12 of the Greatest Baseball Player Names in History

We are headed into the final stretch of Spring Training. Only 12 days remain until Opening Day of the 2010 Major League Baseball Season! Honestly, I cannot wait - it's been a long, cold, snowy winter, and I'm ready for the Boys of Summer to take the field again; to sit in the stands with a beer and a hot dog and root, root, root for the home team; to hear the crack of the bat and smell the pine tar.

These last two weeks are always the longest, so to pass the time, I'll be posting a different baseball-related list each day from now until Opening Day. Call it "The Twelve Days 'til Baseball."

To kick it off, here are my picks for the 12 greatest baseball player names in history. These may not be the greatest players ever, but their names are either so melodic, so perfect for the game, or so odd as to never be forgotten. To get the full effect, in your mind imagine James Earl Jones intoning each name in that deep, rich, Darth Vader voice.

Let's count 'em down, shall we?

12. ELIAS SOSA
A right-handed relief pitcher who bounced around among 8 teams in his 12-year major league career, Sosa's lifetime W-L record of 59-51 with 83 saves and lifetime ERA of 3.32 are respectable enough numbers. He makes my list out of personal nostalgia: when my brother and I were collecting baseball cards as kids in the '70s, it seemed as though every other pack of cards we bought contained Elias Sosa. We would announce the acquisition of yet another duplicate of his card by saying his name in a very sing-songy way, running the two names together and dropping pitch on the first syllable of "Sosa." We thought that was hysterical. We were 6 and 10 at the time, OK?

11. JOHN MONTEFUSCO
Named the National League Rookie of the Year in 1975, and a member of the 1976 National League All-Star Team, John Montefusco's last name alone is a thing of majestic beauty: MonteFOOSko. But, combined with his nickname, John "The Count of" Montefusco, he is elevated to pantheon of great names.

10. CHIPPER JONES
Even though he plays for a team I, as a Phillies fan, consider "the enemy," I must begrudgingly give Jones his due. Over the past 16 seasons he has proven himself to be one of the best in the game, and good thing too. I mean, with a name like Chipper Jones, what else would he do besides play baseball?

9. CATFISH HUNTER
Jim Hunter was a damn good pitcher - good enough to be elected to the Hall of Fame. But in his early days with the (then) Kansas City A's, infamous owner Charley Finley decided all of his players needed flashy, catchy nicknames. Hunter had very little flashy about him at the time, so Finley invented a story out of whole cloth about Hunter catching the largest catfish anybody in his hometown had ever seen when he was a boy, and from that day forth, he was Catfish Hunter. I think a nickname with no connection to the real world at all deserves mention on this list!

8. WILY MO PENA
Yep, that's how he spells it. One L. Drives me nuts every time I see it - I keep wanting to call him "Wiley". Still, his name is fun to say. And after his being released by both the Nationals and the Mets last year, who knows how many more chances we'll get to hear sportscasters say it?

7. BAKE McBRIDE
Arnold Ray "Bake" McBride lasted ten seasons in the majors with the Giants, Phillies, and Indians. Over that time, "Shake 'n' Bake" (as he was affectionately called as he sped around the bases) not only sported one of baseball's greatest names, but also one of baseball's greatest afros - second only, perhaps, to the legendary Oscar Gamble afro (just wait...)

6. TIE: BLUE MOON ODOM / VIDA BLUE
Teammates on the legendary pitching staff that was part of the Oakland A's dynasty in the early 1970s, Vida Blue and John "Blue Moon" Odom had opponents singing the blues game in and game out. But what were the odds of having two outstanding pitchers with "Blue" in their names on a team whose colors were green and gold?

5. EPPA RIXEY
The early part of the 20th Century was a haven for great and unusual baseball names, but one of my favorites of the era was Eppa Rixey. In my lifetime, I've never known of any other person with either that first name or that last name. Rixey pitched for twenty years in the majors, splitting his career between Philadelphia and Cincinnati, and retired in 1933 as the winningest pitcher in National League history until he was surpassed by Warren Spahn.

4. BOOG POWELL
When a 6'4", 230-pound gorilla tells you he wants to be called "Boog," you call him "Boog". The Oriole legend became known first as an all-star first baseman, then, after his career ended in 1977, as a beer commercial pitchman. Nowadays, he can be found sometimes manning the grill at Boog's Barbecue in Camden Yards. If you see him there, say "Hi Boog!" Just try to say it without laughing.

