, now's the time. I need to know these things.)
1. I can keep the update schedule as it is, and even update it more often, four or five days a week - but each update will be far shorter than the past ones have been, ranging from about a page on the outside to just a couple of paragraphs on the inside.
2. I can keep the length the way it is, but reduce my update calendar to once a week. A week is about long enough for me to accumulate enough interesting stuff to write about. (And yes, the Increasingly Inaccurately Named Weekly Luke Report flashbacks are beginning, but if I say once a week updates, I mean once a week updates.)
Either way, I'll try to put up a short story of mine about once a week. I've been writing a bunch of them lately, and some of them should be published. Some of them, I don't ever want people to see them. But some need to be seen, so I'll post 'em up about once a week. I may skip weeks without warning or provocation. But that's the way it is.
Bad news, I know, but this is how it has to be. It doesn't help that several different forces are conspiring to rob me of my free time. Between my increasingly-maddeningly-difficult Writing for Mass Communication class, my running around trying to secure the job at Rock104 (oh, on that regard, Mr. Guscott says that when I bring him one more tape, on Friday morning, if it's good, he'll give me a beginning shift right then and there. Woot!), and various and sundry other tasks that are eating up my spare time, I find myself lacking the time to post long, frequent updates, anyway.
(I'll still do these.) The Luke-Approved YouTube Link of the Day is probably going to be (well, it is) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q_iqrvnC_4 I didn't know The Onion even had a TV news network, but here they are, talking about how the US gave billions in foreign aid to Andorra before realizing that it was not, in fact, a war-torn African country, but a wealthy European principality. Good stuff.
REPLIES.
Steve: You should very much swing by. And I'm not sure how many more plays I'll write, but I've been tightening up this one gradually. Your prattle about healthy eating only serves to contribute to my general pool of annoyance on the whole subject.
Michelle: Hiya. And oh, darn, I completely forgot to call you when I went down last weekend. Sorry about that. >_> I'll find some time to meet you before the end of the semester, I promise.
Jake: Well, it's for Joe's own good. Kevin has his reasons for wanting Joe to go away, he just takes a very roundabout way of showing him.
Dad: The trick is that Kevin is not, in fact, a standard teenage male. And anyone willing to put up with him long enough to date him is pretty obviously not a standard teenage female. Kevin went on and on because he enjoys doing it, and his girlfriend is willing to indulge him in it, at least for a while. (The whole exchange takes less than five minutes.) I saw the eclipse, it was awesome.
Mom: See my comments towards Dad's comment. My teacher liked it, and I guess Joe just isn't the sort to hit people.
Karen: I've been editing it bit by bit over the last few days, especially considering as I'm going to act it out at my theater class tomorrow (with me playing Kevin, of course). That's, er, an odd poem.
Olive-Oil Man: Who are you, exactly? And why should I care about the cleansing properties of olive oil vs. shampoo?
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8 comments:
Why did you decide on a schedule, anyway?
The way I update my livejournal is if I have something interesting to write about. An idea, interesting events in my life, etc. I have multipage entries and then 2-3 line entries. It's what works for me.
I'd say that's the best update schedule, myself. But... If you decide on only once a week entries, at the very least, type things up as the week goes by and then post a cumulative entry at the week's end. Things fall out of your mind if you don't write about them.
If it is becoming too much of a burden, make it just once a week. I agree with rekenner that you should write things as the week goes by and store it for later. Your best best would be Monday nights, so that you have time to do all the stuff you procrastinated on Sunday, and your weekend is still fresh in your mind. I'm all for including a short story when possible, as your stories tend to be entertaining. Whatever you do, though, don't let the blog die!
I still cannot wait to hear your voice on the radio, haha. That youtube was hilarious. How exactly does an organization accidentally send money to Europe instead of Africa? Perhaps they aren't eating right...haha. All I have left is six organic apples, a pot's worth of brown rice, and some garlic spice, so I'm going to restock on food tommorow, although not too much given the break coming up. I'll let you know what I get tomorrow so you can admire my shopping list. It's looking more and more likely that I will come down to UF on Friday night, so I will likely see you Saturday "morning" (afternoon).
Eleven Days!!!
-Steve
My opinion is like Rekenner--write when you have something to write about; but knowing you, you personally need some sort of schedule otherwise you'll never do it...
Just don't stop writing!
