Sunday, May 31, 2015

Celebrating Anniversaries

R.a.n.t. of week 05/31/15
One of the things I don't do frequently, now that I'm divorced, is celebrate anniversaries."Well, duh!" I hear you say. "Obviously you don't celebrate your anniversary any more". But what you may forget, there are other anniversaries which can be celebrated. For example, sending an anniversary gift to a sibling on their anniversary. Or possibly your parents, or children. Ahh, those are the anniversaries I must be talking about then, right?

Wrong. You were correct the first time. I was talking about my anniversary. Or to be more precise, the anniversary I celebrate for my writing.

July is fast approaching and I have always considered it my anniversary month for writing. Back in 1984, (please don't decipher how long ago that was), I began writing in a personal journal. I've been writing ever since. But for years, I've failed to make note of it. I want to get back into recognizing that. Since it's an anniversary for my writing, I want to celebrate with writing.

Two years ago, I asked friends to send in a short one paragraph rant based on a few simple selections. Oddly, I forgot to do that last year. (See how this ties in with the first sentence of the r.a.n.t.)? So as not to forget this year, I'm putting word out. I'm looking for guest bloggers for a special one year anniversary r.a.n.t. I'd like to put together. The first anniversary r.a.n.t. can be found HERE and will give you an idea of what I'm looking for.


Requirements - Essentially, I'm looking for a short one paragraph, family friendly rant based on one of the following categories (or something similar).

Business: Is there a corporation that drives you bananas for some reason?
Boots Pharmacy? McDonald's? Ikea? BBC? CBS? Something else? What upsets you about it?
Closed - Already Claimed

Film and/or Television: Do you have a favourite film or television show that for some reason still annoys you?

Food: Is there a product in the store you find ridiculous? Do you have an odd food allergy? Do you hate when people eat crispy food around you with an open mouth?

Games: Board games, card games, party games, video games. Which do you enjoy? What do you dislike about them? 

Hobbies: What's your favourite hobby? Cross-Stitch? Writing? Gardening? Restoring classic cars? What is the most difficult thing about your hobby?

Music: No matter what music we listen to, there is always one genre that doesn't agree with us. What is yours and why? Have you ever purchased a CD you thought you were going to enjoy, and hated it?
Closed - Already claimed

Sports: What Do you find an American football rule complicated to follow? Do you hate when people call football, soccer? Are you disgruntled there are not enough pub dart leagues? Are there too many baseball games played in the course of the season? Too few? Should cricket be more well-known in America?

Travel: Are there too many tourists in London? Do long layovers in airports enrage you? Is it annoying that travel to Antarctica isn't easier or cheaper?

World News: What are the royal family up to and should we care? Should Paris remove the locks of love from Pont des Arts? Is shaming smokers on the internet a step to far in Beijing? Is the Isle of Man TT too dangerous for spectators?
Closed - Already Claimed

Above are a few sample topics and questions to rant about. If you are willing to participate, please let me know in the comments with a subject and question you'd like to tackle. A short paragraph only should be presented. Paragraphs should be fluff, light-hearted or humorous if at all possible. Contributors receive recognition and a link to their blog. Unless of course they wish to remain unanimous for whatever reason. Anniversary rant will be published the first week of July.

Deadline for submission is 26 July. The article will be posted the last Sunday (or Monday) of July.
For further information, you can email my gmail account at: jeffreysg
Or contact me at my Facebook Page HERE

16 comments:

  1. Hey, that sounds like fun! When do you need the short paragraph by?

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    1. Good idea. I forgot to post a deadline. I think 03 July would be a good cut off date. I'll be posting the first Sunday of July. I just amended my article to mention that bit.

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  2. I don't remember the exact day or month I started writing...I was twelve. Haha! Actually...now that I think about it...I might have put a date in the first notebook of my series. I'll have to look for that. But I do know the date when I finished the first book in that series after rewriting it. I don't celebrate it, but maybe I should.

    I'm not sure if I'm a good ranter....

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    1. I think everyone is a good ranter from time to time. The key is finding what irks you most.

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  3. Hi Jeffrey - I've no idea of my writing anniversary .. my divorce = yes! well it happened ... date and all has faded. I hope you get lots of entries ... I shall be sabbatically divided by four at that stage ... but getting others to help out with their rants is generating sparks in my brain. Take care and enjoy the summer, or taking a trip away ... cheers Hilary

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    1. I remember my divorce date too, it was the same as my wedding day. 13 years later. How's that for an oddity?

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  4. You made me laugh! My spouse and I even argued about our anniversary. I chose the date because it was the First of Sivan (The new moon of Sivan) I have not a clue what the date was in English. But, we generally wanted to celebrate on different days- until we didn't want to at all!

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    1. Well, my mission is to entertain and if possible make people laugh. So I guess my mission has been accomplished.

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  5. I was thinking that this might be for me and then you got the part about the paragraph should be fluff and light-hearted. I hate it when people think life's a big joke and everything is funny. I'm glad you threw in "if at all possible". I'm a very serious guy and I never laugh about anything. Actually a lot of people who read my blog probably think that's true.

    I remember the anniversary date from my first marriage because it was the same date of the anniversary of President Kennedy being assassinated. I probably should have seen getting married on that date as a bad omen.

    After my second divorce for several years I used to send my ex an anniversary card on the date. I guess I was trying to make her feel guilty. Then I got married for the 3rd time and needed to forget about that 2nd marriage anniversary so I could better remember the third one. I hate having to remember stuff.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Road trippin' with A to Z
    Tossing It Out

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    1. Well, I had to throw in the "if at all possible" clause because even I write articles from time to time that are not very funny, and mostly serious. It happens. No, life isn't funny all the time, but at times I like to make sure we remember despite all the trouble and tragedy the world has to offer, life can be entertaining.

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  6. Star Trek is a perfect outlet because it doesn't take itself too seriously. Having fun, enjoying a laugh is good, and healthy.

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    1. I agree. It's fun, interesting, entertaining and you can deal with serious topics.

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  7. I was married before, so for some reason the date of my first wedding sticks in my mind--I guess because we were married for almost ten years! My second wedding date sticks in my mind even more, it's just interesting that stays with me! I don't remember any of my writing anniversaries. I can't even remember the exact year I wrote my first book. I think it was 1996 but it may have been 1997.

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    1. I've always been a nut for keeping records and dates and such. Though I don't have exact days, do have the years marked when I originally wrote some of my various episodes from my Writers Block series.

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  8. I guess the time has come for the post, but I guess I didn't sign up for anything.

    For a moment I thought I was having some kind of flashback.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote

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    1. I ended up postponing it because of some stuff that come up. If you want a paragraph to rant about, just claim it and let me know. I can send an email address.

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