A best-of wouldn't be bad, but don't shorten the archives--when I first started, I read most of them, and once school is out I'd like to read the last few months'.
Could you get a random page generator to pick a random Facelift? (Like Wikipedia's random article feature). Not that I'm not already kept busy for hours here :)
Hmm maybe that's why there's a new query drought. We're all reading instead of finishing our own novels. (Yes, that's me.)
Well, EE, you were one of the first to do query crits. Maybe it's time to reinvent yourself. With so many self-pubbing now, maybe you can start critting product description copy instead!
I've got a were dingo who wants his walk followed by his post-walk treat followed by his dinner followed by his dessert followed by a petting session followed by his evening snacks.
Hi Dearest and Most Juvenile Evil Overlord, Miss you, and sorry I haven't been around. I even haven't kissed or done anything sexy with Robin in, oh... well... oh well. Will have to settle on air kisses through your blog. Wait. We were talking about you, then I got sidetracked. Any pics this year?
Stuck in the void and unable to participate fully. I want to rub the big guy's belly, drizzle his muttonchops with the scanted oil of adoration but I'm drilled down elsewhere. Plus, I mislaid my ladle. Down to the rest of you to sit him on an embroidered cushion and bear him about the like some weird elephant god.
I won't be able to be here right at 9:00 am - it'll be more like 9:30-ish when I can get here - doing college transfer stuff with youngest that requires me to be on a call that's set up for, yep, 9:00 am.
I'll be on as soon as I can with you guys! Hold HRH here, please!
Kinda makes you want to cry in your shoes when you're lying in the gutter drunk and passed on on "Kiss me Kate Beer" (a pilsner, I think)... Or hugging the Will and Kate toilet seat.
In the USA, we can sell the rights to Newt Gingrich's fourth wedding or Donald Trumps hair weave that's kept in a secret vault once owned by Al Capone and made from Geraldo's recycled mustache hairs.
Yeah. I usually use Opera, which is the one that doesn't work (but it does on phone). Now I'm on Chrome. But everything I said in the previous half hour has disappeared.
I wouldn't mind living on Scotland for a time but in all truth, I'd have to try to search out the family origins with side trips (and they are in Italy).
ril, I've had enough language lessons over the past 13 years, visiting 2 or 3 times a year. The word that still surprises me is 'chuffed' - apparently it's a good thing, but it sounds like someone's pissed off.
My last name is rarely spelt correctly (a cousin got a write up in the newspaper yesterday, and they managed to get it right!!) and my mother's maiden name is almost guaranteed to be wrong in documents but, hey, that didn't stop us doing the family history thing.
When I started on the blog business about five years ago (there weren't blogs before that because of work, don't ask, long story, possessive and cruel bosses)...
There were six to eight blogs I read every day. EE is the last one left. One by one they dropped out. Miss Snark most notably, several agents descended into repetition. Others just burned out.
EE at least has tried to remain relevent and fresh.
EE, I remember that last year so said something like "I think I can make it for one more year"... It has to be hard to keep it going - hell, it's a business!
ril, now that I'll be in the Richmond area of Londontown, hope we and families can get together sometime.
Five years ago, well may be more like four, but you get the idea, I looked at self-publishing platforms like LULU and whatever other self-publishing houses were called.
the flirtation lasted about 5 minutes before I figure out what a gyp they were.
Now, today in 2011. There are entire publishing houses that only print on demand and the Amazon kindle market has grown. It's barely two years old.
And the much hated FACEBOOK and Twitter are marketing tools. They are (what) eighteen months old?
That's a new publishing market in less than five years.
Ril, excellent. Let's see about getting everyone together, then. When we actually have an address, I'll send it.We'll be moving there sometime over the summer, but when depends on the timing of the house sale.
EE, I do't think I would have been able to finish writing my novel if I hadn't found your blog. And I certainly wouldn't have the amazing, creative group of writing friends I have now, without you - because your blog is where I met them.
Well, it's win-win then, and we're glad to help out.
One thing I've noticed over the years, the Minions have gotten softer. When I first came around, the Minions were brutal. I remember Hawkowl (or something like that) would rip the New Beginnings. Cold-blooded. Now we mostly deliver gentle beatings.
