Who do I still think I am??

This one's about getting into it.

30DBC PROMPT: "Tell us about a TV show or book series you like. What makes you keep coming back to watch or read more? Relate this to your knowledge and understanding of cliffhangers - how do you write a good 'cliffy'?"

Good afternoon, and welcome back! Before I get started, I just wanna take a second to acknowledge my absence. It seems there was a problem with the Wi-Fi in my building, so I've been without internet since approximately the last time I wrote a blog entry. I could've gone to the local library and used their internet, but I was too tired after running around and/or working to feel like leaving once I got home. Plus there was a snowstorm that first day, which I thought initially caused the Wi-Fi outage...turns out there was a modem issue, which has since been resolved, and here I am. Hard to believe it's been a week since I last updated this...a lot has happened and I've got some catching up to do. I'm not sure if I'll be able to come up with a week's worth of quality entries to be eligible for the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  this month, but I've got some time on my hands...let's see how it plays out.

One more thing I'd like to quickly address...and it sorta ties in to this prompt, so I'll roll it all up here: I won't be told how to write my blog entries. Authorin' don't work that way. It's come to my attention that some people don't like blogs that address more than one topic at a time. That's your right to feel that way, just as much as it's ok if you choose not to read this blog or that of the many other talented individuals who write for more than one of the many blogging groups here on WDC. It's their license to do what they want, however they wish to go about it, and it's your choice whether or not you want to engage them in their arena. Complaining about how someone pushes their point across is kinda fruitless...some things just can't be dictated; I don't go to a fast food restaurant and tell them how to make French fries, and I certainly wouldn't tell another writer how to go about his or her business when it comes down to how they spend their time fulfilling a hobby or dream. That's asinine. There's a time and a place for everything, and there are multiple ways to express that here on WDC. If you don't like it, have your say to the people who share your concerns in your personal blog. And if someone chooses to write for more than just the group you're in, honestly, it's not a big deal to scroll through an entry to get to what you really came there in the first place for. How lazy do you have to be? That we're even having this discussion nearly blows my mind, but I shouldn't be surprised given how much society has changed since the advent of the personal computer.

Personally, I write for two groups (the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS"  and the "Blogging Circle of Friends " ), and that suits me just fine. Anything more, and WDC would have to start paying me for the amount of time I'd be spending on developing content. Purely from an organizational standpoint, I like keeping one blog that houses what I write for, and if I can manage to tie two seemingly different prompts together, then that's just a creative bonus for me. Some people like to have separate blogs for everything, and that's fine...whatever works for you. Anyone who cries foul just smacks the face of the support this community offers...if we can't be free to express ourselves the way we want to in our own writing, then what do we have?

And by now you're wondering, "How does this relate to the 30DBC prompt?" Well, I don't watch a lot of tv and I don't read nearly as much as I should, but I tend to write a lot. One of my favorite things to watch is late-nite fare. I'm a huge fan of Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, and Craig Ferguson. I thoroughly enjoy good comedy. If anything, and maybe it's only me who sees this, that's how I look at what I do in this blog...it's your nightcap; it sends you off at the end of your day with hopefully a smile. There's a short monologue in the intro, two prompts that serve as "guests", and a bit of music before I close everything off with a few odds and ends. That's it. It's no secret I'd love to be the Johnny Carson of your blog-viewing experience. This is what I do with my words and I love it...I wouldn't have it any other way. Each day, a lot of thought and effort goes into this, even when I don't give myself time to prepare and just start typing. You'll learn a ton more about me from this than you would if we'd spent actual time together, I think. This is how I open up; this is my element.

And with that, there's no real "cliffhanger" aspect to what I do. I report my thoughts, and that's typically that. I don't know what it is that makes people want to read what I write or keep them coming back for more...it's not like there's an underlying theme that developed when I first started blogging with "I'm Studying You" , where devoted readers couldn't wait to see what happened next in my pursuit of a relationship with a lovely lady. And the truth is, I don't want to know. I'll be happy with killin' time on the screen of your device of choice for awhile, and I'll appreciate every chance I get to engage with anyone who wishes to say something about what I do. You keep readin', and I'll keep writin'...that's how we do things around here.

BCF PROMPT: "What in the WORLD did I agree to?"

Aw man, I don't know. I don't see a signed contract anywhere. And I don't wish this on anyone...mainly because I don't endorse conflict at any level.

We chase these words until they strangle us into a writer's pose. I swear I think my fingers are crippled more from typing than they are from any sport I played as a kid; letters and thoughts have deranged my hands more than any errant basketball or football ever did.

To cheat this prompt would be cheating whomever decides to read this entry, and to me doing that would be a disservice to all involved. You pay good money for your internet access, and you could be anywhere on the worldwide web, but you chose to be here...it's up to me to give you a reason to stick around and come back.

So what in the... I got nothin'. I think I spent my emotional capacity on the first part of today's entry. You should re-read that stuff. Slap it in the face of others who you feel needs it. Feel free to use the WDC sharing tools to flaunt it on your social networking sites of choice. It's cool, I'll wait. I've got nothin' but time these days.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

I've probably shared this song a couple times, but I'm (can't find the right word...indebited? endebit? No...) to this band and their lyrics (http://rapgenius.com/Atmosphere-party-for-the-fight-to-write-lyrics). If you write words for other people to read, you can't front on this song.

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

I'd be a jerk if I didn't thank Lyn's a Witchy Woman and Charlie ~ for checking in on me in my absence. The Fivesixer hotline is now open and ready for calls, awareness, love letters, and general tomfoolery.

Never fails...when I'm undoubtedly prepared to write an entry and I have a day's worth of prompts up my sleeve, the grand internet failure of 2014 would occur.

My penmanship has suffered the most,
along with my ability to write within the boundaries of lines.

I'm scheduled to have surgery on 4/1...no joke, April Fools Day conspiracy theorists. The rest of the hardware in my ankle is coming out. I have mixed emotions regarding it...I hope this is it with the invasive procedures, and I'm not looking forward to the recovery, but my mom will be coming in from WNY to see that I'm not alone in what promises to be an aggravating situation.

Hey now, Blog Mobbers...

Your boy the one and only Brother Nature has discerned a fitting end to the unofficial month of February's 30DBC shenanigans..."Invalid Item" . Congrats to all that were deemed winners, and a huge thank-you to the donors.

Here's how my loss of internet usage affected me this past week: I finished reading Harper Lee's amazing To Kill A Mockingbird, and upon recommendations I started reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I am praying that I'm never without internet again...the lead in this book is a total douchebag and four chapters in, I'm hoping he succumbs to everything he's faced so far. I hope I'm never so interested in reading something again. I talk a lot of junk, but even I can't begin to decipher some of the dialect that's been spit by one of the other characters. I just...don't get it.

And with that I'm gonna clear outta here. I'm tired, I'm hungry, and Spaghettios are calling my name. Peace, we don't get along but we sing the same song, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!