A to Z Reflections — 2023

Fandango

The April 2023 A to Z Blogging Challenge is over. Well, the sponsors of the challenge would like us to each publish a “Reflections” post where we look back over the past month and discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly. So let’s do some reflecting.

M.C. Escher’s “Hand with Reflecting Sphere”

My theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge was classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays), I posted a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).

This turned out to be much more difficult than I thought it would be. For every letter of the alphabet — except for X and Z — there were dozens of fantastic classic rock songs to choose from and picking just one song for each letter was maddening. But this was what I signed up for.

Actually, it wasn’t what I signed up for because I didn’t technically (and officially) sign up at all. I had gone through all of the official rigamarole for the 2018 through 2022 A to Z Challenges, but this year I was one of a number of bloggers who participated in the challenge without signing up. We were “going rogue,” and Paula Light, one of us rogue participants, created a unique non-badge badge for us:

Anyway, I made it through the month posting classic rock songs and I hope I brought a lot of fond memories for those of us who grew up in the classic rock era. And perhaps I introduced others who weren’t around in the 60s and 70s to some “new” music — at least to them — that they enjoyed.

For me, it was like posting my responses to Jim Adams’ Song Lyric Sunday prompt nearly every day of the month. I enjoyed doing that and learning some of the very interesting — and often surprising — backstories behind the songs I featured. On the other hand, it took up a lot of time, so I didn’t get to read as many of the posts from other bloggers that I follow. And I also wasn’t able to participate in as many blogging prompts as I usually do.

Stats wise, my April 2023 stats (with around 12,400 total views), were my lowest April views since 2018. That could be because my number of annual views peaked in 2019 and have been going down every year since then. Or it could be because I didn’t “officially” register for the A to Z challenge and, therefore, didn’t get as much exposure for my A to Z posts. Or it could be for both or for neither of those reasons.

Bottom line, I’m glad I participated this year and I hope those of you who took the time to read my A to Z posts enjoyed them. I plan on being back again next year, either officially or unofficially.

If you missed any of my A to Z classic rock posts, just tap or click on the letter below and it will take you to that letter’s song.

Previous 2023 A to Z posts: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

16 thoughts on “A to Z Reflections — 2023”

  1. Paula Light May 1, 2023 / 2:26 pm

    Great job! We have similar taste in music 🎶❤️

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  4. Sadje May 1, 2023 / 5:57 pm

    It’s a challenge to complete a month posting according to a theme. Well done my friend

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  5. marialberg May 1, 2023 / 6:19 pm

    Thank you for showing me that Escher reflection ball piece. I really like Escher and hadn’t seen it before. I’m using reflection balls in my art, so it really appeals to me. I enjoyed the “Rogue” badge, though doing A to Z by the same ideas doesn’t seem “Rogue”, but whatever. As for this April, my readership was way down too, but I had seen a continual growth in other months. Not sure what’s happening. Congrats on making it through AtoZ!

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    • Fandango May 1, 2023 / 10:03 pm

      I, too, am a fan of Escher’s work and the one with him and the reflecting sphere is one of my favorites. The only “rogue” aspect was not formally registering for the challenge using the official spreadsheet or declaring a theme on the theme reveal spreadsheet. Other than that, though, you’re right, not very “rogue.” 😉

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  7. donmatthewspoetry May 4, 2023 / 2:38 am

    I often don’t include lyrics in my daily posted videos. I’m more attracted to the performance, visuals etc. Apart from knowing a few snippets I rarely look at lyrics. But that’s just me……

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    • Fandango May 4, 2023 / 9:23 am

      Sometimes when I see the lyrics for the first time I realize that I had no idea what a song I liked was actually about.

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