Stalking Bloggers in 2013

There is quite a voyeuristic quality to blogging. You can look in on the lives of others, and they don’t even know you are there.

Or they do know you’re there, because you push the Like button and/or leave a comment. Sometimes you *really* like a blogger, and you almost gush (or maybe you do gush) as you let them know how much you like them. I’m speaking in strictly platonic terms here.

Sometimes people joke about stalking in the comments section, because it feels like stalking at times – especially when you comment on every blog post of your stalkee, and then comment on your stalkee’s posts on other blogs, too. (Did you follow that?)

I recently upped my game a bit in the stalker department.

Because David Harding has caused me to truly laugh out loud so much, I decided one day to hang around his blog and peek through the windows. I went back and looked in on his very first blog post – April 13, 2012. Friday the 13th. Who starts a blog on a bad luck day? David Harding, that’s who!

After clicking the Like button and leaving a comment, I told him I was going to read all of his blog posts and comment on every one. And I did! It turned out to be a fun romp through the world and mind of David Harding.

My original intent was to read one post per day, but it was too much fun, and I went through all of August in one day. There were only eight posts.

There are poems, book reviews, game reviews, stories, and some crazy stuff that is uniquely David Harding. I saw where one man stopped by and told him he needed help, and it appears the man never went back. He missed so much fun! Who ever heard of Fist Dancing before?

Hanging around David’s blog was like taking a field trip every day. I ran off to read samples of books he recommended, I lost myself in websites of authors he linked to, and I watched YouTube movies and shorts. I bought one of his books and read it!

I was entertained over these early, wintery, cold days as I read his blog. He responded to my comments from his summery Australia while wearing Vegemite shorts.  I certainly know more about him now than I did when I first stopped by his blog in October, and I am happy to call him, friend. 🙂

I already know who I’m going to “stalk” next, but I think I’ll ask permission first, lest she call the Blogger Police for a restraining order against me.

And before you think you might stalk me, don’t bother. My early posts were stiff, dry, and boring. I was trying to be a mature adult, and we all know how hard it is to be someone you’re not. Is there a person who brings a smile to your face the minute you see that they’ve made a new post? That’s the person you should choose to stalk.

So, go forward and stalk!

BUT FIRST!!!!!!

PizzaBoxDrawcember has come to a close. Voting is open on David Harding’s site. Before you dash over there and VOTE, leave a comment, and let me know if you have ever gone back through a blogger’s archives and left comments on all posts before, and If so, how did it go? Will you stalk anyone in 2013?

Good-bye PizzaBoxDrawcember

New Year’s Resolution #1 – Quit asking pizza workers to draw pictures of gorillas throwing dice.

New Year’s Resolution #2 – Quit eating pizza for at least three months.

I need the next three months to work off the amount of pizza I’ve eaten in December alone. Getting that first picture under the pizza box lid was like being on crack (not that I’ve ever been on crack), but I needed more, more, more!

The second time we ordered pizza and requested a drawing, Rich used a Pizza Hut app to order. The request was ignored. The pizza didn’t taste quite as good as one with a gorilla drawing in it.

The third time, he asked for a drawing over the phone, and there must have been an artist on staff at this pizza shop, because we got a killer gorilla with dice! Eat your heart out over this gorilla, David Harding!

(Cue heavenly music as you view the drawing.)Three days before Christmas, I drove up north to meet our son and do a little Christmas shopping with him. We stopped at a pizza shop next door to his apartment building to place an order for delivery before heading back to his apartment. There was a young girl behind the register. I told her I wanted double cheese, pepperoni, and jalapenos. She asked, “Those are green peppers, right?” I told her they were green, but not “green peppers.” No green peppers for me! I wanted hot jalapeno peppers. Once she had our order in the system, I asked her to have someone draw a gorilla throwing dice under the lid. After I repeated the request a few times, and she fully understood what I was asking, she smiled and said, “Ok.” Our son gave her $5.00 and said half was for the delivery guy and to give the other half to whoever draws the gorilla. As we were walking out the door, I heard her ask, “Jim, what’s half of $5.00?”

It’s no wonder this is what was in our pizza box: If you look closely, you’ll see yellow banana peppers and not jalapenos. We still thought it tasted awesome, but what a freaky little dinosaur with tiny little hands that couldn’t even hold the dice if he tried. Hahahahaha!

Here is our last pizza of the year. This was when we knew we had a problem and needed to stop. Don’t feel sorry for us. We learned our lesson. We won’t let David Harding lead us down the primrose pizza path again. What about you? Did you get pulled in by the seductive lure of PizzaBoxDrawcember? Will you next year?

Sunday Night Pizza Bender

In case you haven’t heard, something is afoot this month.

“PizzaBoxDrawcember is an age-old celebration created by David Harding last week in which participants order pizza online and ask the pizza shop to draw something awesome inside the box.”

I lifted most of those words from Chris Morphew who is also celebrating PizzaBoxDrawcember.

I’ve actually never heard of a pizza bender before, but La La of Tales of a Charm City Chick fame recently blogged about a pizza bender with her commitment to participate in PizzaBoxDrawcember.

Rich and I chose tonight for a double whammy – to have a pizza bender and celebrate PizzaBoxDrawcember.

My telephone call to the pizza shop went like this:

Me: I’d like to order a large pizza with the works for delivery. Oh, and light sauce.

Pizza Shop Owner: You got it!

Me: And I have a request.

Pizza Shop Owner: Ok.

Me: Under the lid, could you draw a picture of a gorilla playing dice? It’s not for me! It’s for a guy in Australia.

Pizza Shop Owner: You got it! Coming right up!

UPDATE! Monday, December 10: Paula (whom we all love) told her sister, Renae, about PizzaBoxDrawcember, and her family ordered pizza tonight and asked for a Christmas tree with dice under the tree. Her comment about ordering the pizza is below. Here is the picture the nice people at the pizza shop drew for them. Thanks for sharing, Renae!

Renae’s pizza box picture. Click for a closer look!

What are your favorite pizza toppings? If you are in the United States, do you put shrimp on your pizza? What about walnuts and pears? Will you be participating in PizzaBoxDrawcember? Go on, try it! Call your favorite pizza shop and ask for a drawing!