I have a friend who left a blog and became a Judge Judy aficionado. Now, a half bottle of scotch wouldn't improve her conversational abilities that survived...
I mean, you needed to write to do a blog and if you have any relation to teenage and college age kids, they can't see, to write in anything but 140 character twitterfied shorthand and socialize like (what we geezers always thought were) normal people because they are used to socializing on text messages and FaceBook updates and tweets...
Yeah, ril, agree - the humore took the sting out - while still giving us a place to come out with our work, show it, and have it blasted with humor and other stuff. Makes you able to withstand criticism, which you have to be able to do. Another thing to thank you for, Sparky.
It's starting to sound like I'm being eulogized. At the rate stuff comes in, it'll probably be another year before everything reaches 1000 and I shut it down and go on a writing retreat with all my minions.
When I read the comment strings of My Niece's sixteen year old son's hockey team, I shudder... Not only is it poor grammar, it's vacuous and kiddish (I know they are kids)... It's like "I weep for the future" then I sit back and remember that every generation terrorizes the old folks the same way.
The other thing about learning how to handle criticism on your blog - that worked well - was realizing that not everyone has one thin clue how to: 1)write and 2) critique. It's very freeing, seeing that, and being able to discern the difference. It's amazing how many people spout off who should be keeping their mouths shut. Good to have experience with - thanks for that as well.
Yes, PLEASE do have a writing retreat with your minions! Damn - that would be freakin great.
Another year would be good to wait, though. Glad you're not in a hurry. My 2011 is shaping up to be intense and 'busy', as in crazed busy. A retreat in 2012, I'm so up for that.
Actually, I do have an endless pool. It throws water at you, allowing you to swim in place, sort of like a treadmill. But if you turn it off it's a hot tub for about twenty.
Remember how we used to write about the writing retreats?! That was a hoot.
I'd be happy to show up for a turned off but hot endless pool, and a barrel full of iced-down booze....and hanging out with you guys. But we'd have to crash either there, or somewhere close.
199 comments:
First in!
...juvenile, I know.
Well, you ARE the youngest of us.
ANd I'm the oldest.
Young doesn't mean juvenile... but in this case I'm bound to argue that oldest means wisest, for fear of what might happen if I didn't.
As it happens, I'm also the most juvenile.
Happy anniversary Evil One! I've been away for the weekend; what a surprise to find all this.
Can we say thanks too? :) I think it will be another five years until I finish reading all your archives. You rock!
Maybe I should shorten the archives. Remove the least funny stuff.
Nah. It's ALL good.
A best-of wouldn't be bad, but don't shorten the archives--when I first started, I read most of them, and once school is out I'd like to read the last few months'.
I could remove the films, as they now have their own site. Same with the book chats.
That might be decent--or whatever happened to the hall of fame?
Oh yeah. A best-of or crash course tag would be good. That way folk could just click on the tag url and all the tagged stuff would come up!
There's a new Hall of Fame. it's called Evil Editor Teaches School.
No need to physically remove anything. Let technology work for you :o)
There is? Oyyy, I really have been away too long.
See what you've started, Aika.
I wasn't thinking of deleting stuff, just saving lots of stuff as drafts, which allows me to bring it back.
Also, the stuff that makes the best of the year votes is all tagged.
How about new digs for the next 5 years? You could do a really funny image for your blog header?
We could have a Best of the Half Decade contest.
This'll never last another five years. We run out of queries and openings every few days.
Hey Rachel, are you still putting out your periodical?
I need to make up the school year's last Poets in the Potty tonight, if I can get a break from Syntax homework.
Yeah, I don't get that. Where's everyone going to get critted now?
Could you get a random page generator to pick a random Facelift? (Like Wikipedia's random article feature). Not that I'm not already kept busy for hours here :)
Hmm maybe that's why there's a new query drought. We're all reading instead of finishing our own novels. (Yes, that's me.)
EE, what's the tag?
Ditch the homework! Who gives homework over Easter anyway???
Twitter. They post 145 characters for feedback.
I can't ditch the homework--between my procrastination, my business, and my teacher's procrastination, it's all due at once.
