BLOGAPALOOZA IS UNDER WAY!

Howdy, Bubba! Hey, if you're new around these parts, I just want to say how much I appreciate you dropping by! Oh, and you may want to subscribe to my feed. Thanks, and a tip o' the hat to ya!

Howdy y’all! Hey, in case you didn’t know, BLOGAPALOOZA is currently under way! That means from now thru Sunday, January 25, folks can have their very own What I Learned From 2008 list post published right here at the Middle Zone!

You’ll be able to track our progress towards the goal of 100 posts on the handy Palooza-Meter over there on the right. In the meantime, if you’d like to see your post here, well Bubba, all ya gotta do is click that link up there, read the instructions, then send it to me right away!

___________________________

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

Comments Off

What I Learned From 2008 - Karen Swim

[Note from the Proprietor: In case you're wondering what it's all about, well, we're smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you're welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]

___________________________

Guest post by Karen Swim who writes over at Words For Hire

It is hard to resist participating in anything that ends in “-alooza” [Bless you! - Ed.], but digging through your archives can be a challenge. I laughed, cringed and shook my head as I reviewed the good, bad and just downright ugly. I selected the list below because each marked a funny, defining or significant point in my life and/or writing. This is not the “best of” list but a few of my favorites from my first full year of blogging.

___________________________

Karen D. Swim is the President and CEO of Words For Hire. Her company provides marketing and career marketing services to businesses and individuals and was recently honored as one of the “Top Women in Business” by StartUp Nation with the help of esteemed judge Tory Johnson, founder of Women for Hire and frequent contributor to Good Morning America.

___________________________

[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

___________________________

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

One response so far

What I Learned From 2008 - Joanna Young

[Note from the Proprietor: In case you're wondering what it's all about, well, we're smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you're welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]
___________________________

Guest post by Joanna Young who writes over at Confident Writing

To Wilf: Verb (intr.): look back on things that have happened and capture the learning; turn the learning into a sentence, an article or a story that will entertain, educate, move, amuse or baffle; keep up with the uber-editor’s insane publishing schedule and choice of topics; reveal the more personal side of ‘you’ on  your blog; share your writing with a group of like-minded people; publish the results on the internet for the whole world to read

Taking part in the What I Learned From projects has become so much a part of my writing and blogging life that I now think of it as a verb: to wilf.  (That’s my definition above: what would yours be?)

Some of the most significant things I wrote last year were my wilf entries, so I’ve based my learning from 2008 on them.

First off was a post I’d forgotten about till I came to write this: last year’s lookback published here, on what I learned from blog comments in 2007.  It reminded me that I do like to bend (or break) the rules, took me back to a lot of good things that had happened in 2007 (which had faded from view), and reinforced my strongly held belief that blogging really ‘happens’ in the comment box.

February I kept things really short with a one word post on what I learned from people.  The lesson being a) brevity works b) I do have a competitive streak, and wanted to beat the previous two word wilfing best.

The topic for March (what I learned from the law) had me completely stumped.  But I wanted to keep up my monthly wilf practice so I do what I encourage others to do when they’re stuck for words.  Write what you’re resisting.  So I wrote about what I’d learned from not writing about what I learned from the law. (This probably also wins the prize for my most convoluted headline of 2008.)

What I learned from working in a sweet shop was a good reminder that you’ve learned things even when (at first glance) you can’t think of any lessons.  And also how easy it is to work out the wider application of those lessons, once you’ve worked out what they are.

May took me to Chicago and SobCon, including the chance to meet Robert and some other regular Middle Zone readers and contributors.  It seemed fitting that I was able to celebrate this in what I learned from the gifts I received at SobCon.  (Re-reading this post was a lovely way to remember some of the gifts big and small that people had given me.)

What I learned from my cat about the writing life is possibly my favourite WILF piece of the year.  I enjoyed writing it (and re-reading it) - I think it’s something to do with the way the creative limits of the topic, plus my blog theme, and my life experience come together into one post.  Plus it gave me the chance to write about my cat.