3. BUDDY BIANCALANA
"Buddy Biancalana." It rolls mellifluously off the tongue. Try it: "Buddy Biancalana." His name became famous in the mid-80s thanks to David Letterman. As Pete Rose was counting down to passing Ty Cobb's all-time major league hits record, Letterman began the Buddy Biancalana countdown. Buddy retired a little shy of Cobb and Rose, with 113 career hits, but as he quipped to Letterman, "I'm closer to Cobb than you are to Carson!"

2. JOE CHARBONEAU
"Super Joe" Charboneau is one of baseball's all-time great flops. When he burst on the scene with the Cleveland Indians in 1980, his 87 RBIs and .289 batting average were good enough to earn him AL Rookie of the Year honors, and baseball thought they had their next big star. The media played up his charismatic personality and quirky off-field behaviors (he drank beer through his nose and did his own dental work). The next year, he struggled to get his average as high as .210, and became the first Rookie of the Year to be sent back to the minors the following season. He came back to the Indians for 22 games in 1982 but played even more poorly, and that was it. Still, the name lent itself so well to the hype: for that one great summer, cries of "Go Joe Charboneau!" could be heard all around Cleveland.

1. VAN LINGLE MUNGO
Far and away the greatest name ever in Major League Baseball. A fair-to-middling pitcher for the Dodgers and Giants in the 1930s and 1940s, his name was so singularly fantastic that in 1969, David Frishberg had a minor hit record with a bossa-nova number called "Van Lingle Mungo." Stringing together nothing but names of ballplayers from the past as lyrics, Mungo's name became sort of an odd refrain repeated occasionally throughout. Enjoy Frishberg's composition in the following video clip:



OK, those are my picks. Any names you want to add to the list?

New Wave for the New Week #58

A couple months back, Ian MacKaye, singer and founder of two of the most important independent bands of the past 30 years (Minor Threat and Fugazi), unintentional instigator of the Straight Edge movement, and creator of Washington, DC-based Dischord Records, without which many bands would never have gotten their music heard, came to Lancaster to speak at the campus of Franklin & Marshall about his life in punk rock. Of course, MacKaye's version of punk rock history is from the point of view of the thriving Washington scene. With bands like Teen Idles, S.O.A., The Slickee Boys, Government Issue, and MacKaye's Minor Threat among many, many others, our nation's capitol spawned one of the most influential scenes in the country. During his talk at F&M, MacKaye repeated and underscored a point he made in the excellent documentary American Hardcore: None of those bands, indeed none of that scene, would have even existed if not for one band - the band all those DC punks looked up to, were inspired by, and aspired to one day play as well as: Bad Brains.

Starting out in the mid-'70s under the name Mind Power, the band that would morph into Bad Brains originally played jazz-fusion, but soon found themselves enthralled with the new, rough sound of bands like The Dead Boys and The Sex Pistols. Renaming themselves after a Ramones song, Bad Brains took the energy and angst of punk rock, the complex polyrhythms and arrangements of their jazz-fusion days, and a healthy dose of their Rastafarian beliefs, and forged something new.

Unlike the typical bands popping up in punk's "anyone can do it" universe, Bad Brains were accomplished musicians - something they demonstrated through hyperspeed playing. Fast? Oh you bet! Faster than most, but never sacrificing melody for speed, never missing a tempo shift or a modulation, never flubbing a note. Their debut single, 1979's "Pay To Cum", set the bar for what was to become Hardcore Punk; it's a bar that has never been equaled. It is one of the most stunning pieces of vinyl ever - a whirling tornado of a song that blows through you in an instant leaving a trail of destruction but leaving you wanting more. A lyric sheet helps a bit, but it's better to simply ride the cyclone and see where you end up when it's over.

Bad Brains weren't always stuck in hyperdrive, though; their discography shows an evolution that has at times brought reggae and dub rhythms to the surface, at times revisited their jazz roots, and at other times focused more heavily on melody than power.

Over the years, the Bad Brains core of singer H.R. (Human Rights), Dr. Know, Darryl Jenifer and Earl Hudson, along with various permutations of other musicians brought into and thrown out of the mix, have split apart and reformed more often than anyone can count. The constant underlying tension in the band in part drives their music, but there is no telling when the next explosion is coming. As of 2010, the original members are together and touring again; how long it will last this time remains to be seen.

For this week's NW4NW, here is one of Bad Brains best, 1986's "I Against I." As a bonus, I've also included a second clip of an early performance of the legendary "Pay To Cum." Enjoy!

