Vanessa Christine, you look so good for 100! What's your secret?

I'd like to observe a moment of silence as we recognize this, the 100th post (!) on Vanessa Christine.

-insert silent moment here-

Now that we got that out of the way, I'd like to give a shout out to this here blog.

-insert boisterous shout out here-

(...and there was much rejoicing...)

Who knew that after less than 2 months of blogging, I would have already published 100 posts? Some of the comments I have heard have been :

1.)"You're blog is so...random."

2.)"Three posts in one day?!? Pace yourself, girl!"

3.) I laughed out loud reading your blog."

To which I say:

1.) The posts are not random to me...they are a mere sampling of what I am thinking and finding artful in the moment. Refrigerator.

2.) I ALWAYS pace myself, and I blog...at my own pace. Sometimes there are 3 posts that need to be written in one day.(Sometimes more, but there are only so many hours in a day...sheesh, peeps!)

3.) If you are reading and laughing out loud, then you get it...because I laugh out loud when I write it.

And now a word about all those words...

I have always been a lover of words.*

I love the way they sound. I love the way they look on paper. I love the way they feel as I am saying them. I love it when I hear a word combination that suddenly tickles my ear. I will often repeat a phrase just because I like the way it sounds and I want to remember it for possible personal use. I was even called out in class for this once. The teacher stopped her fabulous lecture to say :"Michelle, you have a tendency to repeat things that other people say,** and it's really annoying." I would love to tell you that this confrontation happened in the 2nd grade, but 2nd graders don't generally take Government and Economics class. The reprimand actually happened when I was in the 12th grade, A.K.A. a Senior in High School. (Now that I think about it, this could have been one of the reasons I was never popular.) Until this call-out, I really had no idea I was copying people; it was an unconscious act of admiration and committing certain phrases to memory.

Sometimes when I write, I copy a rhythm of writing. One of my favorite poets is Robert Frost. I have often copied his rhythm of poetic speech. It's not plagerism, peeps, it's the way the words bump when you say or read them that I appreciate about him... so I had to adapt it for myself.

Really, the words I blog are written just the way they sound in my head. For example, I have never been from the South, but I say "Y'all," and "All y'all" very often on my blog, because it just feels right.

Other Random Secrets About My Particular Brand of Blogging

I blog with passion and hilarity. One of my favorite things to employ on this bad boy is the *asteric*. I am all over the *asteric*. I enjoy it immensly. Recently, I also started adding the "-XOXO," before my signature at the end of MOST posts. This is also quite enjoyable to me. I am also playing around with color. Why? Because sometimes certain words just need to be written in certain colors. That's why.***

Sometimes I even tell you what song to listen to while reading a particular post. Do you, the reader, actually DO it? I have no idea. But at least you suddenly have the song in your head, and at least you know I was DELIBERATE in my blogging, and thinking of it as an entire artistic EXPERIENCE, not just a thing to look at.

OH! That reminds me! I forgot to prescribe a song for this post. Here it is..."Not Your Average Girl," by India.Arie. Click on the song, then come back...When it's over if you need a new song, click on "100 years" by Five for Fighting...Then come back...I'll wait...

(...waiting...)

(What a hoot, I love that trick, too.)

"BUT MAD BLOGGER!"-you cry, "WHY are you giving away all of your SECRETS! WHY are you telling us EVERYTHING?!? FOR YOU SHALL SURELY SPOIL US ALL!!!!"

To which I reply: "FOR SOOTHE, Dear READER! The Mad Blogger will NEVER give away all of her secrets! Never! and verily I promise thee, there is ALWAYS something new up her sleeve...heh heh...LEST YOU EVEN THINK OF GETTING COMFORTABLE, like you just KNOW what to expect...YOU NEVER CAN! So rest, my darlings, rest, my lovies, for tomorrow shall surely bring...a post that you least expect, and would never have anticipated. Wait for it, wait for it...,

-XOXO,

*Let it be known that I do not love ALL words...I only love CERTAIN words:...the ones that I love...

**I believe this is commonly referred to as "echolalia."

***These words brought to you by the color pink.It's my 100th post; these words needed to be written in pink. I know pink is not always easy to read unless you are an Elle Woods prodigy...I'm still on the waiting list...But it's my 100th post; so these words needed to be written in pink.