Anyway, I've got to go--it's Easter night. I should show up tomorrow morning, I think, and read the comments during breakfast.
See you soon!
Well, EE, you were one of the first to do query crits. Maybe it's time to reinvent yourself. With so many self-pubbing now, maybe you can start critting product description copy instead!
Bye Rachel! It was good to see you again. See you in summer!
I believe face-lift awards, new beginning awards, and cartoon caption awards are the tags for the best of the year.
I emailed Robin. She said she was gonna show up here. I also Tweeted.
You may be joking about Twitter crits, but agents really ARE doing them! And they're holding contests via Twitter too.
Yes, I need to be Evil something else. Shrink, sports fan, politician, critic.
That's a brilliant idea Phoenix (re self pub crits).
Thanks EE (re tags).
Many happy returns!
Ah ha! I knew you were posing all along ;o)
It's a holiday, maybe more people will show tomorrow morning. There's not much activity on my blog on weekends even if it's not a holiday.
Well, I certainly won't hold you. If you've got others nagging after you, go attend.
Bye Aika! Thanks for dropping by. Be sure to enter the CONTESTS!!!
I've got a were dingo who wants his walk followed by his post-walk treat followed by his dinner followed by his dessert followed by a petting session followed by his evening snacks.
The walk and petting session, of course, are not mandatory.
Hehe. I get that completely! See you tomorrow morning.
OK, bye. At least with only a few people it's easier to tell who's answering whom.
I don't know how the young kids follow multiple conversations the way they do. Ah well. Toodles!
Hi Dearest and Most Juvenile Evil Overlord,
Miss you, and sorry I haven't been around. I even haven't kissed or done anything sexy with Robin in, oh...
well...
oh well.
Will have to settle on air kisses through your blog.
Wait. We were talking about you, then I got sidetracked.
Any pics this year?
:-)
OK that's weird. I comment. I get email notifying me about comments but they don't appear on the page :(
(Unless I use a different brower. Grrr.)
Sorry I'm running so late! It was a crazy day in Robin Land, house-for-sale and otherwise.
Anybody around????
I gotta go look and see what time HRH is comin' tomorrow...
Also - I scanned but missed - what's the time tomorrow?
Hey Robin: EE'll be here at 9 am your time.
Chris! Glad you could pop in. So sorry you missed Robin, er, I mean EE.
Xenith: Sorry about the gremlins. :o( Bad, browser. Bad!
They were such witty and thought provoking comments too
Well phone works... Not that i'm reading here during ANZAC Day service of course
Woo, ninja-comment and back to homework!
*mingles*
*disappears*
I've been waiting for e-mails to show up to let me know when you guys were back. Totally forgot you started a new thread. *sigh*
Tomorrow morning - maybe. It'll be early for me.
Hello, hello... and I'm late to the party. Crikey!
Stuck in the void and unable to participate fully. I want to rub the big guy's belly, drizzle his muttonchops with the scanted oil of adoration but I'm drilled down elsewhere. Plus, I mislaid my ladle. Down to the rest of you to sit him on an embroidered cushion and bear him about the like some weird elephant god.
I have a suspicion the mingling is over. Sigh. Mingling with my self again.
Mingle, mingle, mingle, mingle. If anyone drops by, hello.
Mingle mingle mingle.
It's four o'clock in the morning for most of you so I doubt if there's anyone around to mingle with.
I can't mingle at sensible times because I'm on holiday and can't play on the computer all day.
I'll mingle with ya FHH!
;-)
Hey EE!
This blog could still last 5 years...or another 50!
PACA!!!!!!
ROBIN!!!!!
PHOENIX!!!!
MINIONS!!!!!!!!
:-)
(On caffeine...)
:-)
I'm here, finally. Somehow this weekend I managed to catch my first cold in ten years.
I should have stayed home and partied with you guys.
I won't be able to be here right at 9:00 am - it'll be more like 9:30-ish when I can get here - doing college transfer stuff with youngest that requires me to be on a call that's set up for, yep, 9:00 am.
I'll be on as soon as I can with you guys! Hold HRH here, please!
Greetings. Anyone here?
Yes, though I'm multi-tasking with a conference call...
