the metafictional blues

Hello again … I think I’m awake now, but I can’t be sure. The Blogathon is officially over but you still have a few hours left to sponsor me if you haven’t had a chance to do that yet. I’ve put together a quick and dirty guide to the 2006 Blogathon as it pertains to TMFB and you can find that by visiting this page.

I wanted to again thank my sponsors who were a great motivation and inspiration to make it through the event (and I have two new sponsors since the last post): Jamelah, Levi, Anonymous, Tom, Julia, Caryn S., Alicia, Slawek, Syntax of Things, Miss Meliss and Neil. The final pledge total comes to $261 for ProLiteracy Worldwide and that money will help them fund new initiatives, provide support and materials for volunteers and literacy programs around the world.

There are still unclaimed sponsorship premiums … so if you’ve sponsored and haven’t requested your limerick, poem or other goodie (or sent me your mailing address if it’s something I’ll be sending to you), feel free to add a comment here or send me an email.

During the Blogathon I had a lot of time to surf other blogs — which was entertaining and enlightening. There were a lot of funny, well-written blogs and many with some interesting information. Some were the standard blog fare, but there were some that were exceptional and I found several that I added to my blogroll. Here are some highlights:

Escribition: Nicely written observations on literature and life.
Lady Lunchalot: Step by step recipe adventures and photos.
In the Kitchen with Moozie: Lots more great recipes and pictures.
Smarmy Carny: The Champion of Breakfasts (and much more) To see this year’s champ, you’ll have to just click on through for yourself.
Abstract Utopia: Some of the best top 5 lists you’ll likely ever see.
Renegade Kosher: Taking Kosher cooking to a whole new level.
Get Rich Slowly: Some interesting, humorous and educational facts about money.

I learned a lot of other things during the Blogathon, of course. Like I tend to make a lot of weird faces just sitting here at the computer. Most of them evoke boredom or a weird mix of fear/confusion/disbelief. Which I think pretty much sums up how I feel most of the time. Or whatever. I also learned …

… that ice cream tastes pretty damn good at 7am
… that I need to figure out what the hell is going on with my microphone
… that Bono is, like, apparently the new Mother Teresa in addition to being the new black. And that we’re not allowed to poke fun at him, ever. Ever! Do you hear me, Jamelah??
… that when you don’t sleep like a normal person, everything becomes a lot funnier. Even the things that annoy you. Hilarious.
… that despite it’s awesomeness, Life cereal is still vastly underappreciated.
… that I should have put more cushion in the chairs.
… that I look tired all the time. Not just at 2am.
… that your nose will itch like crazy the moment you turn a camera on yourself.
… that Poetry on Demand^TM isn’t dead yet.
… that I’ll never stop loving beef jerky.
… that Jamelah is the new queen of millinery.
… that I’d like to go to cheese school for a PhD. (Go to chese school here)

And so much more. So there you have it. I’m sure I’ll be Blogathoning again next year, although I may have to come up with a different game plan, because this year it seemed like 24 hours was an awful long time and 30 minutes to post came up on us quickly. In the meantime, I’ll be resuming my normal blogging schedule, well actually … hopefully a more regular blogging schedule. So stay tuned, send in your requests and thanks again.

That’s All She Wrote

Originally uploaded by caryn74.

Thanks again …

And now, the end is near; and so we face the final curtain. My friend, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain…

Another Blogathon come and gone — it’s been fun and challenging all at the same time — but rewarding. It’s almost hard to believe I made it to the finish line. It’s a lot harder than it may seem (and I think it seems pretty hard, actually). However, I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement of everyone who stopped by, who pledged and who made it possible.

A huge thank you and round of applause for all of my sponsors:

Jamelah
Levi
Anonymous
Tom
Julia
Caryn S.
Alicia
Slawek
Syntax of Things

Together we’ve raised a total of: $236 in pledges for ProLiteracy Worldwide. This is almost three times the amount I was able to raise last year. I hope you all found it rewarding and enjoyed the event. If you sponsored at a poem level and didn’t request your poem yet, please post your request here and I’ll post it as soon as I wake up again. You will be receiving information from the Blogathon folks on how you can send your pledge so that it goes to the correct place. If you have questions, let me know and I’ll help facilitate. If you didn’t get here in time to sponsor before/during the event, you still have time to contribute.

Thanks also to everyone who stopped by to check out my site during the Blogathon and an extra special thank you to those of you who left comments and sent in notes of encouragement and support. A big shout-out to everyone who linked back to me during the ‘thon and those who did some pre-event plugging.

Special thanks and high fives to…

…Julia for popping in to check on me, even after a night out. Extra props for helping out with the musical questions and just being a consistently all-around awesome person to know.

…Jamelah for not only being there right along with me for the entire event, but keeping me company, keeping me laughing and keeping things more fun than they would have been otherwise. Also a huge heaping dose of AMEN! for her awesome blogging skills and for raising around $600 for the Komen Foundation. That’s really amazing!

…My boyfriend for hosting me, providing food, drink, a place to set up, and a place to wind down. Extra-special thanks for putting up with my sleep-deprived mood and for cheering me on every step of the way. And for making the occasional guest appearance.

A great deal of thanks needs to go to the organizers of the Blogathon itself — it was a tough job, but they made it through and made it possible for everyone to come together to support the charities they care most about.

And now … without much reservation, I bid you all a fond farewell and good night as I catch up on some much needed rest. Please be sure to check back in regularly to read my regular entries, and see what other projects I have up my sleeve. For best results bookmark the site or add me to your blogroll or feedreader — if you’re so inclined. I have some new features and quizzes planned, so don’t miss out.

Thanks again and catch you on the flip side,

Caryn

Only a few more minutes to go and the 2006 Blogathon will be over. It was the best of times, it wsa the worst of times. We came bearing hats. Well, Jamelah did, at least. There were limericks, poems, musical questions and random bits of everything in between. And in the midst of it all we were able to raise some funds for a worthwhile cause and learn something in the process. Not bad for 24 hours, I’d say.

Before you go, please take a minute to look through the information in my previous post, then decide if you are able to make a small (or large, if you prefer) donation to ProLiteracy Wordwide.

8:30am: Please pledge here, support this effort and ProLiteracy Worldwide

We’re on the move!

Now the end is in sight with only an hour to go. I won’t lie, I’m seriously, really exhausted. Like almost falling asleep while sitting up exhausted. Truth be told I had already been exhausted for about 3 weeks before the Blogathon, so this was definitely a real challenge for me in many ways.

Still, I feel good about (almost) completing my goal and raising some funds for ProLiteracy Worldwide. I’ve learned a lot along the way and found some new resources and I hope that a few of you have as well. Here is listing of posts I made during the past 24 hours regarding the mission of ProLiteracy Worldwide and why this issue is important:

Why Does It Matter?
Why Literacy?
Legacy of Literacy: Revisited
Checking the Stats
Background Check
Literacy Roundup