Recommended Reading: Inkling Media & I Threw A Brick Through A Window

If you've joined That's What I Was Going To Say's Fan Page on Facebook, or if you follow @TWIWGTS on Twitter, you know that there have been hints about a new series of posts being launched here today. This post begins a weekly feature, Recommended Reading. Have you ever taken the time to scroll down through all the goodies on the left-hand side of the page here, down to the list of blogs I read regularly? Yeah, didn't think so. Many blogs carry such "Blog Rolls;" many blog readers miss out on them because they stop by, read a post or two, and then are off to the next webpage. Curse this ADD world we live in!

So, beginning today, every Thursday, I'll be featuring a blog from my Blog Roll in a "spotlight post." I've been in the process of contacting the bloggers who pour their heart and soul into these works and getting them to answer five simple questions about their blog and themselves, to give you a little insight into who they are and what their writing is all about. I have only one request of you, Dear Reader: give their blogs a chance. Visit them and read at least a post or two. You just may bookmark more than a few...

Ken Mueller was one of the first people I interacted with when I joined Twitter in the fall of 2008. My beloved Philadelphia Phillies were in the playoffs, headed towards their first World Series victory in 28 years, and I discovered a fellow fan in Ken - in fact, one of our first conversations began at my mention of Bake McBride, centerfielder for the 1980 World Champion Phillies and owner of one of the greatest baseball names ever. Over time and the course of conversations on both Twitter and Facebook, Ken and I learned that we had common interest in other areas: radio, music, and this newfangled Social Media craze. In addition to common interests, we found that we shared a common friend: the same guy who was General Manager of the University of Richmond (VA) radio station WDCE the year that I was Music Director there worked as an assistant to Mueller at a time when Mueller was heavily involved with the Museum of Radio and Television in New York City.

Remarkably, it wasn't until after these connections were discovered that I learned that Ken lives about six blocks away from me. Here is a person who has turned out to be a good friend and a fountain of valuable information and advice as I have begun navigating the Social Network Marketing waters both for my employer and myself, and who is virtually within shouting distance of me; yet without social media, we might never have met.

That Social Network Marketing creates that kind of serendipity more often than not fuels one the two blogs that Mueller authors, Inkling Media. The blog is really an offshoot of his Social Media Consulting business, and is a treasure trove of information and advice for both the novice and the experienced online marketer. What makes the blog a daily read for me, though, is that Ken takes that marketing advice and applies it to life in general. His advice could be (and, on a certain level, is) geared toward basic lessons in how to restore a sense of neighborhood and community in your own world. He has the ability to take situations we are familiar with, from the mundane to the topical, and glean axioms from those situations that apply to both Social Network Marketing and to basic human interaction, present them in simple terms, and all the while make you feel like you're just sitting with him on his fabled porch sharing some neighborly advice and some sweet tea.

Mueller also authors his own personal blog, I Threw A Brick Through A Window, where he writes about his other areas of interest. A bit more eclectic and a bit less formal, ...Brick... isn't updated as often as Inkling Media, but is always a treat when it is. Recent posts there have focused on historic radio broadcasts and broadcasters, and have seldom failed to inspire me to do a bit of Googling on my own to learn more.

In both blogs, Mueller invites reader participation through the occasional weekend music games and, in the case of Inkling Media, turning the reigns over to the occasional guest blogger.

I asked Ken the five questions that you will soon become very familiar with in this series of posts, as a way for him to introduce himself and his blogs to you. Here's how he responded:

What or who inspired you to begin blogging?
KM: Originally it was just a way to give voice to things on my mind. Not sure there was an inspiration. The Brick Through Window blog has evolved quite a bit over the years. For Inkling, it's a way to write about my field and give information to others.

Is there a story or meaning behind your blog or its name?
KM: Threw A Brick Through A Window - from the U2 song...and much of what I blogged about early on could be considered...throwing bricks thru windows...
Inkling - blog and company name came from my love of the literary group The Inklings - consisting of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, etc.

Which post would you choose from your archives if you had to provide only one that best represents what your blog is all about?
KM: Brick Through Window - I'm On A Porch
Inkling - I Live In An Amazing Community

When you first log on to your computer each day, what is the first site you go to? Why?
KM: I usually fire up Twitter, my G-mail, and my own website. I go to my own site to make sure my blog of the day get's published. Twitter and G-mail allow me to connect with my community and the world.

What one other blog would YOU recommend that you read regularly, and why?
KM: That's a tough one. So many great blogs. I think to keep up on social media stuff my favorite lately has been Social Media Examiner.