How about we reconvene in a half hour?
I think Robin said that's when she'll be here.
I am, too. And multi-tasking with a synopsis crit.
Robin's on a call, but she'll be here as soon as she can.
Works for me.
Then it's settled. Seeya then.
Heh, not the same call, though...
Here to talk to EE?
Come back at the bottom of the hour!!!
That was a long weekend
Aww, but I have to leave for class by 9:50 at the very latest....
hi
YAY - I am FREE! Plus, looks like my youngest is gonna be attending U of Miami for sophomore year on, so....happy days.
How's everybody? Anybody here?
I'm back.
I used the time to create three cartoons so ril could multitask.
Tired, but awake. You?
Well, you ARE creative for a Monday morning!
I'm recovering from traveling
I hope you mean Miami of Ohio, because the other one will eat her alive.
I've been nuts busy all morning. That should be illegal on a Monday.
I'm here, but still two-timing...
I hate Mondays and all the get back into some routine
Nope, I mean Miami of Miami. Expensive out the...you know....but her closest friend attends there, and another friend in pre-med also attends.
JB and I are moving to Britain this summer...
Kids only go to college once. Then you can throw them out of the house or demand rent.
The good news is I often need a place to stay when I visit Miami.
Hi ril and Dave!
Yep, looking forward to college being finished up. Hassle but worth it in the end.
ril, I never took you for a two-timer!
JB and I are moving to Britain this summer...
Just as all the British are leaving...
And until then they can live in the basement and work at fast food in the summers.
All kidding aside, EE, if you go to Miami and you let me know soon enough, I have a friend who can help you with hotels.
It's always the ones you least suspect...
And then there are Monday phone calls. I hate the phone.
At least London will be over the Royal Wedding.
Are you aware that Britain doesn't have modern conveniences like remote controls, microwaves and toilets?
They'll be glued to the sets for the royal conception.
It's why we rebelled!
Tell me about it - the day of the wedding, we'll be in Miami, actually.
Yeah, it IS weird we are moving to London area now, but there ya go. It's a work thing for JB, so it has to happen.
If I can say so, the Royal Bang.
Kinda makes you want to cry in your shoes when you're lying in the gutter drunk and passed on on "Kiss me Kate Beer" (a pilsner, I think)...
Or hugging the Will and Kate toilet seat.
The TV rights to the Royal Conception could pay off Britain's national debt.
And Rachel's still rebelling!
Bah. Forgot about the disappearing post things (they actually appear on the page after I "publish" but when I refresh they're gone).
I'm likely going for dual citizenship, but only if I don't have to swear an oath to anyone who thinks they're better than I am, ie, royal.
Is someone getting married?
The TV rights to the Royal Conception could pay off Britain's national debt.
Or blind a generation.
Did you switch browsers, Xenith?
In the USA, we can sell the rights to Newt Gingrich's fourth wedding or Donald Trumps hair weave that's kept in a secret vault once owned by Al Capone and made from Geraldo's recycled mustache hairs.
Hi Xenith- Long time no see! How are ya?
I'm likely going for dual citizenship...
You taking language classes, innit?
*sigh*
Off to class; I may pop in for one or two comments later.
Yeah. I usually use Opera, which is the one that doesn't work (but it does on phone). Now I'm on Chrome. But everything I said in the previous half hour has disappeared.
But I should be off to bed anyway
I wouldn't mind living on Scotland for a time but in all truth, I'd have to try to search out the family origins with side trips (and they are in Italy).
Learn good, Rachel!
She's not an Inuit.
Bye, Rachel!
ril, I've had enough language lessons over the past 13 years, visiting 2 or 3 times a year.
The word that still surprises me is 'chuffed' - apparently it's a good thing, but it sounds like someone's pissed off.
I use Firefox, Xenith and it works better than Opera and Chrome for me.
I wish everything I'd said in the last half hour would disappear too. Actually, the last half century.
It would be fun to find relatives, Dave.
So EE - what are your plans for the blog? You're amazing - 5 years!
Are you getting tired?
Be careful what you wish for?
The word that still surprises me is 'chuffed' - apparently it's a good thing, but it sounds like someone's pissed off.