July found me reflecting on the way ferry boats helped me to write while August had me wondering if life was a bagel (with cream cheese).  Which just goes to show you never know where wilf is going to take you.

I grabbed the chance in September to say ‘thank you’ through my wilf entry on what I learned about writing from my friends online.

October’s WILF was ‘on topic’ for me: I looked back at time when I’d been writing under a lot of stress, and remembering how the adrenaline had helped me to write.

What I learned from the writing on the wall was all about the Scottish Parliament building.  I got some good feedback, questions and comments about the building, reminding me how much we all enjoy learning about other parts of the world.  Also that we take our local things for granted - forgetting they’ll be interesting and maybe even exotic to people who live elsewhere.

My last WILF of the year was generosity in 2 syllables or less.  It was a reflection on a significant moment in my life, and also (another) reminder that I enjoy these projects as a way of blending personal and professional, of working in the topic of WILF with the themes I’m exploring on my own blog (in this case simplicity, hard on the heels of experimentation).

Wilfing this year has given me the chance to explore my own themes in a different way; to experiment, play and stretch; to go a little bit off-topic; and to share a bit more of myself on my blog.  I think it’s a valuable addition or complement to the other things I’m blogging during the month.
___________________________

If you’ve been wilfing this year, what did you learn from it?  If you’re thinking about wilfing in 2009, what can we do to encourage, push or cajole you to jump in and share your learning with us?

Joanna Young is a regular WILF contributor who blogs at Confident Writing.  She writes to a monthly theme, with tips and suggestions about ways to write with greater confidence.  It’s a site not just for writers but anyone who wants or needs to write.

Photo Credit: Fletch, by zach_manchester on flickr (found by searching for ‘wilf’… amazing what turns up!)

___________________________

[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

No responses yet

What I Learned From 2008 - Brad Shorr

[Note from the Proprietor: In case you're wondering what it's all about, well, we're smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you're welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]

___________________________

Guest post by Brad Shorr who writes over at Word Sell, Inc.

January - Worst Bad Sales Habits Recap - A multi-part series on how to avoid devastating sales traps.

February - What I Learned from My Business Mentors - Fifty prized pieces of wisdom from four fabulous mentors.

March - Take the World’s Hardest Vocabulary Test - Test your skills on this compilation of 57 tough words from my Words for Nerds series.

April - Understanding the Difference between Sales and Marketing - An attempt to bring clarity to the murky overlap between sales and marketing functions in small business.

May - Should Every Word In A Blog Post Title Be Capitalized? - A good example of my efforts to get into the finer (but not unimportant) points of online content, grammar, and words.

June - 33 Foolproof Headline Strategies - I consider this one of the most helpful writing posts I’ve written yet.

June - In Search of Eloquence - A serious essay on the sometimes fine line between eloquence and emptiness.

August - DUH v. DOH - Word Sell at its silliest. If you can’t have fun with language, where can you?

September - Whose Smile Warms Your Heart? - A poem about blogging, and some great conversation.

October - Beat the Clock -Please! - A rather personal post about my stopwatch mentality, and more great conversation.

November - Waiting for Goodbye - A post that, as Joanna Young observed, took on a life of its own. To me the comments are priceless.

December - The Generosity of Bloggers - It’s nice to end the year on a note of thanksgiving for the blogging community that has given me so much joy.

___________________________

Brad Shorr lives in the Chicago area and is president of Word Sell, Inc. He helps organizations strengthen their online presence with business blogs and compelling Web content.

Brad writes extensively on his own and many other blogs, mainly about writing, online marketing, entrepreneurship, sales, and business humor.

___________________________

[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

___________________________

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

One response so far

What I Learned From 2008 - Robert Hruzek

[Note from the Proprietor: In case you're wondering what it's all about, well, we're smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you're welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]

___________________________

Sheesh! Who knew picking just one post from each month would turn out to be so hard? On the other hand, it was kinda fun skimming through the archives. In a way, it was sorta like traveling back through time.

