Well, blAugust is over and Septembemblag will start soon (after a short break), so this seems like a sensible time to do a review of the goals and effectiveness of the propaganda organ that is the Leaflocker.
Mission:
To provide modest entertainment to the population of the internet at large and get some practice writing again:Don't know about the modest entertainment, but even over the short period of a month I've noticed that it's become easier to write, and I hope you'll all agree that the structure of my writing has become at least a little less slap-dash. I've been very rusty for a very long time (about five years), and it feels good to get a little grease in the works.
Regular Features:
Monday Papal Cartoons:Cartooning again after a year away has been good, although the quality of my art makes me cry myself to sleep some time. Nevertheless, doing the Pope cartoons and associated explanatory notes has re-ignited my enthusiasm for the long-term project that is Hamemus Papas, my time-travelling pope adventure. We'll have to wait and see what happens with that, but I hope that Monday cartoons (with or without popes) will be a continuing feature.
Tuesday Solo Book Club:This has been hard to keep up due to the slowness of my reading pace now that I'm spending all my time working and writing blag posts. I am unhappy with the reviews in general, and need to put more time into researching the topic to make them more interesting. Nevertheless, I enjoy the long-term project that is the reading list and aim to continue it, but maybe on a fortnightly basis once I finish the backlog of reviews for stuff read since the start of the year.
Wednesday Quiz:Has been pretty seat of the pants apart from the first couple, and participation numbers have been low, even compared to last season. I find it hard to reconcile making a quiz that participants will enjoy (which typically means "get most of the stuff right") and a quiz which I will enjoy making (which typically means "a bunch of obscure trivia"), and so far have erred on the side of my personal enjoyment, because the Leaflocker, as much as it purports to be for the people, is fundamentally an exercise in my own ego. I'm going to keep it, at least until the end of the season, and then look at ways of making it more interesting somehow.
Thursday Void:The absence of a planned feature for Thursday, far from keeping the Leaflocker unpredictable and exciting as intended, has meant a struggle every week to find content, then last minute text-filled posts (like this one). The plan of doing a regular devotion on Thursdays, though it's yielded a grand total of no posts since its inception, is a line of thought worth pursuing, I think, though I still feel a little uneasy about sharing my personal thoughts on such a level with the internet, particularly given that it has such a long memory.
Friday Ties:Inexplicably, has turned out to be a popular addition that will continue until I run out of ties, unless something unexpected happens. Keeping it interesting could be a challenge, but for now it's fun (and not too time consuming) to make and (apparently) to read. The intended expansion into Tin Tin reviews is yet to eventuate and I'm not sure that this is a bad thing.
Irregular FeaturesWreck This Journal:Going online and seeing some of the amazing things that some people have done to their journals has put a damper on this project for a little while. I'm still enjoying destroying my journal, but I'm not utterly convinced that the world needs to see. I'm trying not to let this attitude infect the rest of the features, as it could be fatal.
Crosswords:While my crossword participation rate is at an all-time high, my crossword composition is sadly lacking in recent times. If I ever manage to finish a crossword it will be posted here, but I wouldn't be holding your breath. The current crossword education project was abandoned when I realised that the crossword I was using was much too hard. It may be resurrected if I can come up with something better.
The ListIn as much as it's ever actually happened, the list is on hiatus until certain visitors to Canada have returned to the sunburnt country.
The editorial staff would like to extend our thanks to you all for stopping by during the month, and we hope that you'll continue to patronise the Leaflocker in the future. If you have any suggestions for content (we're currently short an average of about 1 post a week), or comments to add feel free to drop us a line.
Enjoy your Spring (or Fall, for our North American audience [or Autumn, if they use that term in Canada]).
My tie, as well as looking suspiciously like my old school tie, is in the red, blue and yellow colours of the Pride of South Australia, the mighty Adelaide Crows (who play Australian Rules Football). It's probably best not to mention them again after this season, except to suggest that at least they're not Port Adelaide.
My socks show my support for the American Football team of choice, the Oregon Ducks, whose season kicks off tomorrow against LSU. They're also for the Australian national Soccer team who are expected to steamroll Thailand in a World Cup qualifer tonight.