It can also mean somebody farted. (as in, Who just chuffed?)
Considering how little my parents actually documents, I don't think they even know if my last name or my mother's maiden name is spelled correctly.
I was thinking of phasing out the blog as it reaches various milestones. No more facelifts. new beginnings or cartoons after #1000.
Ha - didn't know about the fart part! I'll keep that in mind, and keep my mouth shut (for more than one reason) if someone mentions chuffing...
That's not so far away...
Noooooooo.
(as in, Who just chuffed?)
That's the only context that I"ve heard it used. . .
Gee, I can't type this morning. It's like the fingers are twice as big and hit everything at once.
Then every day I remove one post from the blog until it dwindles to nothingness. Sort of like the universe expanding and then imploding.
There are lots of innocent sounding words that'll get you in trouble over there...
My last name is rarely spelt correctly (a cousin got a write up in the newspaper yesterday, and they managed to get it right!!) and my mother's maiden name is almost guaranteed to be wrong in documents but, hey, that didn't stop us doing the family history thing.
I figured you might be prepping for something when I saw the (and bought the) latest best of...
But I sure hope your minions can still stay in touch - even if it's in a different format/way/etc.
If you're tired of the blog, there's no much point continuing
When I started on the blog business about five years ago (there weren't blogs before that because of work, don't ask, long story, possessive and cruel bosses)...
There were six to eight blogs I read every day. EE is the last one left. One by one they dropped out. Miss Snark most notably, several agents descended into repetition. Others just burned out.
EE at least has tried to remain relevent and fresh.
That sounds like a good way to get the family you always wanted, Xenith. Even if it really isn't yours.
I didn't think of that Phoenix. I wonder if it's too late to trade them in for a better one.
EE, I remember that last year so said something like "I think I can make it for one more year"...
It has to be hard to keep it going - hell, it's a business!
ril, now that I'll be in the Richmond area of Londontown, hope we and families can get together sometime.
The blog really is like teaching school. No matter how well trained the alumni, there are always new students to make the same mistakes.
That sounds like a good way to get the family you always wanted...
I wanted the Addams Family.
@Robin
I usually get back there each Summer...
Or old students to make all new mistakes.
It's the only place I feel comfortable posting my queries.
There was a time when I wanted the family on "Lost in Space", but I was gonna off that idiot Dr. Smith, of course.
It's the only writing blog I consistently visit every day...
Five years ago, well may be more like four, but you get the idea, I looked at self-publishing platforms like LULU and whatever other self-publishing houses were called.
the flirtation lasted about 5 minutes before I figure out what a gyp they were.
Now, today in 2011. There are entire publishing houses that only print on demand and the Amazon kindle market has grown. It's barely two years old.
And the much hated FACEBOOK and Twitter are marketing tools. They are (what) eighteen months old?
That's a new publishing market in less than five years.
Ril, excellent. Let's see about getting everyone together, then. When we actually have an address, I'll send it.We'll be moving there sometime over the summer, but when depends on the timing of the house sale.
I'm kind of strange in real life, though. I just put on this "normal" facade on the internet.
EE, I do't think I would have been able to finish writing my novel if I hadn't found your blog. And I certainly wouldn't have the amazing, creative group of writing friends I have now, without you - because your blog is where I met them.
yeah, ril, I've noticed how normal you are...
The only friends I have are my minions. All my other friends dumped me for spending so much time blogging.
Yeah, I saw them whining on their blogs about it.
We'll be happy to come on over for a party.
Do you have a hot tub, by any chance?
There's one just North of where I am...
So, Robin, you're moving across the pond, eh? Is this a permanent kind of thing or what?
Hiya, EE. Thanks again for all the time and effort you've spent on us the last five years.
I'm betting you don't get much company for awhile there, ril.
I'm off to bed while I can still remember how to type. Night!
Good night.
Bye, Xenith!
I don't really do it for you guys, WW, it's just to keep me out of trouble.
How's your hot tub doing, ril? Any chance of unpligging that sucker and having it cool the hell off?
Hi WW! Don't know yet about London - whether it's for a few years, or more...
Agree about EE. He's made a lot happen!
I don't really do it for you guys, WW, it's just to keep me out of trouble.
