Thursday 5 March 2009

Thursday 13: Boulevard of Broken Memes

Header from samulli




Since everyone loves memes, here's a list of thirteen potential memes covering all the days of the week (for the sake of giving credit where credit is due, I should point out that the better ones have been provided by Blog In The Rough).

1. Make-A-Blog Monday

It's the beginning of the week, so what better time to start a new blog. Participants create a new blog from scratch, pouring their heart and soul into it, using the ideas they might have had for their own blog but never got round to, using a different blog creation site (for the learning experience and just to make it that bit different from their current site), creating what they consider a must-read blog.

Anyway, once that's finished, and the participants have created a site, posted some posts, commented on other people's new blogs, and maybe learned ways to improve their current blogs, it's time for the final act as the blogs are abandoned, never to be returned to. The excitement and the heartbreak of blogging, captured in a single day.

2. Monkey Monday

In this meme, based on the infinite monkey theorem, everyone types a post by just hitting keys at random (a method I tend to favour anyway). Sure, most of them will be unreadable junk, but if enough people get involved then a masterpiece is bound to come along sooner or later.

3. Tumbleweed Tuesday

A fun meme where you post something so lame that all the readers are reduced to silence. This finally gives you an excuse to posts the posts you consider to be too mundane, too unfunny or just too strange; posts that would either have the readers abandoning you, scratching their heads, or pulling their jaws up from the floor. The great thing is that when nobody comments on it, you know that you've succeeded.

4. Takeover Tuesday

On Monday, numerous heartless types abandoned their fledging blogs. Now's your chance to take one of those, mold it, shape it, and make it the greatest blog of all time.

5. World Hunger Wednesday

Every week the might of blogdom concentrate their collective powers on solving a major problem affecting the world. It could takes weeks, years, maybe even decades, but eventually this meme would no doubt lead to a utopia.

6. Weeping Gorilla Wednesday


Well, in a vague attempt to be topical, with the opening of Watchmen this week, here's a meme based on writer Alan Moore's Weeping Gorilla Comix which featured in his Promethea series.

For those unfamiliar with the Weeping Gorilla, it was a gorilla who'd weep (you'd probably guessed that part) while thinking a sad thought. Seems to me, that with the number of bloggers liking animals, this could be a natural, as each week the bloggers produce a picture of a weeping gorilla - either by drawing one (not just swiping as I've done here, that's just lazy), modifying a stock phot of a gorilla, or, for those lucky bloggers with gorillas as pets, taking a photo of it in one of its melancholy moments - and then adding a pithy caption to indicate what's saddening the simian. Who knows what pathos and profundity would result?

7. Thoughtless Thursday

It's time to admit to all those thoughtless actions you did to others and repent, or maybe tell us about the thoughtless things done to you, or maybe just leave the blog for that day because you've got no ideas and just wile away the hours conversing with the flowers. To be honest, I haven't really given this one a lot of thought.

8. Theatrical Thursday

Memes - the natural enemy of just telling the readers what's happening in your life. However, this meme combines both meming and diarying into one, as the participants tell the readers what they've been doing recently, but doing it in an overly-theatrical manner. Thus, even those of us with the dullest of lives can verily wax lyrical, canneth we not, about how on this day in this year in this century, verily did we arise from the grip of Morpheus and go about our lives and sat before a distorted mirror of finest rectangle that reflected our thoughts and our fingers tippety-tapped against the glyphs beneath them, producing something spectular, nay, spectacularly spectacular and the whole world rejoiced upon reading the outpourings.

Something like that, although obviously far better and with way more name-dropping.

9. Feedline Friday

A fun meme where people think up interesting things that I can say when I reach a converational impasse while chatting online. Think of it, you'd be providing a service for me, providing me with chat material, while also getting to exorcise your messianic tendencies knowing I'm a puppet voicing your words (well, maybe that's more your ventriloquistic tendencies, albeit a ventriloquist whose dummy types rather than talks).

10. Filibuster Friday

Participants type a really long post, discussing something at bizarre length, going on and on, way into the night, until their fingers no longer work, their eyes are getting blurry and the readers have fallen asleep. Oh, wait, sorry, wrong meme; I was thinking of Thursday 13.

11. Sick Saturday


For all the hypochondriacs out there, and the genuinely sick, a chance to discuss whatever ails you. Share your problems and worries with others, and hey, with the power of suggestion, they'll start to feel the same symptoms, and soon, thanks to the internet, the whole world will be sick; which is a bit of a waste really, when you're probably off work for the weekend.


12. Super Saturday!

A meme so super it's got an exclamation mark! Who cares what it's about, it's got an exclamation mark! Isn't that exciting enough!?

No? Okay, well as the exclamation mark indicates, the participants have to answer some questions with unbridled enthusiasm, regardless of any disinterest, finding some reason or other to find the whole thing super! Isn't that super?! What's that you say? It sucks? Wow, you'd be lousy at this meme.

13. Sarcasm Sunday

Just one meme for Sunday - after all, it is a day of rest - but what a meme, undoubtedly the greatest meme of all time. It truly is phenomenal.

No, it isn't; I was being sarcastic. Unfortunately, until they invent an emoticon for sarcasm, it's not always obvious when that lowest form of wit is present. That's why we need a day for unbridled sarcasm, where it's obvious where people are being sardonic about the questions they answer. Needless to say the comments on these posts can also be sarcastic, just to mess with the participants' heads as they worry because they're getting such nice comments.


9 comments:

Sathyai said...

Wow, that's informative. Kudos!

myrtle beached whale said...

Fun list. Nice to have options. My blog pretty much already qualifies for Monkey Monday.

Eaton Bennett aka Berenice Albrecht said...

LOL...I don't know which meme to choose first. I kinda like the weepy monkey one, should I buy a monkey or should I invent one? Oh, and the blog that will never be, I could go for that, just for the practice. Fun stuff! Thanks for visiting my TT! Hope your Thursday has been a good one. :)

colleen said...

My favorite is the monkey random key meme. I bet you'd hit on some real words.

Andi said...

Great list! I may have to give some of these a try.

Oh, and I absolutely adore the William Shatner album (I see you have Has Been in your music player thingy)!

Anonymous said...

I don't know. Looks to me like this should have been posted on Sunday. You could start something there. :)

Unknown said...

Interesting list. Happy TT.

Jen said...

Very funny list!! Have a great day!!

An Eerie Tapestry said...

Thanks for all the comments.

Tilli - Just to clarify, they weren't actual memes, just made-up ones, or maybe you're practicing for Sarcasm Sunday.

Myrtle - Mine too.

Eaton - You should definitely buy a monkey. Everybody else is and I wouldn't want you to feel left out. :P

Colleen - Indeed you would, as my and Myrtle Beached Whale's blogs demonstrate day after day.

Andi - Feel free to use any of them as you see fit. As for William Shatner, yeah, it's a terrific album, and undoubtedly the biggest improvement of a second album over a debut album ever.

aliceaudrey - Yeah, maybe I could, but sadly I'm not the least bit sarcastic.

Storm - Happy TT to you too.

Jen - You have a great day too.