I feel like 2022 was a bit of a hodge-podge, but within its days a few themes emerged.
It was the Year of the Doctor: I got dealt a hand of illness, allergies, pandemic disease, pre-cancerous skin issues, gall bladder infection, and intense headaches. I saw my GP, my GYN, my dermatologist; I was administered medications, vaccinations, lifestyle strictures, and therapeutic massage; I had an unexpected hospitalization, a recurrence of severe migraines, and re-started massage therapy. I did the best I could with the cards I had.
It was the Year of the Book: I read 187 books this year — more if you count the omnibus editions (3 novels by one author bound in one book; that kind of thing) I read from as individual novels — and have a TBR pile for 2023 that stacks hundreds high.
I am a person who, while typically notat a loss for writing ideas, sometimes requires additional impetus to “put it out there.” The spark of an idea may (or may not be) enough to get me hammering at the keyboard, but having something concrete to which I can anchor that idea somehow encourages me to frame out the house in which it lives and set it out — whether shabbily constructed or elegantly gabled — on these grounds I call my blog.
And it seems to me that I may not be the only person whose meandering muse may need to be lured back to the neighborhood. So to speak.
(Or to question why there is a light on in the attic.)
So I have created a list of 43 ideas that may bear exploration in 2023. And I am posting them here for you to see (I will link relevant posts in-text when they happen throughout the year), because {a} I think sharing one’s process in a reading/writing community that shares similar interests is valuable, and {b} some of you might find something write-worthy on this list too. (Please share your link if you do!)
Why 43?
Because while there are 52 weeks in a year, I am typically focused on the A-to-Z Challenge in April and I intend to continue with my annual September Song Project. So if I give myself 43, then that is the remaining number of weeks in which I could potentially post… If I can manage to post once a week, anyway.
I make no promises.
BUT
I *do* make lists!
: laugh :
So without further ado, here is my list of 43 writing ideas for blogging in 2023:
This is a legit for-sale item. F’real. Credit where it’s due and all that.
Typically, at this time of year, I start looking at how the year has shaped — in real life, of course; in relationships, in work, in finances, etc., but also… — where this blog is concerned.
And then I look at statistics.
And at spam.
I don’t know about the rest of you who have your own blogs, but for me, the spam is never-ending.
And ever-entertaining.
I check it regularly because my spam filters are kind of dumb and sometimes they think legit comments are bogus (and vice versa) and I have to rescue real readers’ words from the ether-trap.
But even if that wasn’t the case, I would still check it regularly. Because sometimes I enjoy a bit of useless drivel. It’s quite entertaining.
I’m not talking about the hot sex Dubai cheap businessman spam.
Nor do I refer to the casino slots free money American Express spam.
The dissing spam can suck it — this blog used to be good my friend but internet article weak. Eh. Kiss my ass.
And the suck-up spam is annoying. Vacuum sex toy free with purchase Hong Kong slut!
BUT
Occasionally, I get friendly spam. Spam that takes notice. Spam that says, “I see you, and I think you’re great. Or whatever other-synonym-meaning-great I can come up with.”
THAT kind of spam makes me smile.
Spam such as:
impressive paragraph blog wonder unusual great — left on a little fictional ditty inspired by white panties
Wow, man! This is exactly what I’ve been searching the internet for! — regarding my upsetting incident involving little gray cells
It’s so unusual to find someone on the interwebs who actually understands what they are talking about. — oddly (meaning: not oddly at all), this was left on a post in which I “talked about” (i.e., wrote) absolutely nothing
And why is it, I wonder, that I get consistent spam messages on old posts? Nobody bothers to spam my most recent contributions to the worldwide wonderweb. But I’ll get 17 different messages in one day attached to an old piece of sexy-ish fiction, and I’ll get one message 17 different times on two months worth of posts from 2014.
I dunno.
*shrug*
A n y w a y
I hope you get the loveliest gifts possible this Christmas.
But if you happen to get some spam…
Feel free to pass it this way. It might be in awful taste, but I’m sure to be entertained. 😉
So after a nine-day bout with head pain — and a little nervous about the type of pain, because {a} it’s not my ‘typical’ migraine, and {b} thinking, “Is something more serious wrong? Like with my brain?” (I have a family history of stroke) — I made my way to the urgent care clinic this morning.
Upon arrival at which, I was informed that “this is NOT an urgent care clinic.”
