What a hell of a goddamn year we all just went through. Goddamn hell of a year.

If I was lead closed-captioner in charge of closed-captioning the State of the Union Address last night, thats what the deaf people would have gotten out of it. Which makes me sidetrack this with a great idea: why not have instead of literal transcripts of what is being said, a second type of closed captioning that summarizes things for people who don't want to pay close attention? Like Obama could talk for an  hour and the summary would be:

"Sorry about last year, it wasn't my fault. All that stuff I was going to do was much harder than I had anticipated. Lets try again this year. Oh, and by the way, enjoy these trains".

Which brings me back to my point.

Sorry about last year, it wasn't my fault. All that stuff I was going to do was much harder than I had anticipated. Lets try again this year.

Last year at this time we were enjoying the Kinda Intense Stimulus Package, in which I posted 28 days in a row, three of them being video podcasts. We didn't have time to think about how that might tax my resources for the rest of the year, and I have to admit, it hurt a bit. But we needed something to pull us out of the death spiral before the readers lost faith and deleted us from their bookmarks. And I think it worked. Sure, we had some slow points last year. I was maybe a little too busy trying to launch Matthensley.org on the side. I'm willing to admit that I didn't get it off the ground as far as I wanted, and that it detracted my focus a bit from this venture. I may have promised some attention and work in places where it never arrived. Lessons were learned. My point is, we're still here, for better or worse. A little older, and a little wiser.

But now let me turn the tables around on you and say:

Thats just wise enough. Though our country and economy now may need to exercise more caution and belt-tightening, I personally plan on doing no such thing.  In fact, I plan on doing the EXACT OPPOSITE.

Introducting:

The Kinda Intense Stimulus Package Aftershock Extravaganza 2010!

In which I post EVERY DAY* (see note) FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY. In which I'm saying, yeah, we screwed a few pooches this year, but we're gonna ENJOY THESE GODDAMN TRAINS! Because if we don't learn from our mistakes, we'll get to enjoy repeating them over and over again in ways we never thought possible.

We will fight them on the beaches! We will fight them in the aviarys and the abandoned mineshafts! We will fight them in their sleep, at their dinner tables. We will not go quietly into the night. We would not, COULD NOT, sam I am! Will we be here, in the same place next year? Maybe! Who cares! I'll do it again. This ain't my first rodeo and it sure as hell won't be my last.

So I say lets do it. Lets do it for the sites out there that don't have the heart to make their own stimulus package. Lets do it for the great posts that will otherwise die lonely deaths before full realization in our head-wombs. Lets do it for Andrew WK (whoever he is). Lets do it for ourselves, and our friends, and all of the people who might one day get a kick out of hearing the story of KindaIntense. And lets do it for Conan. Lets show em the bastards can't get us down, and even if they do, we like an underdog fight.....

Anyone among you man enough to spit in the face of history and your own personal schedule? Will anyone fight this good fight with me? Lets fight em together until they realize what it means for something to be Kinda Intense.........

"All I ask of you is one thing, and I’m asking this particularly of young people that watch - please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen."

Conan O'Brien

Make something. Write something. Tell a story, tell a joke. Post a link, post a picture. Review a sandwich you ate. Just don't give up! See you Monday......

*note: Posting every day means a post for every day, I have a few scheduled days in which I will not have internet access