So there you have it, a little bit about Ken Mueller and two blogs that he writes that I highly recommend you check out, Inkling Media and I Threw A Brick Through A Window. Read a few posts, and then come back here and let us know your thoughts.

My sincere thanks to Ken Mueller for agreeing to be a part of this series and taking the time out of his busy schedule to share his responses with us.

We've Lost Alex Chilton

Image by Karen Hoffmann via Flickr

"Children by the millions sing for Alex Chilton when he comes 'round
They sing 'I'm in love'
What's that song?
I'm in love with that song..."
-The Replacements, from the song "Alex Chilton"

Alex Chilton passed away unexpectedly last night at the age of 59, at his home in New Orleans, Louisiana.

I had just logged onto one of the message boards I frequent online, one that is not a music-related board. The first thread topic that jumped out at me was "RIP Alex Chilton." I just stared for a moment before I actually clicked on it, hoping perhaps that by hesitating I would increase the chances that it would turn out to be just unsubstantiated rumor and quickly proven incorrect. Sadly, it's true. Alex Chilton is gone.

Chilton's name is perhaps better known in rock critic circles than rock fan circles, and that is truly a shame. However, virtually everyone who has ever turned on a radio or a TV is familiar with Chilton's work.

"Invisible man who can sing in a visible voice..."
- The Replacements

Back in the year I was born, 1967, it would not have been uncommon to hear Chilton's voice growling out of transistor radio speakers. That's his gravelly vocal propelling The Box Top's classics "Cry Like a Baby" and "The Letter." As the 1970's dawned, Chilton had moved on to form the legendary Big Star, and with that band penned many songs that could easily challenge for the title of Best Pop Song Ever. Most casual fans are more familiar with other artist's covers of Big Star's material, notably The Bangles cover of the jangly "September Gurls" and Cheap Trick's reinterpretation of "In The Street" as the theme song to That '70s Show.

In the 1980s, Chilton's solo material received less attention than it deserved, until he was celebrated in song by The Replacements on their 1987 album Pleased To Meet Me. That same year, Chilton had a minor college-radio hit with "No Sex." Chilton continued to record up through turn of the century, and continued to play live shows either as a solo act or as part of Box Tops or Big Star reunions, until his passing.

"If he was from Venus, would he meet us on the moon?
If he died in Memphis, then that'd be cool, babe."
- The Replacements

The Replacements did not accurately predict where he would be when he passed. Though Chilton was born and raised in Memphis, he had settled in New Orleans in the 1980s. His name briefly surfaced in the news in 2005, when he was initially among the missing in Hurricane Katrina. An apocryphal story made the rounds that he was eventually found sitting in a bar wondering what all the fuss was about; in actuality he had simply boarded himself up in his home with enough provisions to last a couple weeks and waited for the storm to pass, eventually being rescued by helicopter.

Choosing a clip to post in tribute to Chilton is difficult - he wrote so many wonderful songs. "In The Street" still ranks among my favorites, and the way Chilton wrote it originally and recorded it with Big Star is a very different reading than it received as a TV theme. RIP, Alex.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

THE POGUES - Sally MacLennane
Uploaded by twid. - Watch more music videos, in HD!

Viral Video (Re)Creates Another Celebrity Out of Left Field!

Eduard Khil' is everywhere these days.

By now, you've either seen his jaw-dropping, mind-bending performance from decades past of the song "I Am So Happy to Finally Be Back Home" (which has become known online as "The Trololo Song" or simply "Trololo"), or you've been exposed to any of the myriad remixes and parodies of it.

If you've been living in a cave for the past few weeks and have no idea what I'm talking about, go back and read my post from March 5th, A "WTF?" Explained, to see the original clip and get the story behind it.

The clip quickly entered the hallowed realm of the viral video, and all these years later, Khil' himself has been tracked down...and he has a challenge for us all!



I don't know what I find cooler - that Khil' has been found, that he is clearly reveling in his renaissance, or that he still has the same bad brown suit and haircut!

What is undoubtedly awesome is the idea of writing "real" lyrics to the song and having Mr. Khil' himself sing it anew!

More details to come as they become available regarding dates and places for submissions. Now then, I have lyrics to write...

New Wave for the New Week #57

XTC via last.fm

"When we started off our driving energy, our driving force, was to have a lot of beer in the dressing room and be very, very rich and famous. Umm, we've had the beer in the dressing room..."
-Andy Partridge of XTC

There is no real need to go into extensive discography or biography here; most of you who would be reading this are already humming your favorite XTC songs in your head.