Anyhoo, without further ado (because as you know, further do would be just plain silly) I give you…

A Dozen Posts You Absolutely Must Read at the Middle Zone:

January: Three Points to Ponder When Your Ship Comes In - It’s not unusual to daydream about that day your ship comes in. But what if it, um, did? Are you ready? I mean, really ready?

February: What I Learned From a Complete Jerkbrain - Ever worked with someone that made you feel as though poking your eyes out with red-hot needles might be more fun? Well I have!

March: 5 Things You Should Do BEFORE You Hit “Publish” - It never fails. You’ve read, then re-read, then re-re-re-(insert how many times here)-read that post before you hit the “Publish” button. Only then do you notice that misspelled word…

April: What I Learned From Really, Really Tired Feet - Don’t tell folks; show ‘em! ‘Nuff said!

May: The Day I Decided to, er, Get Help - One day I discovered my lifelong membership to the Manly Men’s Association was in jeopardy! Gasp! That is, until I realized you can profit… from giving up!

June: Well, Ain’t That Just the Duck’s Posterior! - An profound set of lessons from perhaps the most usual source of inspiration ever.

July: Hidden Potential - If you’ve ever struggled with your own hidden potential, then this post is for you! Rest assured; we’ve all been there.

August: Life is a Game of Dodge Ball - The alternate title, “Getting Whacked for Fun and Profit” says it all. Amazing what one can learn about life while just tryin’ to survive the games we used to play in school!

September: Are You Resilient? - Lessons in resiliency from an unusual quarter - a mangled banana plant that lost its battle with Hurricane Ike this past summer.

October: Duck! - I dunno; there must be somethin’ about me and, y’know, ducks. Maybe they really are out to get me. Or something.

November: Why I Hate Cell Phones - I’m warnin’ ya now; if you read this, you may just come away screaming, “Too much information!” I’m just sayin’.

December: What I Learned From a Generous Heart - I absolutely love tellin’ the story of how Mrs. MZM and I met. Further proof that we were Meant For Each Other!

___________________________

Robert Hruzek is an ordinary fellow with an extraordinary sense of the absurd. Apparently back when talent was being allocated, he missed his helping of propriety and ended up with a double dose of a sense of the ridiculous. Fortunately (and before his head exploded) he found relief from the dreaded SHINE (Seeing Humor In Nearly Everything) Syndrome through his writings right here at Middle Zone Musings. Don’t worry ‘bout a thing, folks; he’s feeling much better now.

___________________________

[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

6 responses so far

What I Learned From 2008 - Karen Hanrahan

[Note from the Proprietor: In case you’re wondering what it’s all about, well, we’re smack in the middle of BLOGAPALOOZA! Hey, you’re welcome to join in the fun if you like! All ya gotta do is click that cute little link and read all about it!]

_________________________________

Guest post by Karen Hanrahan who writes over at Best of Mother Earth.

January - Twas the Diet After New Years and all through the house

February - Kiss and Tell my very worst kiss ever

March - Bread Company Sells Out this post got a lot of attention on and off blog - including an email from the former owner and his daughter the new companies marketing director

April - Gatorade or Pine Sol this alarming picture has one wonder…would your child notice?

May - Thank You SobCon08 heartfelt recap of a blogging conference that just blew me away

June - Facts and Statistics about Toxins this is a post that has been shared tremendously and was actually a fav of last year too!

July - Green Moms Take On Global Warming my very first participating post in a carnival - this group of amazing green savvy moms completely inspires me, we still carnival together and the group is growing!

August - Kudos to Mother Earth a shift in the universe had some pretty darn cool things happening, this was the launch of Mother Earth as a writer!

September - 1996 McDonalds Hamburger ever have a post go completely viral ? The details are just too wild not to share:

My share has to be the burger post. Not because I was brilliant to post it, but because of the way it showed me how VIRAL the internet can be…even if it was about a McD’s burger

This post on it’s first day was Stumbled, Dugg and landed in Reddit’s WTF section ending as the #4 post of the day. The other top posts that day were about Obama - me, my old hamburger and Obama!

