Blog fast till 8 February

After nearly five years of blogging (I know, this really sounds as if I'm getting old, and in blogosphere terms I probably am) it's time for a break, a so-called blog fast. I will not post on this blog for the next three weeks. Yes, that's a bloody long time. Likely it will take me more discipline to refrain from blogging, then it took me to blog daily. But it's good to take some distance from a place that has become so familiar. Let's see how I fare and what new inspiration will come for the next stretch of my life online. In case you were wondering - I might even join the 12 step program of Bloggers Anonymous. ;-)



My next post will be on February 8 2007, and this is a special day, because I will treat three blog friends on a cool dinner in the historic city of Utrecht that very evening. That is to say, if you can make it to Utrecht and give the best answer to at least one of these three questions:

1. How many posts did I publish on Marcs Messages in the period of five years?
2. How many pageviews did that generate?
3. And how many times did I mention the word 'reformation'?

Whoever comes closest to one of these three figures wins, so no need to get it exactly right. Please don't mail me (after all I have a fast :-), but put your answer in a comment to this post, so everyone can check on you. And watch this space on February 8. If you want to receive a notice by e-mail, then sign up for the daily update in the sidebar on your right hand. See ya later.

Comments

[Dave]

Blessings, Marc. Do come back though!

By the way: does a 'blog' fast mean you do not want to receive email too?

Now let's see if I can score that cool dinner! :-)

[Karolien]

Hi, well done! This indeed surprises me, but i could still breathe normally after reading. Actually 3 weeks is way to short to go trough withdrawal well enough. Make it 3 months. And i have some nice alternatives in mind too ;-).

[Marc]

How wonderful to have a supportive wife.

The blog fast doesn't include e-mail, but I prefer to handle this on my blog. So I will check the response, but not blog myself.

[Dave]

:-)

Just for Nostalgia's sake: your very first blog post at blogger: http://web.archive.org/web/20020917230708/http://marcsmessages.blogspot.com/2002_02_01_marcsmessages_archive.html#9531456

.. and at your new typepad blog:
http://marcsmessages.typepad.com/mm/2003/12/day_one_of_my_j.html

Now people can start counting posts :-p

[Marc]

Ah, I nearly overlooked my blogspot. Thx for pointing this out, Dave. Just to clear the rules: if more than one person has the correct answer, the first one who responds wins the prize.

[Mike]

Marc,

Enjoy your fast. Make sure you come back though.

[Ileana]

Just when I pop in, you decide to fast. I guess I'll have to pop back in sometimes in Feb. Happy Fasting!

[heidi plympton]

hey marc! after many hours counting ;-) i have finally come to the conclusion you have mentioned reformation 186 times in the past 5 years since you began blogging. I guess you have blogged about 1780 times in that period. Was great to go back over some of the journey! heidi

[Gabi]

1~2.000
2~500.000
3~500

[DA]

Best of luck!!! (I don't think I could do it) But maybe I should...

hmmmmm...

[Karolien]

You will probably have around 1450 posts on your blog in which you mentioned 350 times about reformation and may have had 4500 pageviews.

[Marc]

Hello friends,

Greetings from Basel, from an incredibly slow wireless connection at the Officers Training Center of the Swiss Salvation Army. No, I didn't get recruited in the Soup, Soap and Salvation ranks (although I wouldn't mind either as long as I don't have to wear a uniform or learn to play tuba). I'm here for a small consultation with organic church planters from Germany, Switzerland and the UK.

Just want to let you know that my blog competition will end on 7 February at midnight, Central European Time. So if you haven't turned in your numbers yet, don't do it later then Wednesday night, or it will not count! And in case you guessed I whispered the correct answer to Karolien or some good friends - I didn't, this is a completely fair deal.

The winners will be announced on Thursday 8 February at 9.15 Central European Time. So check back and hopefully we'll enjoy dinner together. If no-one can make it, I will be very lonely, but order an extra large dish to compensate for that. ;-)

Marc