A Year in Blogrospect

In typical Katie Parry fashion, I forgot that yesterday was the one year anniversary of my blog! Aren’t you pumped? Well fine, I don’t blame you. I do, however, thank you for reading! thankyouthankyouthankyou.

To celebrate and commemorate, I thought it would be “fun” to write about the trials and tribulations, the ups and downs, the pros and cons, and yeah, the sheer awesomeness that being a blogga for 365 - er, 366 days - has entailed.

Some of the highlights:

Getting friended on Facebook by Derek Warburton! I received the friend request but two hours after my semi-snarky post, Celebridiculous Redux, went up this past Monday. Flustered, I fretted. Was it because I had volunteered at his Housing Works VIP Gala? Was he friending everyone who helped out?

I ambushed Kelly the second she came on gchat. Nope, she had not been friended.

I read and reread the post. Was he pissed at me? Would he e-yell at me? After tons of reassurance from Miss Cobb that Mr. Warburton wasn’t actually going to turn me into fashion sidewalk-kill, I accepted. Very shortly thereafter, I received a message: “thank you for your interesting commentary about the Housing Works event tee hee. xxx Derek”. Ahhh! So cool! And cooler still that he didn’t loathe me.

Obviously I’d like friend requests from the other celebrities I mentioned - Robert Pattinson, Kate Winslet, Robert Pattinson - but I guess I’ll take my victories where I can get them.

Then there was the FB message from Emily Wells (semi-famous singer) that she sent after reading my raving love-fest of a post about live music. She said, “Katie... thanks for the rad review... glad to have inspired a self proclaimed cynic... cheers... see you again in NYC.”

So yeah, those are some of the more blindingly bright spots I’ve reaped in my blogger career.

Some less star-striking - but just as stellar - experiences:

Hearing that people actually read and actually like and sometimes even relate to my posts. It feels good to know I’m not the only person in the world who complains (even if I do do it more than the next person).

Getting new followers without having to threaten their livelihood! (If I make it to 100, Melissa will bake me cupcakes...so pretty, pretty please with some sprinkles on top, just click that FOLLOW button already, sososo easy!) I also love when perfectly perfect strangers (no not Balki…I wish) become followers.

Comments! Love comments. Can’t get enough of your comments (and by you I mean Jeffery, Melissa & Kelly - thanks buddies!) Alas I would LOVE for some new peeps to comment, too! I heart hearing what ya’lls have to say. It makes me feel un-alone, like I’m really not just chillin in cyberspace with my blog and my Mac. I don’t want to be a blogMac lady! (I aspire to be more interactive but to no avail. What’s the fear, ladies and gentlemen? I judge, you judge, we all go down…to the hot place. Whatever. Comment!)

When I hear people using “no dankes!” like it’s part of the English language canon or something. Like it’s a real phrase, next stop Oxford Dictionary! (Well OK, so it’s mostly my friends saying it...when I’m around...but still. It’s cool to hear them use this weird ass invention of a phrase to talk shit about shit.)

Honestly I think I’ve loved about 92.8% of the world that is No Dankes! And 99.7% of that percentage comes from my friends and family and family’s friends and quasi-Facebook-friends and co’s aaaaall banding together to support me and pat me on the back and rah-rah-rah in my face at me to keep it up.

Cheesy as it sounds, I don’t think I would have lasted one month in my negative little cyberspace universe without your compliments, your consistently positive reinforcement, your encouragement.

Thank you. Truly.

But enough with the happy-go-lucky Do Dankes! bullshit. I’m here to No Dankes! And what better way to end this entry than on a negative note?

A few No Dankes! regarding No Dankes!:

Chronic complaining is hard on the heart and heavy on the brain. Apologies for my lousy 2-posts-per-week showings as of late. I’s been having me a case of writers block. Dare I say - gasp - I’m more chipper than I was a year ago? Har-de-har-har. Like that will ever happen. No worries, dear friends and followers! Snarky McSnarkerson will never become all nice all the time.

My mom yelling at me every time I say “goddamn.” If one were to overhear her scolding me, one would guess I’m about to celebrate my 7th birthday - not my 27th (yikes). Trissi would probably relish in sticking a bar of soap in my mouth - but alas she cannot, for: a) I live in a different state, and b) I am now bigger than she is.

The typos. The typos! I abhor them. But as much as I aspire to be an officer in the Grammar Police Brigade, we can’t win em all. I could edit and reedit and reword and rework all.day.every.day. But then there would be no posts! And the point of a blog is, after all, the posts. So it’s pretty lose-lose. (But like the MTA, I beg you: If you see something, say something. I don’t enjoy the Cone of Shame that a spelling or grammatical error forces me into.)

Annnd I’m gonna stop there. Because I’m sure one of YOUR No Dankes!, dear fair-weather readers, is my long-winded-ness.

Thanks so much everyone! Especially to those of you who made it to the end of this post! As a reward, you get the chance to participate in a really fun contest: Post a comment below about something you’re maaaayjahly no dankes-ing at the moment. Perhaps it’s one of mine too! If I write a blog about your comment, you will get a super special, super top secret prize. Comment away! xoxo