Plans and Schemes

This whole Blogathon thing has spun completely out of control.

When I signed up for the event, I figured it would be a simple thing. Post every 30 minutes for 24 hours, drink a lot of coffee, get sponsors to donate for a good cause. No muss, no fuss.

And then Zappagirl joined in. To say that wacky hijinks have ensued (and will continue to ensue all weekend) is an understatement. Mind you, this isn't a bad thing. It's a good kind of insanity. Whenever we put our heads together, any mundane activity becomes a multimedia song and dance spectacular. (Case in point: the Flat Stanley Project. Within a few hours of receiving the little paper guy in the mail, he had his own email address, website, and Zappagirl had purchased a digital camera so we could take him to the Zoo the following day.)

Tonight after work, I'll be heading over to her house for a planning session. Since she has two computers networked together on her DSL connection (while I have a lowly dialup), we'll be hanging out in her computer room for the duration, drinking coffee and feeding off each other's insanity. We've already had a preliminary planning session, where we spent most of the time making up a shopping list.

Zappagirl: OK. So we're going to need coffee.

Myopic: Lots of coffee, since Friday night is the employee picnic at work and I have to stop in the morning at Rosencrantz and Guildenstern's house to feed their cats before I get here. What else?

Zappagirl: Smokey treats. Fizzy Pop incense, which we already have. Diet Coke. Lemonade. Cake mix.

Myopic: Let's make brownies instead. We made cake for the Fourth of July, after the red white and blue daquiris, remember? Two drunk women in the kitchen making Stars & Stripes Funfetti cake and dancing to disco and the English Beat. Now that was a strange way to celebrate our country's independence.

Zappagirl: Brownies it is. I guess we should get some real food too, huh?

Myopic: Probably wouldn't be a bad idea. So, let's see... food, beverages, smokey treats... bubbles. We need bubbles. And I'm going to probably futz with my hair, so I'll need to bring hair stuff.

Zappagirl: You're dying your hair during this?

Myopic: No, if I was dying my hair I'd need to leave the developer on for 25 minutes, and it drips. I was thinking about putting it up in a bunch of little braids or something. Girly stuff like that.

Zappagirl: Gotcha. Oh, and I need to pick up some vinegar.

Myopic: Vinegar? Are we dying eggs?

Zappagirl: No, vinegar will take the smoky smell out of the air. You know, for when the room's got that "not so fresh" feeling.

Myopic: Ewwwww. Shall I bring over our boyfriends?

Zappagirl: Sure, why not?

Myopic: Are you still inviting folks over for drinks that night? Do I need to pack formal attire?

Zappagirl: I'm not sure yet. We'll call that a definite maybe. Oh, I got the photo album up and running. We can post pictures for posterity's sake.

Myopic: So, between posting every thirty minutes, possibly hosting a cocktail party, baking brownies, and doing who knows what else, we're going to have time to take pitcures and upload them? You're insane.

Zappagirl: And this is something new? Oh, don't forget your knitting. You can work on your sock in between posts.

I'm exhausted just thinking about all of this.

Zappagirl's newest idea is to assemble a Blogathon 2002 soundtrack, make mix CDs and send them to any interested parties in exchange for a donation to one of our charities. (Note careful wording to avoid any nasty royalty lawsuits.) So tonight, in addition to finalizing shopping lists and topic suggestions, we'll both be going through our extensive and eclectic CD collections trying to find the perfect music to compliment the atmosphere. More on that as it develops...

I've received lots of notes of encouragement and apologies from readers that feel bad about not being able to make pledges. Thanks to everyone, and don't worry about not being able to pledge. It's the thought that counts, and while raising money for charity is the main reason for all of this, if you don't have the money, it's not the end of the world. But by all means, feel free to tune in and see what's going on. Hopefully we'll be entertaining to someone besides ourselves.

(And if you do want to sponsor us, it's not too late. As far as I understand, pledges will be accepted through the end of the event.)

Once I know what's going on with the soundtracks and any other crazy ideas that may result from the next few days' adventures, I'll let everyone know. I'll also be adding the address for the online photojournal as soon as I'm completely sure where it is.

Slightly less than 64 hours to go. I'm not sure if I'm looking forward to this weekend or if I'm terrified about the resulting weirdness.

(Edited to add: I have the link to the photojournal, which will be filled with many many silly pictures quite soon, I'm sure. If for some reason the link doesn't work, it's at Imira and can be found by searching for "Zappagirl" under username or "Blogathon" under album title.)