Doesn't seem to be working....
It's nice to stay our of trouble
Hmmm..trouble, huh, EE?
Well, it's win-win then, and we're glad to help out.
One thing I've noticed over the years, the Minions have gotten softer. When I first came around, the Minions were brutal. I remember Hawkowl (or something like that) would rip the New Beginnings. Cold-blooded. Now we mostly deliver gentle beatings.
Not a criticism, just an observation.
I have a friend who left a blog and became a Judge Judy aficionado. Now, a half bottle of scotch wouldn't improve her conversational abilities that survived...
Agree -the tone HAS changed. I got there just after the Hawkowl era...
I miss the riffs. We had comment strings in the 20s through the 80s - it was a blast-a-rama that I thoroughly enjoyed.
There's a name from the past. As I recall Hawkowl started driving a truck 24-7.
People don't like hard feedback, though. EE's style of masking the feedback in humor works well.
I get fewer death threats than I used to. Maybe it's a good sign for society.
I always thought Hawkowl acted in good faith...
Blogs somehow fell out of favor.
I mean, you needed to write to do a blog and if you have any relation to teenage and college age kids, they can't see, to write in anything but 140 character twitterfied shorthand and socialize like (what we geezers always thought were) normal people because they are used to socializing on text messages and FaceBook updates and tweets...
Yeah, ril, agree - the humore took the sting out - while still giving us a place to come out with our work, show it, and have it blasted with humor and other stuff. Makes you able to withstand criticism, which you have to be able to do.
Another thing to thank you for, Sparky.
I'm surprised no one has started a Twitter-like network with a 75-word limit for people who are tired of seemingly endless tweets.
RIL, Hawkowl didn't seem mean-spirited, but she was brutally honest with no attempt to spare the feelings of the insecure.
That's life. Funny thing is, her own blogs were kind of gentle...
It's starting to sound like I'm being eulogized. At the rate stuff comes in, it'll probably be another year before everything reaches 1000 and I shut it down and go on a writing retreat with all my minions.
When I read the comment strings of My Niece's sixteen year old son's hockey team, I shudder...
Not only is it poor grammar, it's vacuous and kiddish (I know they are kids)... It's like "I weep for the future" then I sit back and remember that every generation terrorizes the old folks the same way.
One does wonder where the minimalisation of communication will lead...
Cool! A writing retreat! I'm in.
The other thing about learning how to handle criticism on your blog - that worked well - was realizing that not everyone has one thin clue how to: 1)write and 2) critique. It's very freeing, seeing that, and being able to discern the difference. It's amazing how many people spout off who should be keeping their mouths shut. Good to have experience with - thanks for that as well.
@EE
Looking forward to having this conversation again in 12 months.
Looking forward to EE's hot tub.
All criticism hurts but the trick is what you do with it.
Yes, PLEASE do have a writing retreat with your minions! Damn - that would be freakin great.
Another year would be good to wait, though. Glad you're not in a hurry. My 2011 is shaping up to be intense and 'busy', as in crazed busy. A retreat in 2012, I'm so up for that.
I can bring beer.
Oh, wait. No I can't.
Ha, Phoenix!!!
Actually, I do have an endless pool. It throws water at you, allowing you to swim in place, sort of like a treadmill. But if you turn it off it's a hot tub for about twenty.
I'll bring something for the pipe.
Just kidding.
Or am I?
...go on a writing retreat with all my minions...
I might actually travel for that. I haven't traveled in a decade.
Remember how we used to write about the writing retreats?! That was a hoot.
I'd be happy to show up for a turned off but hot endless pool, and a barrel full of iced-down booze....and hanging out with you guys. But we'd have to crash either there, or somewhere close.
No worries, part of the party can be build your own igloo!
Being a detail-oriented chemical engineer, I went back through my rather anally well-ordered files and looked up all the Writing Exercise.
That was scary. Really scary
I just put up another post where we can continue the comments without having to go to a new page.
Too late, everyone's ready to leave.
Shoot, I gotta take off for a while. I hope y'all keep the party going. Back later.
Well, the party goes for another 7 hours. Others may drop by ad hoc. Because ... PRIZES.
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