Before I say anything about the challenge itself, I want to acknowledge all of you. During this challenge, I’ve had 98 new followers. Thank you for visiting. I hope you stay… but I do also understand how difficult it is to keep up with everyone. I am behind as I type this… I’ve saved every new follower notification I’ve received throughout the month. Over the next few days (or weeks… I don’t know how long it’s going to take to catch up…), I’m going to visit every one of you.
Whether you’ve been here for days or months — thank you for your support. I’m a little reclusive offline… the friendship and support I find here means so much to me. Maybe even more than it should, if that makes any sense…
When I couldn’t decide on a theme for a-to-z this year, I turned to you. The top suggestion was music. And I did that. But I thought some cathartic bitching would be good for me as well. And it was… for a bunch of the letters. For others, it was just… hard. Imagine having to think of something to bitch about… I never thought I’d have a bit of trouble with that! But damn, some nights I was scrambling for a topic at 2am!
The interesting thing (well, one of them) is… despite the many suggestions that I do the music theme, the bitchfest posts were much more popular… in both likes and comments. Of course, likes can happen even if someone doesn’t bother reading the post. And… comments can multiply because I’m having a chat with someone. So who knows if the numbers really indicate popularity at all. But this is interesting (to me anyway)…
likes:
1st — bitchfest | d – decaf #atozchallenge
2nd — bitchfest | a – autocorrect #atozchallenge
3rd — bitchfest | k – kale #atozchallenge
4th — bitchfest | g – group texts #atozchallenge (tie)
4th — bitchfest | h – half wall #atozchallenge (tie)
5th — music | a – airborne toxic event, the #atozchallenge
comments:
1st — bitchfest | c – clichés #atozchallenge
2nd — bitchfest | k – kale #atozchallenge
3rd — bitchfest | r – reality tv #atozchallenge
4th — bitchfest | b – bad grammar #atozchallenge
5th — bitchfest | o – outdoors #atozchallenge (tie)
5th — music | u – u2 #atozchallenge (tie)
I think the most popular post — being the only one appearing on both lists — was kale. Kale for fuck’s sake! That was a six-word story. I wrote it in about 4 seconds! Holy shit. Maybe next year’s theme should be six-word stories…
Then there’s the bitch phenomenon. Look at all those bitchy posts! And only two music ones! And I bet the popularity of the music post for the letter a is only because it was the first letter. And the popularity of the U2 one is because people hate U2 (and you know, I don’t really like them either… it was only for the story).
Does this mean I can bitch all the time and you’ll love it? I was thinking I’d used up my bitch-allowance… like I am not permitted to bitch about anything for at least a month. We’ll see how that goes…
And does this mean you are done with my music-related thoughts and opinions? I bet you never want to know anything about my music collection ever again. Well… tough shit! I plan to continue with ‘song of the day’ whenever the mood strikes. But maybe not for a little while.
This month was exhausting. Seriously, what idiot thought doing two themes was a good idea? Oh yeah… me. I am never doing that again.
what sandra thinks 
I enjoyed – for lack of a better term – reading them! 😀
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I’m glad! 🙂 ♥
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Look at kale being represented!!! I told you it was good. Wait. I wasn’t the only one who said they liked it, was I? 😃
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It’s because people agree with me. 😛 I think at least a couple others said they eat it… like, they like it in a particular way… or eat it disguised. But I’m pretty sure no one said ‘I love kale’. LOL
I just cannot believe that with the amount of work and writing I did all month, my most popular post was SIX FUCKING WORDS! Seriously. 😀
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Well, I’ve always ascribed to the notion of “Keep it simple, stupid!”. Of course, I’m a simpleton, soooo….. 😃😃
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Well, I don’t want any simple kale. 😀
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One word: BACON! Makes anything better. 😃😃
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Doing one theme is hard – I can’t believe you made it through TWO! Well done friend!!
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Thanks so much! 🙂
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So true! But it was double the fun for us as readers! 😊
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I’m happy to hear that! 🙂
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Just goes to show how much bitching loves company! And not just plain old whining, you make it fun to read and agree! 🙂
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I’m glad I didn’t come across as a whiner! I definitely didn’t want that! I’m so happy that you had fun reading… 🙂
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🙂
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I am not surprised at the Kale popularity! I am surprised that so many people hate U2. How is it a band can be so popular and also so hated? That’s rhetorical … Anyway, you did a smashing job of following both your themes! Bravo!
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The most popular are probably also the most hated. Either way, it gets the artist at hand plenty of attention! 😀
And thanks very much. I hope I can keep up the interest for new followers, especially since now I have 100. Is me bitching that great?!?
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Yes! Because it shows your wicked sense of humor! Those posts were funny and fun to join in on!
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And minimal fighting! LOL 😀
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Yes!!!
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People can get behind a “bitchfest”. Even if they think it’s just a #FirstWorldProblem. Plus, the way you wrote them made them funny! Thanks for the laughs and congrats on completing 2 themes!
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Thanks so much! Your feedback is much appreciated… thank you for reading. 🙂
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Congrats! You did it 🙂
I missed your kale post or I would have said “I love kale” and “I grow kale” well, I did where I used to live.
I also love U2 or I did back in the 1980s…so I must be your atypical follower
I did wonder if people really read when they hit the like button. I get liked but hardly any comments…and those are from the same couple of people. Thanks for the confirmation now I can have my own bitchfest or maybe a pityparty instead ;-0
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Haha… I have always wondered how many ‘likers’ (my brain always wants to read that as ‘lickers’) actually read the posts. I know it’s hard to keep up and all, so I don’t blame people who do that at times. But the comments… a lot of them do seem to be from the same friends, mostly, but I’ve had some new ones lately… I think a-to-z is great for that — meeting new bloggers.
I don’t think you’re an atypical follower at all! There are all sorts of people here. Plus, I don’t want everyone to be the same… and definitely not like me… I’m kind of a mess!
I’m kind of neutral on U2… but I found that quite a few have no use for them.
But I do hate kale. Haha! 😀
A bitchfest and/or a pity party are totally acceptable in my opinion. I will say, though, that I’ve had a LOT of trouble keeping up with all of my blog-reading during this challenge. Hoping I find more time now!
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