Thursday, March 28, 2013

Blogging from A to Z: The Drinking Game ®

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For today's post, because the start of 2013's Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is nigh, I've re-purposed and updated a portion of my 2012 A to Z reflections post for your amusement. Nota bene: this post is a joke, a satirical piece, a farce. It is not for realz. There is no such game, nor is this non-game endorsed by any of the good people co-hosting the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, nor any of their helpers/minions/ninjas. It's just a bit of fun, all right? Sheesh...

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Last year, around the time I was doing the 2012 A to Z Challenge, my day job had me on the verge of acute alcoholism. Sure that I wasn't the only A to Z-er self-medicating with hooch, I proposed an official Blogging From A to Z Drinking Game®! (DISCLAIMER: this is NOT a real game. Readers are STRONGLY DISCOURAGED from actually doing this. Please drink responsibly, for heaven's sake!!!!!)

Anyway, as I made my way through the A to Z linky-list, I noticed some trends which, I felt, would have been more entertaining with a bit of booze to accompany them. (Or, at least, more tolerable.)

The rules of the Blogging From A to Z Drinking Game® (which is totally NOT a real game) are simple; as you make your way through the linky-list, take a shot of your preferred liquor every time you come across:
  • A blogger still requesting word verification of commenters. (As it happens, I'd inadvertently left my word verification on last year, but turned it off as soon as I realized there was a problem. To learn more about turning this jazz off, click here.)
  • A C entry that’s for Cats, D entry that’s Dogs, X entry that's Xylophone, and/or Z entry that's Zoo. C'mon.
  • Every H entry that’s for Haiku, only the blogger totally got the basic English haiku form wrong (the English haiku comprises three lines, as follows: 1st line = 5 syllables; 2nd line = 7 syllables; 3rd line = 5 syllables).
  • A blogger goes days without posting (or forgets the event’s begun and chimes in well into the alphabet, OR stops posting mid-stream and returns, OR just craps out altogether), saying it's 'cause s/he “got super busy,” BUT TOOK NO STEPS TO GET HIS/HER BLOG LINK REMOVED FROM THE LIST. (Just contact one of the co-hosts, 'k?)
  • Other participants who leave comments for which you'd like to return the favor, yet are impossible to track down without performing a Google search. (Make it easy for folks to find your blogs, peeps: leave hyperlinked-signatures with your comments!)
  • A blog that’s got Random, Rants, Ramblings, or Musings in its title (or subtitle). (Titles/subtitles with more than one of those words are worth 2 shots. If, God help you, you find one with all four, just keep drinking.)
  • If, at any point, you find yourself reaching for the bottle of whatever it is you're drinking, rather than the shotglass, you've probably had too much. (Of the A to Z Challenge and, possibly, the drink.) Turn off your computer, lock up the liquor, and go for a walk around the block or pet some puppies, or something. There's no shame in taking a break, and the linky-list will still be there tomorrow. Probably.

Most amusing to me when I re-read my reflections post was the following bit at the very end:
I know the Challenge hosts were hella busy and made heroic efforts to clean up the linky-list, for which I thank them. The only suggestion I have is to maybe deputize trusted past-Challenge participants and let them aid in the clean up. (Not me!)  ;-)
Hah. So much for that. ;-)

28 comments:

  1. We'd all be so blotto from the word verification on Day 1 that the rest of the month would be a blur anyway! :-)

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    1. I remember last April feeling blurry, but honestly, it wasn't the booze! :-)

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  2. word verification will sometimes make me stop following someone...its so fucking irritating

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  3. Too bad I don't drink. I will not leave comments on CAPTCHA blogs. I feel kind of like a tattle tale running back to my team leader to rat out the blogs for it. I'm not sure if the hosts will send messages to the bloggers and ask them to remove it or not. But I am sick of that feature. I'm already backing off on commenting on blogs I regularly follow due to it.

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    1. I try not to let it daunt me too much, if I really want to leave a comment, but then I do tend to stay away after that...

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  4. you are so trying to stop the rest of us to have a great time with A to Z and drinking because you're afraid we'd have as much fun as you had last year!

    you must have had quite some shots last April!

    It could be a real game, why do you refuse to turn it into a challenge, it would be very successful! ;)

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    1. Alas, I thought up the game after the challenge was over, and now I'm on meds which make boozing a bad idea, so if I can't have a good time, I don't see why anyone else should. ;-)

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  5. You made me laugh. My first idea for X was Xylophone but it was completely impossible. What the heck would a dragon do with a xylophone? Just nonsense.

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    1. I believe a dragon could do whatever he/she wants with a xylophone. I mean, who's gonna prevail over a dragon??? ;-)

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  6. Ah, but we do have minions this year who will help with the list!
    Too bad it's not a real drinking game.

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  7. LOL! I wouldn't last 30 minutes in this game before ending up passed out on the floor. xD

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  8. Ya know what's sad? The older you get, drinking becomes less and less fun. By my mid-forties, drinking just gave me a headache and made me sleepy. What fun is that? *sigh*

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  9. dont like drinking much. but I like the idea. missing out on az this year, though, as i need to focus on rewrites.
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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    1. We'll miss ya, but it's smart not to take on more than you can comfortably handle, for sure.

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  10. Damn, the thing hasn't even started and I'm ready for a bottle! Brandy, anyone!

    Maybe I should drop out now, I still haven't come up with A! :)

    Funny stuff, but makes the point -- lets just call if off and have a party!

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    1. I saw somewhere else you did drop out. I have that urge too, when I think of all my personal goals. But I feel A to Z will play a part in getting me where I want to be, as a writer, so for this year, I'll push on. We'll see about next year...

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  11. Hm. Well, you can drink on the X day because that is what I'm using. Last year though, I did do an entertaining piece on the X chromosome. :)

    Pinterest only has so many ideas for the letter X... just be happy I have a theme this year.

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    1. Oooh, now I've gotta check out that x-chromosome post! :-)

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  12. Hi Mini Lobo,

    You had quite the concept with your A to Z. If I drank, I would drink to that. And reflecting upon last year's amazing challenge that brought further awareness of the alphabet, I'm now ready to wish you and everyone involved, much fun and positive interaction. The letter "X" is easy. 'Xenaphobia' the fear of a warrior princess. "Xerox" do you copy? Be well, my friend.

    Now then, something starting with the letter "Z".

    Gary "The official anti-A to Z Challenge spokesman" as bestowed upon me by Arlee Bird :)

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    1. Thanks, Homeslice. I think Xenobia would be a grand X word. (And a fabulous name for my as-yet-unborn-and-unlikely-to-be-born-at-this-point-in-my-life-daughter.) Maybe as a middle name...

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    2. Scratch that; it's Zenobia, which sorts us out for "Z."

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    3. I'm drinking now. It's your fault.

      Rock on,

      W.

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    4. No sir, ye cannae blame me, Captain. I *told* you to drink responsibly. :-P

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  13. What? It's not a real drinking game? You mean I got soused for nothing? Oh well, I'll drink to that.

    Lee
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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    1. Well, at least you had the pleasure of getting soused? :-D

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C'mon, post a comment. All the cool kids do.