MadMup.com

I did not win the radio contest.

Thanks to everyone who entered my Fifth Year Anniversary Contest. I think maybe I’d have gotten more responses had I offered a new car or Wal-Mart gift cards instead of Star Wars DVDs and MadMup.com gear. Something to keep in mind for the next contest, I guess.

The actual numbers are as follows: 675 blog entries and 72 articles written for DEN. I don’t know whether to be surprised or disappointed or proud of those numbers, but there they are.

The surprising thing is that the closest guess was only 2 off! My Oregon friend Bonnie guessed 673, and she was so confident of her guess that she didn’t even put in a tiebreaker guess. Her gamble paid off! Bonnie, contact me about whether you’d like the Star Wars DVDs or some MadMup.com gear!

In second place was “The Obscure,” whose identity is known only by a select few. Once Bonnie lets me know her choice, I’ll let him know what his guess of 700 has earned him.

Thanks again for participating, and thanks for reading. You’re always welcome back.

It was five years ago today that I started this blog. I wish my first entry was something memorable and different from all the other first entries to blogs, but it isn’t. I remember wondering if the thing would even work and if I would ever do anything with it. Here I am, five years later, desperately clinging to some sort of misguided hope that this blog will turn me into some kind of writer.

In Internet years, five is an eternity – All Your Base gives way to Badgers gives way to Dramatic Prairie Dog gives way to who knows what else. It turns out that five years in “real” life is a long time, too. So much has changed in the last five years that it’s hard to grasp it, really.

I don’t believe any current reader of my blog has read through all five year’s worth – and I’m not suggesting anyone take the time to do it now! – but take a look at the posts on the left under the heading “Some Favorite Posts” to see what I’ve enjoyed writing, if you’re so inclined.

To mark (ha!) this grand occasion, I’ve decided to hold another contest:

How many posts have I written for this blog? This is kind of a trick question, because you won’t be able to go back through and count them and get the right answer. I have written some/many/several entries that are not posted, were posted then removed, or have not been posted yet. I am going by the number listed on my Blogger Dashboard, so no one but me has any idea what it is.

Tie-Breaker: How many reviews/articles have I written for DEN? I’ve been writing for that site for four years now (even though I’m currently extremely behind on an article), and have enjoyed that as well.

So, leave your guesses in the comments. The person who guesses closest to the actual number will win either a set of DVDs of Episodes IV-VI of Star Wars, or something from the MadMup.com store – winner’s choice. Second place winner will get whatever the first place winner didn’t want. The contest closes at 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, 4/24/2008.

EDIT: Since it’s been asked a couple of times, let me clarify: it’s just “closest,” not “closest without going over.” I couldn’t get Bob Barker or Drew Carey to help out, so that’s how we’re rolling.

EDIT #2: The Star Wars DVD set is Region 1, so a winner outside of the US or Canada will have to be happy with MadMup.com gear.

Thanks for reading. I recently registered the domain name for another five years. I’m curious to see what they’ll hold.