For those uninitiated, here is a quick "pocket guide" to XTC: Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding met up in Swindon in the UK in the early 1970's, and began playing New York Dolls-inspired glam rock as The Helium Kidz. By 1976, drummer Terry Chambers and keyboardist Barry Andrews had joined them, they changed the band's name to XTC, and found their own sound within the Punk/New Wave scene.

Playing keyboard-driven, syncopated, chirpy-punky-pop with elements of funk, reggae, and baroque music tossed in, they were hyperactive, skittish, and easily identifiable among the onrush of bands forming in the wake of The Sex Pistols and The Ramones. This lineup lasted through two albums, White Music and Go 2, before Andrews left the band to create what would eventually become the band Shriekback.

Andrews and his keyboards were replaced by Dave Gregory and his ringing guitar, and the band's sound made a noticeable shift toward more Beatlesque rock. In this variation, XTC hit their stride with singles like "Respectable Street," "Living Through Another Cuba," "No Thugs in Our House," and "Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)." By 1982 they were regularly hitting the UK Top 40 and were developing a huge cult following in the US, where they were the darlings of college radio playlists across the country. They were set to launch on a huge multi-country tour when Partridge had a complete mental breakdown, which manifested itself from that point forward in crippling stage fright. XTC never played in front of a live crowd again.

However, much like the Beatles (to whom they were beginning to be compared at least stylistically), the cessation of touring did not slow their musical output. Chambers left the group around this time, not wanting to be simply a studio musician, and Partridge, Moulding and Gregory forged ahead. The studio version of XTC saw them begin to expand their musical horizons, often finding themselves on more acoustic-ballad turf then they might have expected. This version of the band sold more records in the US than ever before (although they never scored a big breakthrough hit here), especially 1986's Skylarking and its associated single, the controversial "Dear God."

Their recorded output had been with Virgin Records from the very beginning; by 1992 the band and the label were embroiled in bitter dispute over unpaid royalties. Partridge and Moulding asked the label to release them outright, won a settlement over royalties due, and began to record independently as a duo. Shortly thereafter, Moulding decided he was done with the music industry. Partridge didn't want to continue XTC without Moulding, and the band ceased to exist.

The continued popularity of the band was demonstrated in the fact that they won their spot as this week's NW4NW entry in a poll conducted over on That's What I Was Going To Say's Facebook fanpage (if you're not a fan yet, get yourself there lickety-split and fan up!), where XTC took 57% of the vote in a field of five bands! I've chosen two clips: the first, from their Barry Andrews keyboard era, "Radios In Motion," and the second from their Dave Gregory guitar era, the wonderful "Senses Working Overtime." Enjoy!

The Runaways Biopic - Could Be Good, Could Be a Complete (Cherry) Bomb

The trailer is now online:



In theaters March 19. I suppose I'll watch it; I'll try to keep an open mind, but these things so rarely turn out well...

Meanwhile, time to dig that legendary first Runaways album out of the archives for a few spins on the turntable. It's a great, great record - hopefully the movie will at least give it a renewed life and exposure to a new generation of kids. Here's the original clip for their first single, the still-stunning-after-all-these-years "Cherry Bomb":

Blogging Advice for a Friend

My friend Janine has a blog, which she's not sure she wants anyone to read. Last night, she sent me an email asking for advice and seeking support.

Now, I'm no professional blogging coach. I am not to be counted among the innumerable Blogging Gurus, Social Media Mavens, Big Kahunas o' Online Interaction (yes, I actually saw one person refer to himself that way), or other supposed "experts" who have been popping up everywhere like crabgrass over the past few years, promising that by following their sage advice you, too, can become the author of the most widely read and highly monetized blog in the history of Ever!

Two points about these folks:

1. If someone has to tell you repeatedly that they are an "expert" in any field, they aren't, and...

2. Remember P.T. Barnum's famous and wise words: "There's a sucker born every minute."

With every coming technology and every coming fad, the hucksters are there ready to take your money to sell you their "Big Secret to Success" in whatever field it is, and all the secret ever turns out to be is either something anyone with an ounce of common sense and who has ever taken a basic composition course in high school already knows, or tickets to a seminar where they try to get more money out of you by selling you books filled with even more not-so-secret "secrets."