I'd love to come see your play, if you perform it again and I can make it! Also, I'll be praying for you on the radio gig.
love you,
Mama
I bought my groceries today, and as I promised, here is what I got to last me until spring break:
24 red apples*
11 bananas*
1 pound strawberries*
1/2 pound blackberries*
2 quarts Odwalla micronutrient drink
2 quarts hemp milk*
3/5 pound of raw walnuts*
4/5 pound of quinoa*
2 pounds of sprouted grain cereal*
1 pound of ginger hemp granola*
*Organic
It is worth noting that everything I bought is organic, with the exception of the Odwalla drink, which only promises to be non-GMO. While not perfect, this grocery list is a heck of a lot better than 99% of what the typical American buys. Eat like me, and you're guaranteed to feel better.
Ten days!!!
-Steve
I will abstain from voting on this one, for two reasons. My reading of your blog is sporadic and does not adhere to whatever schedule you may choose. Also, you’ll probably do whatever you want; therefore, much like the Presidential Election, my vote will not count. However, I’m not gonna let you off the hook.
As a journalist, you should be able to hack out 300 words or so on any subject. Is everything Dave Barry wrote a classic? I’m sure that you are overlooking tons of material that happens throughout your day. “I woke up rather late, went to class, met someone I knew, talked for a while, ate, returned home, messed around a lot on the internet, bummed around in my dorm, and went to bed”. Whom did you meet? Do you meet them every day or was it a surprise? What did you discuss? To give fodder to Steve’s haranguing, what did you eat? Did you like it? If not, why did you eat it? How’s the running program? If you messed around “a lot” on the internet there must have been something noteworthy or why did you waste your time? There seem to be lots of school shootings in the news. Does this have all of you freaked out or is it just media nonsense? Does your school have some plan? How about tornadoes? Is there some kind of emergency plan for that?
As a reporter, you could provide a series of statistics, such as the temperature and weather conditions. Believe it or not, people sometimes find this interesting. You have informed us that you hate hot weather; we have yet to hear about how happy you are that you now have freeze warnings. Does your school have some kind of internet newsletter? Copy and paste something and then provide 4-5 sentences of commentary. There are various xxx-of-the-day websites. Sign up for something like that and then comment on it. “Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former” Albert Einstein. He also said, “Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet” That was for Steve.
Do you go to the movies? What about that date you had last week? Weren’t you also going to go to some club? Was it great, horrible, noisy, or just plain not your thing and now that you’ve tried it you probably won’t go back? What about your tuba? You may not have any football games or practices, but do you practice? Is it in storage waiting to be picked up again in August? That Mass Communication class, post a rough draft of something. That radio gig sounds great. You better not run out of stuff to say on the air. Dead air does not sell.
“An annoying, recurring homework assignment” sounds a lot like what you will encounter once you get a job as a journalist. If you get a job that has you writing three articles a week, and it gets overwhelming, will you go to your boss sometime and ask if you could please write just one article a week? I’m sure he’ll be agreeable, so long as you do it for another publication.
I may have written to you only 3-4 times and some of them incredibly short. However, every time I write, something happens. Either you get sick or your computer dies or something. I’m getting a little paranoid here. Frankly, your starting to sound a little whiny. If we ask for you to “write something anything at all” we mean just that. Not everything has to be epic (as this is becoming).
Your mom and dad may blast me for this. But, hey, you asked for my opinion.
Yer Ant - Karen
Einstein truly was a genious...I'll see you Saturday, Luke.
Nine days left!!!
-Steve
I hate to oppose my own sister, but I have to vote with the others: write when you have something that you absolutely must get onto (virtual) paper.
The reason I say this is different than most people's reasons. My belief is that this blog is not your job, it is your (one of many) hobbie(s). As such, if it is drudgery, then it can and should be dispensed with so that you can focus on your job: school.
And you recognized that when you complained about the time that Mass Communications is taking.
If this was your job, then Karen would be correct. But it isn't your job, it is something that can be dropped so you can spend more time on the thing you are paying vast amounts of money to do, and which you will be forced to do over (at even more vast amounts of money) if you don't do it well.
And I am glad that one of the other things you are focusing on is your running. Only 10 days until we strap skinny little sticks to our feet and throw ourselves off of a freezing mountain... :-)
-- Your gratified Dad
-- Your
I would agree with just about everyone and say write when you feel there is something to writ about. Know however that you have really long post. Most blogs are only a few paragraphs.
~Vic
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