Why Do an Every Day Project?

Well, there goes my feeling of uniqueness again.  I don't know what I was expecting, really.  It's akin to the rule 34 of the internet.  How no matter what you can imagine, there is probably a porn of it out there somewhere.  The rule that applies here, is probably a different one.  Simply, that even if you think you are doing something unique, you really aren't, probably. 

I didn't think I was alone in my daily Fritz365 poetry blog.  Far from it.  After all, I was inspired to do it, specifically by Jonathon Coulton's Thing a Week music project from a couple years ago.  Of course there have been numerous things of this genre.  People taking pictures of themselves every day, and making a montage.  I found a really neat musician named Sophie Madeleine who did a 30 Days 30 Covers project.  I like them a lot, link it here:  http://sophiemadeleine.com/30days.html

Pretty fun stuff there, as a matter of fact, I'm listening to them as I write here.  :)

Well, I have been actually avoiding published poetry since the start of the year, and my own poetry project.  Trying to avoid muddying the waters, so to speak.  But, a few days ago, as I was doing my cleaning purge, I stumbled upon A Light In The Attic.  So of course I sat down and had myself a big helping of Shel Silverstein.  I'm kind of glad that I did.  It showed me several things.  That I'm not as terrible as I think I am.  That I am very very different from Shel, in what I'm inclined to write about typically.  And that poems don't have to be long-ish to be 'normal'.  I've been striving to do around a page a poem. I don't know why.  I go longer, I go shorter, but that's my 'normal'.

Well, I sort of started rambling around the internet after that.  I found several sites, where someone writes something new every day, as far as poems.  On one, I thing it was a, oh crap, I forget.  Writer's .... something, two words.  Anyways, he has a Poetry Aside section he does every day or so.  And he has weekly poetry prompts.  He throws out a subject, and writes a little poem about it, and invites everyone to do the same.  People post theirs in the reply sections.  And you know what?  Most of them aren't bad at all. 

So right there, other people doing what I do, just as well.  Well, crap.

All that stuff, prompted several reactions in me.  First, I went through my files from earlier in the year, and I resurrected many 'snippets', as I liked to call them, unfinished poems in my eyes.  I read them, in their 4 to 8 line glory, and realized that they are not bad as they are.  So I will be inserting them occasionally into the poetry blog.

Secondly, I did a little self reflection on the poetry blog thing.  I've decided that I've never expected fame and fortune from writing poetry.  I wasn't that deluded even 20 years ago, when I started doing it.  I don't expect to get famous, and my typical 2 to 3 views a day on the blog prove that one out.  So why am I doing it?

I'm doing it for me.  I'm doing it to collect a years worth of thoughts and prose from myself.  It will, on it's whole, be a more true snapshot of who I am, than anything else I've ever done I think.  I'm going to put it together as a book on Lulu, put it into their fanciest binding, and get several copies delivered.  One for me, and one for each of my kids to have someday.  Sort of a "This was who your dad was in 2011" thing.  If I'm feeling particularly vain, I'll get a cheaper copy, and donate it to my high school library or something.  I will license it as Creative Commons, so others can base things off of it.  I'm a firm believer in the fact that our civilization stands upon each other's achievements and ideas.  If someone can build upon something I thought up, and push it as a seed towards something better, I want that. 

That's what I expect to get out of this.  I'd like to focus on actually writing a book next year maybe.  I've been collecting ideas for it all year.  It's high time I gave it a try.  It's going to be about an aircraft mechanic.  Write what you know.  That's what I know, I guess.

I also am considering a podcast.  Ideas for that as well.  We'll see how many people I could lure into listening. 

Have a great fall season everyone.  Cheers