Number Base Twelve

What if? It's the basis of many stories. We ask. We ponder. We wonder. 

On Tuesdays I throw one out there. What if? It may be speculative. It may stem from something I see. It may be something I pull from the news. 

Make of it what you will. If a for instance is not specified, interpret that instance as you wish. And if the idea turns into a story, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements 😉

This is my 4000th post. At least, that's what Blogger's little counter thingy says at the top of my screen. Which got me thinking about milestones...

What if our number system was based on 12? (Or 6? Or 7?)

(Because I was curious, my 3000th post was in 2020 and my 2000th post was in 2017.)

Laws of Gravity 3000

According to the counter in the top left-hand corner of the Blogger page, this is post number 3000. I'm glad I was kind of paying attention, or else I might have missed it. I mean, I missed number 2000, I'm pretty sure. 

My first post here was September 14, 2007. Appropriately enough, I titled it "Newbie". And in it I explain that this is my second blog. My first blog, kept on MySpace, has since gone poof. I deleted it years ago, but not before backing up all the posts. (Some were reposted here, mostly during the summer months. Everything of "importance" eventually made the transition.) 

I just. . . How does one start something and keep it going? I guess I'm just that kind of person. I start something, and then I keep it going. 

In case you were wondering, not much has changed over the years. Early on, I was writing about my subbing experiences, much like I do now. I even explained the title of my blog in those first couple weeks. (Although, that's also included in the "About Me" tab above.) 

So, I'll keep on keeping on. As I do. This week I'll again have a "what if?" on Tuesday. Even in our pandemic, closed schools time, I continue to work, so there are subbing stories for Wednesday through Friday. 

And I'm still working on the entrelac scarf. I made a little bit of progress last week: 

How are you doing? What number blog post are you currently on?

A 2000th Post

Back in August, I noted my 1900th post. And I said, "I'd wait and say something when it hits #2000, but knowing me, I won't even notice until that occasion has passed and I'm on post #2003 or something". Turns out I was wrong.

Well, to be fair, I've been paying attention since then.

Yup, this is post #2000.

via GIPHY

And to honor the occasion (since the Star Wars beanie isn't quite done), I thought I'd post my blogging "tips". Not so much tips as the things that I do in blogging that work for me.

People post these sorts of things from time to time. I like to peruse them as sometimes they have something that'll work for me. Or, it can be modified to work for me. It is in this spirit that I offer this list. 

So, in no particular order:

1. I write this blog for myself. While I appreciate those who take time out of their busy days to stop in and read my words (and I especially appreciate those who take the time to comment), when I sit down in front of my computer, I'm writing for me. If I didn't do this because I wanted to, I wouldn't still be doing it.
2. I have a schedule. But it's not too terribly rigid. It's a guideline of what to post when, so when I don't know what to write (school's not in session or the classes are too well behaved), I have a place to start. (I do have the schedule posted if you're interested.) 
3. Even though I have a plan for each day of the week, I don't feel the need to post each day of the week. Some weeks I'd rather only do three posts. And some weeks I have enough stories for five. It just depends. 
4. My plan changes as my life changes. At the moment, I'm still trying to figure out a good theme for Wednesdays. (Which is why if I'm skipping a day, that day is usually Wednesday.) At one point my "what if?" questions were on Thursdays. And I had three or four themes for Fridays until I happened upon the quiz thing. 
5. I write my posts for the following week in one or two sittings. By Thursday I like to have an idea of what each day's post will be. (Although I tend to save the Friday post for what transpires in school on Friday. For some reason, some crazy stuff tends to happen on Fridays.) I usually sit down and write out the posts over the weekend. (If I'm lucky, I might have time to rough out a post or four during the week.) 
6. As for my subbing stories, I let those happen. Some things jump out in the moment as "blog fodder". Others only occur to me after I'm contemplating the days I had. 
7. I tend to work most school days. I only tell subbing stories three days a week. I leave out a lot. I edit out the boring stuff--i.e. the stuff where the kiddos do what they're supposed to do, the classes that work silently without too much effort on my part, and the days when I barely feel like I'm working. There are a lot of these instances. 

And as with anything, this is a work in progress. What works for me today may change over time. My blog must adapt to this. Otherwise, I'd have stopped doing this ages ago. 

What about you? How do you blog? What works for you?