A-Z Reflections 2013

Another A-Z has come and gone. This was the third one for me and I suspect that is only because I was not blogging at the start of this event. It has grown substantially since the year I first participated. The hosts do some amazing time-management in support of this month-long effort and should be duly Congratulated.


And, of course, this would not even be happening without the creation of the Challenge by Arlee Bird. His desire to get his blogging kick-started by imagining a month of posting the alphabet, was genius...and look where it has taken us to.

Now to the REAL reflections!

I have an inherent desire to get better and more efficient each time I do something. I often fail at that end for several tries, but I still aim with that goal in mind.

This is the third year I have participated in the A-Z. The first year as you might guess, was a learning experience. I had only been blogging for about 3 months and I dove headlong into the A-Z like a drowning man thrashing in the surf. I gained some followers (mostly thanks to Alex) and I visited and still do, some amazing blogs. But I was writing literally at the eleventh hour for the next day's post. You see, I was so new to blogging I didn't even know you could schedule a post in advance. I had barely learned how to insert a photo into a post.

But at the end of that first year's Challenge, I felt I had accomplished something. On a few levels. I completed the challenge with every letter on the correct day. I had got my blog "out there" for good or ill, for the world to pass around and maybe even promote a little. And I learned I really enjoy writing on this crazy machine.

Before the start of season two of the Challenge, I knew about pre-posting and was determined to have my complete month done BEFORE April even arrived. That was in June. I had almost ten months. Two or three posts a month would get me there, no sweat. Fast forward to April 1st. Three posts done. Ahgggggg!! There is my life in a microcosm. I again fought through it with several last minute posts. But once again completed on schedule and finished the month worn-out but satisfied with my heroic effort.

That was last year. I was resolved once again to get my subject matter lined up and posts done and scheduled well before April 1st, 2013. The added twist this past April was I knew I was going to be gone on vacation for the entire fourth week of the month. And with Internet service in Honduras not fully verified, I knew I would have to get these posts done or possibly fail to complete. Oddly I could not bare that happening in full view of my blogger friends. Sounds silly, but it was a pride thing.

One of the goals of pre-posting is clearly to be able to visit more sites and make new friends and return comments of those who have visited my blog. Upfront, I apologize to all those (and there are more than a few) who came by to visit me and I never made the return visit. I struggled mightily just getting to my everyday blogger friends let alone an extra 5 or 10 a day more. Oh, did I mention my success in pre-posting??? It got me as far as the first week. Even though I had started a Notepad on my computer desktop as far back as last September to begin to list interesting topics for the letters. So during the first week I was writing the second week and then the second week a little shorter time-frame, third week...panic.

I was able to complete my vacation posting on site in Roatan. The wonky Internet service forced short posts (which fact I am sure was warmly received by all readers). And finished the last two letters once I returned home. Completed but with severe jet lag and vacation hangover.

I am going to keep doing this until I get it right...to my standards at least. Look out 2014!

As of the end of the Challenge I had reached 20,000 visitors, 575 posts, and 205 followers...3 years and 3 months after I began this site.

Summary:

Now that the boring tour of my three Challenges is done, I want to comment on this year's specifically.

I am absolutely awestruck at how HUGE this event has grown in such a short time. It is a tribute to the power of the Internet and the community within. I think the blog classification listing was an excellent idea and quite necessary for the volume of entrants we had. Although quite frankly, I should have copied and pasted the list and the code key so I knew what was what since there were a lot of codes. I am not a big chick-lit reader etc. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

I visited several new sites in the first week when I really had my only available time to do that. Some were not easy to get to and some took me to an alternate site. This was very time consuming and many times I gave up and moved on. Commenting on some was an Indiana Jones adventure. Next year: I plan to begin checking out sites soon after the sign-up linky opens. Then I can categorize the ones I want to visit. It will never happen that I would visit all 1700 or 1800 sites during April...and many of them are not of interest to me. Which curiously means (using that reciprocal principle I learned in school) that they probably have no interest in my site. Both of which are okay. I realize I may be the last one to figure this out, but hey...I did!

I will always visit those who have been with me throughout the year. I have no desire to add followers for a number. I like interacting with those who are always "around". If I commented on virtually every one of your posts during the challenge...congratulations! You made the list!! And even more that I visited but may not have had time to always comment. Friends in my reader come first.

My next step in visiting sites is to visit those new people who stopped by. I did a crappy job of that this year and again apologize for seeming too smug to pay you a visit. My struggle is with my own horrendous time management. I was really amazed by the effort put in by people like Alex, Clarissa, Nancy, Shannon, Arlee, Melissa, Sue, and Hilary, etc.. The depth and complexity of their subject matter was entertaining and educational. Not to mention time-consuming to construct. Hats off to you and others like you that I have failed to mention.

Maybe I am wired to just do things at the last minute. Seems a common thread in my life. And look...

I finally got my reflections post done...I started it a week ago!

Oh and my wife made this for me on her iPad so I had to share. It's my morning look!