50th Post Extravaganza

Bring out the jugglers and the men on stilts! Roll out the lion in his cage and the rings of fire! It's that time once again! Time to celebrate a benchmark in the history of JiVE, it's the 50th Post Extravaganza!

You may recall the last time we celebrated together, over a year ago, on the 20th of October, 2004. It's been a bit more slow going over the past year and subsequent 25 posts. Who knew, for example, that just nine days later, F'er would take a tremendous spill on the concrete? Perhaps that is what caused things to slow down for a bit...

from "On Spills":

"Will I run again? It will never be without a remembrance of today's infamy. It will never be the same. The laughter will have lost its original meaning."

I remember it well, and the heartache that ensued. It was an event that would alter the way I blogged (pronounced b-logged) ever since. F'er would become more elusive than before, often slipping back into the 3rd person, and emerging only now and again sometimes just to keep you aware that he was still there, still on the lookout for brilliant new opportunities to post.

from "Humble Beginnings":

"F'er is no quitter. These ramblings are his humble beginnings. He is learning his craft. He is amusing himself."

Since the 25th post there have been 4 new stories, 3 new poems, and 17 other entries ranging from essay to address to hyrbrid. Looking back over 50 posts, I am proud to have such an eclectic library. Sometimes intensely personal. Sometimes searching. Sometimes commemorating. Sometimes absurd. All F'er. The good with the bad.

And now for the fun part of the post! It's the awards ceremony!!

1. Best post about an awards ceremony:
"And the winner is...someone else...again" (Feb. 28th, 2005)

While this very post was a runner up, the blue ribbon had to go to my tribute post to Martin Scorsese. We're still rooting for you, Marty!

2. Most epic poem:
"Sea Wind" (Jan. 24th, 2005)

Yeah. I recited this poem to a friend of mine at a recent Thanksgiving dinner. No better way to revel in your own arrogance or advertise your genius than by reciting your own poems at joyous dinner gatherings. I wrote this poem after reading Moby-Dick, an amazing piece of literature.

3. Best nature essay (or as close to a nature essay as F'er will probably ever write):
"My Sprite Can" (June 10th, 2005)

I even managed to write about urinals in this post.

4. Best replacement-for-a-journal post:
"too many similes, too many metaphors" (Sept. 26th, 2004)

We're going back a little further for this one, post #20. This was a really tough one to decide, seeing as there were quite a few posts that could conceiveably fit this category, several of which I still like. In fact, many of my options seemed to be jumbled together around this same general period of time. But I had to go with this one. Why? There have been other posts that were much more "journal-istic" than this, but I am rewarding the art of this particular piece. I like that F'er went all out with the imagery in this one. I like that it retains an element of daring and excitement. And mostly, I like that this post was able to spawn a sequel close to a year later (it remains the far superior post of the two).

5. Post that most needs a sequel:
"Gastronomic Dispute" (Nov. 7th, 2004)

I don't know about you, but I am very interested in seeing where this relationship between my stomach and me could go. There could even be material for a screenplay there as a rollicking "buddy picture."

6. WORST POST:
"To be continued" (April 30th, 2005)

I'll be honest. The only reason I posted this crap was to make sure I didn't fail to have something written for the month of April. And a quick buck. I suppose there's an okay theme involved in it, but the post just degenerated. I like cookie monster?? No need to force the stream of conciousness thing, man.

7. BEST POST:
???

I think the jury is still out on that one. I've had some pretty proud moments along the way, like writing a film-noir Christmas story (Dec. 24th, 2004). That made up for forgetting to celebrate Veemas Eve (June 24th) this year. I feel like I'm gonna make a stop animation film for "About Climbing (Or not)" (March 12th, 2005) some day, and when I do, it will make that post even more glorious. And let's not forget my wonderful birthday rants. Unfortunately, I cannot boil it down to a single one. I have yet to publish the perfect post. And until I do, you will continue to be edified and entertained with JiVE. Okay, I'll be honest. I'm leaning toward the "25th Post Celebration" (Oct. 20th, 2004) as my number one pick.

That about wraps it up for me. Once again, we've had a fun time ransacking the past. Who knows what we will rummage through 25 posts from now. And more importantly, who cares?