Commenters had an absolute field day with it - much of it was negative - the devotion to a burger astounds me.

102,000 hits that day, a month later it reached over a half million hits in 195 countries.  Currently there are over 1000 comments on that post blog, mostly icky pro-burger. Someone said that is called trolling? Troll comments still come in daily

Wired, Boing-Boing, Nat’l Post, Men’s Health and a whole host of others picked up on it; A Portuguese news magazine will air an additional interview later this week. I am told that a McDonalds rep declared me as nothing but an urban legend

I received calls from Berlin, the UK, Spain, and all over the US, and Canada. Thank goodness that the folks who called were much more kind than the ones who left comments.

My current daily traffic - a month later has quadrupled. How’s that for an organic non-monetized blog author?

* since this writing I have been interviewed by the  Portuguese news magazine Visoa ( this released with the November issue - circulation 100,000 ), and Men’s Health Magazine has purchased the McDonalds burger photo for their best and worst of 2008 issue( Jan/Feb)

October - Copper Compost Bucket folks seem to think I sell this thing! I’m not kidding!

November - Dear Car Thief - Part Two yup - my car was stolen from my driveway - the story gets better from here

December - I Am Thankful ever so much to be grateful for

___________________________

karen hanrahan | wellness educator and consultant | writer
nutrition ~ green clean ~ inch loss ~ anti-aging

contact me:  708.482.0678

___________________________

[Further note from the Proprietor: Hey, if you're interested in having your own "best of 2008" posts highlighted right here at the Middle Zone, then by all means, click on this link: (BLOGAPALOOZA: What I Learned From 2008) and read all about it! BLOGAPALOOZA will be open for entries from now until Sunday, January 25.]

___________________________

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

4 responses so far

BLOGAPALOOZA Starts Tomorrow!

All righty, y’all - it’s here! (sound of crowd cheering enthusiastically)

Hey, I’m sure by now you’ve perhaps gotten maybe a vague impression the month of January is really gonna be somethin’ special around these parts.

The good news is, that somethin’ special - BLOGAPALOOZA - begins tomorrow!

Yup; startin’ at 6 AM CST in my time zone (which is -6 GMT, in case you need to figure out a different time zone) there’s gonna be a whole herd of guest posts comin’ your way. That’s right; folks who want a list of their best posts from 2008 highlighted right here at the Middle Zone will start showin’ up every day.

The goal - and I admit, it’s a rather audacious one - is to feature at least 100 posts over the next 21 days, starting on Monday, January 5, and continuing through Sunday, January 25. Pretty cool, huh?

(By the way, you’ll be able to keep track of our progress towards the goal by checkin’ out that handy-dandy Palooza-Meter over there on the right. I’ll update it periodically to show everyone where we stand on reachin’ - or passin’ the goal.)

But I’m gonna need your help, y’all. If you’d like to participate - and it’s pretty much open to anyone - click the link, read the instructions, and get it to me as soon as you can!

Now, for those of you who have already sent me your posts, I thank you for participating from the bottom of my Texas heart!

But what you don’t know is there was a vast army of folks who volunteered to help get this event kick-started by writing their posts early. That way, the first week of Blogapalooza would already have a full load of posts scheduled, and provide time for others to write and submit their own entries. They also helped publicize the event within their own communities.

To you folks, lemme just say how much I appreciate y’all helpin’ to make this year’s BLOGAPALOOZA a big success! And not to worry, y’all; I believe in shinin’ the spotlight where it’s due, so there’ll be an acknowledgment post just for you folks after it’s all over. But for the moment, I just want to say, Thanks a herd, y’all, and a big ol’ tip o’ the topper to ya!

Now, for the rest of you - time’s a-wastin’, Bubba, and she waits for no one! Get your entries in NOW!

________________________

You know, it would just be absolutely finer than a frogs hair if you would subscribe to my RSS feed!

5 responses so far

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ...100 101 102 Next
Clicky Web Analytics Ajax CommentLuv Enabled d04f83dbe14278ae70a247ede000b97c