Saturday, September 02, 2006
Happy Anniversary to Me
Wow. A year of blogging. Hard to believe. Time seems wonky within the blogosphere, so it actually seems much longer.
(...and the Archives might give you that impression as well, but anything before in the Archives before September 2, 2005 is just an artifically created holding-tank area.)
Many bloggers take the opportunity of their anniversary to quit. I can certainly understand that impulse, especially for comedy blogs. Comedy is a cruel mistress. I won't keep you in suspense: I'm definitely not quitting. But, over the next week, I will be making major changes.
Bluntly, I think I've run out the rope on the fake news theme. The ideas are getting fewer and farther between, as are reader comments. The format has become so repetitive that I can no longer even make myself or Mrs. Mentok laugh regularly.
I notice that my fake-news colleague jamwall likewise has only been doing this style of comedy for about a year, so maybe that's about the time limit for any particular theme.
On top of all that, I'm finding the fake-news theme constricting. I've often wanted to blog about others sorts of things - political and social commentary, observations of life, etc. - but couldn't because of the theme.
So, what you will see over the coming weeks is a new multi-dimensional Mentok. I will be using that tabbed format you may have seen elsewhere. The fake news and other comedy will still be here under its own tab and occasionally updated whenever I think of something really funny. There will also be tabs for politics, religion and every other offensive topic. ;-)
Before I get started on all that, please indulge me in a big round of shout-outs to a few of the people who have been important to the Mentok the Mindtaker blog so far:
The Night - a solid pal in real life, he recognized that my opinionated, idea-guy nature was perfectly suited to this medium. He pestered me relentlessly until I started a blog. And now he's gone and stopped blogging himself, the hypocritical bastid!
Irish Eyes - Night's brother who was the first to link to this site. His blog was quite active and well-read at that time, so his link alone helped me almost instantly build a Canada-wide audience. As always, Irish Eyes, I am unworthy of your kindness.
Ash Chairiet - Crazy, charming, frustrating and totally addicting - those are just a few of the words that spring to mind about this inimitable blog junkie. She was my first American reader and her harem of readers has been one of my major sources of new blog contacts. Here's looking at you, kid.
Bathroom Hippo - a solid guy and a creative, quirky blogger. For all of his silly exterior, Hippo exemplifies the qualities of loyalty that I value highly in humans. Thanks for being a friend, Hip.
Mrs. Mentok - in the beginning, she wasn't always supportive of every aspect of my online life, but she came around...in a big way. Now she's a bigger blog addict than I am. Keep up the good work, honey.
Sabatkes - a real sweetheart, a colourful personality and a loyal blog fan. Thanks for sticking with me this long, babe.
Daibh - to be sure, Daibh is a first-rate prick. I know he thinks the same of me, but he's wrong and I'm right. But he was also once a prolific, multi-talented and thoroughly readable blogger. Before our falling out, I was a big fan of his. He's so stuck-up that it would probably annoy him to no end if I linked to his secret beta blog, so as a last sign of respect-between-enemies I'll refrain.
Jamwall - I nearly gave up on the fake news business months ago but jamwall supplied a source of inspiration and friendly competition. I've learned a lot about comedy and photoshopping by studying his technique. Rock on, brother.
FiL - although I've only known him a short time, I find his music blog a tremendous font of serenity and gentle, charming humour. His contacts with the music blogging community has led me to a whole new community that I'm enjoying getting to know.
To all my other readers - old buddy Dan Cheung, the Newfoundland guys, the people from Ontario who never left messages, anonymous readers in political offices across the country and the many thousands who (according to my statcounter) Googled "Jenna Jameson" or "porn" but accidentally ended up here - thanks so much for taking the time. I have sincerely appreciated each and every one of your visits.
So, have a good long weekend everybody. I'll see you back here soon with the new, improved Mentok.
posted by Mentok @ 1:52 p.m.,
9 Comments:
-
At 4:25 p.m.,
X said...
-
Hey Mentok,
Is that you in the picture?? Or is that Gerald Levine, the Mighty Overlord of Humankind, again?
http://mentokthemindtaker.blogspot.com/2006/03/school-board-policy-gets-nod-from-evil.html
=)
dc -
At 11:17 p.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
-
Thanks for the kind words. What this blog needs is more OOO-WEE-OOOing. -
At 9:48 p.m.,
mkecurler said...
-
Aww! Thanks for the shout out. Sometimes I get tired of the whole thing, and I realize the Mentok team is still at it- and I stay.
Your blog is always hip and cool. Waiting for the onion to steal material from you!
Happy anniversary!
I'm off to the west coast..... -
At 10:10 a.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
-
Okay my list of recommendations:
#1) Consider reducing the number of posts per page from whatever it is now (twenty something) to 10.
#2) Get rid of those dead links!
#3) More family/personal stories to counter your wife's blog!
#4) That ad is an eyesore! Do you even make money off of it?
#5) Get rid of blogshares.
#6) You gotta visit your links at least once a week man!
OOO-WEEE-OOO. -
At 9:14 p.m.,
jamwall said...
-
happy anniversary bro!
you have an awesome blog! keep up the comedy! -
At 10:34 p.m.,
Unknown said...
-
I can't believe it's been a year already. Happy Anniversary.
It is an honor knowing that I was the first to link to your blog.
When is the next Tuesday meeting? -
At 7:58 p.m.,
FiL said...
-
Shucks, Mentok, many thanks for the sweet mention! Indeed, it is most odd how we weave our cyber-webs.
Happy First Anniversary, and many thanks for the larfs. I look forward to the changes - I'm sure however it evolves will be grand! -
At 8:21 p.m.,
Suzan Abrams, email: suzanabrams@live.co.uk said...
-
Well, Mentok...I've only just started reading you but Happy Bloggi-versary all the same.
regards -
At 1:28 a.m.,
Bathroom Hippo said...
-
Hey Mentos,
Did you die or something? There's been a rumor that you died. Oh wait...you're already dead. My mistake.
