365 Days of Drewy Goodness

As anyone that has read some of my previous postings can tell, I have a problem with commitment. I’ve attempted to start blogging consistently on a number of occasions (see “Joke of the Day”, “A New Thinking”, “The Cooking Project”, and “What I Learned”), but I’ve been unable to stick to any of them.

Well, with 2007 here, it’s time I try one more time. Now I know what you’re thinking, you’ve tried it four times with your myspace blog (and a number of other times w/ AIM, etc), what makes you think you can do it now?

The answer has 2 parts:
1) I have this feeling that 2007 is going to be huge comedic year for me, Smarty Pants, and The 8th Floor, and I want to do everything I can to make sure that’s true.
2) I know how I work, and therefore know what kind of reward/punishment system will help me stay motivated. As a result, I am proud (and worried) to introduce to you… (dun dun dun):

THE 365 DAYS OF DREWY GOODNESS CHALLENGE

The challenge is to myself, and it is to write about something (anything) every single day of 2007. In order to motivate myself to do this, I will be offering $10 to the first person that comments on my wall whenever I fail to post a new entry. That’s right, you read correctly. I will give $10 to whoever calls me out first whenever I miss a day of blogging.

And ok, I understand that $10 isn’t all that much money, but it can get you two combo meals at Chick-Fil-A. Plus, the key here is whenever I fail to make a new post, meaning that for every day that I miss posting something in 2007 (and someone calls me on it), I will pay out $10. So theoretically I could pay out $3,640 if this is the last day that I make a post (not talking chump change any more).

As with any challenge, competition, give-away, etc. there are some rules & regulations:

1. The first person to comment on my myspace wall pointing out that I did not post a new entry will win the $10 for that day. If you don’t have a myspace account, then shoot me an email over at drewtarvin [at] gmail [dot] com.
   1. If you live near me, or I will see you in the near future, I will give you the money in cash. If you live in a different city, then I will mail you a check for the amount.
   2. If no one manages to post a comment before I make up for the missing post, then I’ll be the winner.
2. Rules are subject to change at anytime, but they will be announced either as an update to this post, or as a new posting. Possible rule changes include:
   1. If I no longer have a passion for writing (very unlikely), then the challenge could end indefinately. (Any missing entries prior to the announcement of discontinuation WILL be paid).
   2. Once I create my own website, the blogs will be posted there as opposed to myspace.
   3. If I end up paying out a large number of payments, I may switch to PayPal for my long-distance readers.
3. An entry can consist of any number of types of post. They can be as simple as a one-liner, more in depth like a story or an entire bit, or unrelated to stand-up in the sense of: something I’ve recently learned, a review of a movie (or cd, tv show, food), a tip for using stand-up or improv in every day life, etc. An entry as simple as “Here’s my post for the day” does NOT count, I won’t use that as a loop hole.
4. Posting an entry day does not necessarily mean on every single *date*. There will be times when I post something after the stroke of midnight that is geared for the day before (unfortunately our lives don’t all revolve around the 24-hour clock of 12:00am, especially on days I will be traveling). Therefore an entry is to be assumed missing after 5:00am.
5. Finally, there are certain circumstances where I may not be able to post an entry right away (such as travel out-of-town or extreme sickness). In these cases I will post a note IN ADVANCED so you are all aware. I will also make up for those posts so as to still reach the 365 number.

So that’s it. That’s the 365 Days of Drewy Goodness Challenge.

In addition to helping me by “encouraging” me to write every day, there are a few other things you could do to really help me out (I know I’m already asking a lot, but…):

1. Leave a comment. This is by far the biggest help. Leaving a comment helps me gauge people’s reactions. Whether it’s a note about a joke that I’ve left, or even a question, your comments can lead to further discussion (and sometimes better bits).
2. Tell your friends. The more people that read my blog and know about my upcoming events will become more sources for feedback so I can get better.

Feel free to suggest changes to the challenge or other things I can do to get better. Here’s to a great 2007.

Thanks for reading!