My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2025 the theme is a random assemblage of things that are on my mind--or that just pop into my mind. Whatever! Let's just say I'll be "Tossing It Out" for your entertainment or however it is you perceive these things.
Once again Jeremy Hawkins has designed a special T shirt to commemorate this year's challenge. 2018 Blogging from A to Z Challenge T shirts now available! For info visit A to Z T shirts.
Battle of the Bands Results
This past Battle was the song "My Favorite Things" with versions from a current car commercial and some creepy video by an interesting performer: Nora Khalif and Joe Raciti.
Nora's version first caught my attention and Joe's fixated it and honed it into an odd fascination. I liked both versions, but there's more to Joe's version and that's where my vote went. I guess I'm getting pretty good at this BOTB game. This Battle stayed very close.
Another successful year of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is now almost behind us. The letter posts are done but don't forget to join us in our annual Reflections posts starting Monday May 7th. And visit the A to Z Blog on May 3rd to participate in our after Challenge poll. We have some questions for you and want to know your thoughts...
Insecure Writer's Support Group
Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh'sInsecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. The awesome co-hosts for the May 2 posting of the IWSG are E.M.A. Timar,J. Q. Rose,C. LeeMcKenzie, and Raimey Gallant! Please visit their blogs to say hello and thank you!
May 2 question - It’s spring! Does this season inspire you to write more than others, or not?
This is a question that I've never thought about before hence I'm not sure that I can provide any quantifiable answer--that is until the past several years. One certain thing is that since I've been doing the A to Z Challenge I definitely write more in March and April, even if it is only blog posts. For me that's writing as much as anything is.
Furthermore, with the A to Z writing comes a flood of ideas for future writing and other projects. I even started some new future blog posts. I've also been reassessing who I am as a writer and where I should take things next. And most exciting for me at the moment is that during the past week I've written a song that I think is a pretty darn good one and I'll be polishing that up over the next couple of weeks.
When I was still in college I can recall springtime calling me out to read and write on grassy lawns or in one of the student facilities geared toward studious activities. But then I think I was writing about equally in all seasons. Now I don't see any connection to writing and seasons other than the A to Z Blogging. I'm thankful that I've got that event to spur me on.
Battle of the Bands
Battle of the Bandsisthe blogging event started byFar Away Seriesand now hosted byStMcC Presents Battle of the Bands. This event happens each month on the 15th and on some blogs there is also a Battle on the 1st of the month. My blog is one of those with a second Battle on the 1st of the month. The premise is simple: Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it. Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.
My Favorite Things
Some of my favorite things are the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and Insecure Writer's Support Group. One of my most favorite things is Battle of the Bands which is why I haven't missed a one of these since they first started about five years ago. That's a lot of Battles with a lot of great music!
BOTB co-founder Stephen T. McCarthy (as well as others) and I have pondered the question of why some people like certain things better than others. The concept of "favorites" can be perplexing at times and probably would require a fairly in-depth study why some of us like certain things while others don't. If anyone has an answer to this question I welcome your input on this subject.
In the past few weeks I started hearing a song on a Volvo commercial that sounded vaguely familiar. I didn't pay too much attention at first, but as the song started securing itself in my brain I started paying attention to it. At that point I realized I was hearing an updated electronica version of "My Favorite Things" from Sound of Music.
I happen to know that this is a favorite song of my friend Stephen T McCarthy because we've discussed it in the past. On the other hand, as I have mentioned to STMcC, "Favorite Things" is far from my favorite things. I don't dislike hearing it, but I think it might be something about the lyrics that I don't care for. As I have conceded to Stephen in the past, I do agree that the melody is very nice which is probably why I like the song better as an instrumental than a vocal number.
Hearing the Volvo commercial repeatedly eventually earwormed the song into my head--or at least this version. The immediacy of hearing this commercial decided my first post-A-to-Z blog post. All other songs in my queue get knocked down a notch as this May Day round matches two versions of the song "My Favorite Things"...
I don't have any info on the artist, but this is the commercial version of a recording that presumably is still in the works for a longer version sometime down the road. At least this version is very short which makes it a good pick for Battle of the Bands...
If we're going with odd versions of an old classic, then this "creepy" version seems to fit that bill. I didn't research to find anything about the artist, but I did watch several of his videos. He's got some interesting stuff on YouTube if you are intrigued after watching this video. But first listen to his version of "Favorite Things"--and if you are able to do so you might enjoy watching the video--it's kind of weird, but good...
Time to Vote! Please vote. What's your favorite between these two choices? Which song version do you like best? You don't have to know about music to have an opinion since it all comes down to your own personal taste.
Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.
Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts: StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands 'MIKE'SRAMBLINGS' 'Curious as a Cathy' Sound of One Hand Typing Angel's Bark Jingle, Jangle, Jungle Cherdo on the Flipside Winner of this Battle Announced on Tuesday May 8th Hope you'll stop by for my A to Z Reflections post on Monday May 7th, but definitely if you've voted in this current contest then you'll want to see who comes out on top. By the way, due to a death in the family I will be away from the computer until Friday May 4th on which day I will hopefully make it around to all of the other BOTB posts. Hope you'll bear with me on this, but it was not in my plans. Will you be submitting an A to Z Reflections post this year? When you write do you tend to get a renewed creative energy to do more things? Do you like hearing old classic songs in updated unconventional versions?