Now, before my inbox becomes inundated with the hue and cry of the converted, let me say that there ARE good folks out there with good ideas and valuable coaching to offer. The folks at Mashable, for example, are filled with good advice and ideas for anyone who wants their voice heard above the Internet throng. Chris Brogan offers great tips, as does Inkling Media. All of these work under the wider umbrella of Social Media Marketing, but their suggestions apply to promoting your own blog as well as promoting your own brand or business. As far as blog-specific advice, ProBlogger is a must-read.

Back to Janine. She's not looking to become the best blogger in the universe, or to become independently wealthy through her blog alone (not yet, anyway!). At this point, she's simply looking for a comfort zone:

"I'm working on my blog as we speak. I'm so confused by it. It's feminism, handy-person advice, product tips for a condo-owner, editorializing...so I don't show it to anyone.
Any advice? I'd love to promote it, but only if I can find my own focus.

I'm so hard on myself..."

Boy do I know that feeling! When I started out with this blog two Decembers ago, I was in the same place. I wanted to write; I wanted to be heard. But the worry over whether anyone would want to listen to what I have to say was, at times, paralyzing.

The great thing about the blogging community is that we all seem to be so willing to help each other out and give each other encouragement along the way, because we've all been there. I had friends who had been blogging far longer than I to offer me advice and coaching then. I am certainly willing to offer whatever words of encouragement I can now to the Janines of the blogging world.

Here, in part, is the response I sent her. It is advice I would offer, based on my personal experiences, to anyone out there who is starting out in this crazy blogosphere:

"The best advice I can give you is the same advice I got from a fellow blogger back when I started out: JUST WRITE. Don't worry about "finding a focus" or whether it's "good enough" or whatever - just throw it out there, warts and all. You'll find your voice. Actually, you've already found it, you just don't realize it yet.

My blog is all over the place. I write mostly about music, but also sometimes about baseball, sometimes about shit that happened to me that I want to rant about, sometimes about politics, sometimes about things happening here in Lancaster, sometimes about free coffee. I used to worry that being unfocused like that was a bad thing. For my 100th post, I put up a poll asking for feedback, and one of the questions I asked had to do with whether people would rather see the various topics I write about split into individual, "focused" blogs or whether they liked the mish-mash I was posting. You know what? Overwhelmingly, they said they liked the mixture.

I have a white board on the wall of my home office, and on the top of it I have one quote that has been there so long I don't think it can be erased anymore: "Write to one person." It was the best lesson I've learned: in your mind, create the person who is a representation of the audience you want to reach. Is this person male or female? Are they older, younger, or your age? Single, in a relationship, or have a family? Every detail - make this imaginary person as real and complete in your mind as you can. Then, write every post as if you are writing to that one person.

Stop worrying about pleasing an audience or pleasing yourself. Just write. Your audience will find you. Trust me, they do show up! I get frustrated because I don't always get the feedback I would like - I wish my readers would comment on every post and get into conversations and such, but they don't. My readers give me feedback in other ways - sometimes on Twitter, sometimes on Facebook, sometimes in an email.

I know what it's like to be a perfectionist - I am one, and I am my own harshest critic. I don't know what you think of my writing, for example, but I generally am not happy with most of it. But I've learned to just put it out there, and you've seen that I promote it like it's the greatest thing since sliced bread. Develop an ego! Role play as if your blog is already successful and widely-read. Promote it as if people would be crazy not to read it and love it. Be unapologetic about it, be cocky about it, be proud of it.

Most importantly, just be real in what you write. Don't try to force it or it will come off sounding phony, and that will turn people off. Write the way you talk; again, write as if you were writing to that one person. Your voice will change from day to day, and that's fine too - that's real. Go back and read several of my posts, and you'll see sometimes I write more formally and sometimes more conversationally, depending on the topic and on how I am feeling the day I happen to write it.

My last piece of advice goes against everything you've ever been taught about writing: don't keep editing and editing. Don't do a bunch of rewrites. Write your piece, spell check it, do at most ONE rewrite if you feel it necessary, then POST IT. For perfectionists like us, it's the scariest thing to do, but the most necessary. But it forces you to put it out there, and you're writing is by default more raw and more real - more you."

And now, I turn to those of you out there who are bloggers yourselves. What advice would you add? What would you suggest differently from what I have, and why? There's always more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. How did you go about getting over that initial trepidation that we all feel/felt to some extent when it comes to baring our words to the universe?

FREE COFFEE!

Coffee is good. And "free" is good. So click on the linky picture-y thing below and get yerself some free coffee from Dunkin' Donuts!



You're welcome!