October 29: Behind-the-Scenes Documentary...

Look out, Oprah

Well, now that I've decided what to write about every morning, I have to decide what to do with my afternoon blog posts.  I know that Oprah did a behind-the-scenes kind of show on her network during her final year in syndication.  It was the highest rated show on the network, from what I understand.  Maybe, in the afternoons, I'll write about my preparations for upcoming posts.

That creates a dilemma for me at the moment, however.  I haven't even thought about what I'm going to write about tomorrow yet.  I've been too busy with the other tasks of my day to even do any prep work for tomorrow's writing.  Tomorrow, I'll be writing about the Saint of the Week.  That means I will take one of the saints whose feast days are celebrated this week and talk about him or her.  That gives me quite a bit to choose from, holy people with names like Narcissus and Benevenuta and Wolfgang.  I'm going to have to do a little research tonight.

Last night, I spent time with my daughter after my wife went to bed.  My daughter was finishing a project for language arts (that's what they call English class in elementary, middle, and high school these days).  She worked until well past eleven o'clock.  She had one melt-down during the evening, but she was quiet and focused most of the time.  I was so proud of her.  And after she was done, she helped me clean up the living room and got her backpack ready for the morning.  My daughter gave me a snapshot last night of what a great young woman she is going to become.

Saint Marty has to do his homework now.

October 29: My Plans, Oprah, "Carol" Dip Monday

OK, so last week I wrote about reinventing Saint Marty.  This morning, when I logged on at 5 a.m., I only had 64 page views.  I need to do something about this situation.  I therefore have decided to impose some structure on my posts.  Each day, I will write about a generalized theme.  I have come up with a tentative schedule.  Think of it as the TV Guide for this blog.  Here goes:

Monday:  Carol Dip.  (This day will change once my year with A Christmas Carol is over.  Perhaps I'll do Bible dips instead.  We'll see.)

Tuesday:  Saint of the Week.  Yes, I am returning to the roots of this blog.  If you look at my earliest posts, they all concern various Catholic saints and how they relate to modern life.  I will be revisiting this feature on Tuesdays.

Wednesday:  Worry Wednesday.  Instead of writing about all my fears and worries all week long, I will pile them on this day.  It's the middle of the work week, so it seems like a good day to fret about things a little bit.

Thursday:  Blessing Thursday.  I will follow up my day of worry with a day of blessings.  I will discuss one thing in my life for which I'm grateful.  Just to balance things out.

Friday:  P.O.E.T.S. Day.  That stands for Piss On Everything Tommorow's Saturday.  On this day, I will unveil a new poem I've written.  I call myself a poet.  Therefore, I should be writing poetry.  This day will keep me writing and experiencing incredible guilt when I don't get something written.  That's for the Catholic boy in me.

Saturday:  Good Reads.  I will discuss books, short stories, authors, poets I like reading.  Think of it as Oprah's Book Club for this blog.

Sunday:  My Favorite Things.  Yes, I'm stealing another page from Oprah.  On Sundays, I will talk about something I love.  Anything goes on this day, from books to movies to foods to vacations to people.

There you have it.  That's what you can expect on this blog in the future.  Of course, this schedule is not Stonehenge.  Nothing is made out of stone here.  I will deviate for special occasions--holidays, birthdays, elections, when something pisses me off.  For example, I will be posting a Halloween special on Wednesday.  I've already got the graphics for it.  And, not to worry, I will still be fulfilling my promise of focusing on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol for an entire year.  I do not go back on my word.

We'll see how this new schedule works out.  I may be adjusting things.  Even the television networks cancel programs and bring in mid-season replacements.  For now, this is what you can look forward to.

Now for the Carol dip.  My question this morning is simple: 

Is my new blog schedule going to get me named a Blog of Note by the good people who run Blogger?

And the answer from the great Dickens is:

Scrooge, having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "Bah!" again, and followed it up with "Humbug!"

Well, that's not the answer I was hoping for, but I'll take it.

Saint Marty isn't going to argue with Charles Dickens or Ebenezer Scrooge.

I won't be giving away any cars, folks!