So another year has come and gone… well, almost. I’m one of those people who believes you should wait until the year is actually over before reflecting back on what all occurred, however there is only one more Retro TV Ad post coming before the clock strikes midnight on 2013, and I doubt it’s going to be anything special. And New Year’s Day is dedicated to my annual Sandy Awards, which I actually already have typed up and waiting to publish in my normally empty Drafts folder! Be sure to wallow back from your New Years Eve hangover Wednesday morning to check out my (hopefully) hilarious retrospective on the best search terms that brought people to The Nest in 2013!
I doubt you’ll be sober until Groundhog Day.
But today is all about what went down at The Nest in 2013. It was another wild year that saw my WordPress community continue to expand, despite the lack of quality content I offer up here! OK, that was a bit too self depreciating… there was a lot that people liked from what I posted in the last 12 months.
When 2013 dawned, my weekly comic strip I draw for this blog was only 35 episodes old. With another 52 in the books this year, it gained a bit more maturity of a sense of direction and the recurring situations and characters began to shape themselves much clearer. A mandatory Buster appearance had already been a running gag since September 2012, but beginning with the first comic of 2013, Rainbow Donkey joined him in showing up every single week. Among my best loved strips of the year, the list would have to include Angel’s wild experience at a Mardi Gras party, Sulphur’s class paper on incest, the teacher Ms. Hermie turning the tables on pushy parents, poking fun at my Buster and Rainbow Donkey obsession, why Rainbow Donkey is such a hit with the ladies, how to recycle drain clogs, and Angel’s first experience with suppositories.
Which was more fascinating than Angel’s first experience with….. um… nevermind.
My weekly Saturday Squirrel feature was only a few months old when the new year dawned, and has become one of my most popular features with another year’s worth of material. Saturday Squirrel started out as a showcase for some of my better squirrel pictures, but during the course of the year it turned into more of an informative, entertaining, and sometimes even philosophical discussion all spurring from a simple little picture of a squirrel I had taken. This feature should get even better in 2014 now that I have a better camera which takes much better pictures!
Smile!
I started two new weekly features this year, the first of which was Flashback Friday. Every Friday since last February, I have taken a day to look back at a trend, event, show, music… anything retro from the decades of the 80’s and 90’s. I waxed nostalgic about such things as candy cigarettes, Garbage Pail Kids, rotary phones, Choose Your Own Adventure books, Hands Across America, and Big Mouth Billy Bass, among many other things.
Who doesn’t love the 80’s?
A spinoff feature from Flashback Friday was my Retro TV Ad Tuesday posts, which began in April. Since I have always been a fan of commercials, I would choose an ad from the past (or sometimes not so distant past) and take a second look at the concept behind it and just how ridiculous it really was in the first place. Among my best liked Retro Ad posts are my three exposes on how breakfast cereal ads were bastions of assholery, a tribute to Kool Aid Man, why looking into the future is such a dumb idea, and how to poke fun at songs from the 50’s.
Leave us alone, dadio!
Among my more popular posts that weren’t a part of one of my regular features was my two part investigation of the what and why of “cute”, a dressing down of our idea of breakfast, and my fabulously arrogant award winning entry in Alice’s Sparky contest in September. And I would be remiss if I didn’t once again mention the three fabulous gifts I received from my fellow bloggers this year… the beautiful crocheted Rainbow Donkey from Jennifer at Squirrel Picnic, the Sparkleponeh I won from Alice in her contest, and the little Sponkies Aunt Sharon from Gentlestitches made for me after being inspired by the first two gifts. Thank you again ladies for adorning my critter collection with more cuteness!
I need help.
And that’s a brief look at how 2013 treated The Nest (so far). Hopefully 2014 will be even bigger and better in the land of squirrels, possums, and ponehs. Have a wonderful new year, everyone!
You had a great year. BTW, you got an email address I can reach you at?
It’s in my Contact Me page under the header.
Right. I suppose a minimum of effort would have revealed that.
Happy New Year, ES!
Happy New Year to you and yours, TD!
I discovered this blog in 2013, so I consider that a positive for the year 🙂
Awww, thanks! Yours is among the great blogs I also found this year…
Happy New Year, ES!
Happy New Year CK!!! Stay off those police cars this year! 😉
Ha! I’d probably break something trying that now 😉
No mention of your bestest blogging buddy? 😦 Happy New Year, ES.
Awwww… now this was more of a selfish look back at my posts than the people who read them! Besides becoming my bestest blogging buddy, about half of my current followers are bloggers from your circle who you helped bring my way with your reblogs and pingbacks to my crap! You know I love ya! 😉
Happy new year, Merby!
What a great and wonderful year my friend!! Here’s to another fascinating and enlightening 2014! XOXO – Bacon
I’ll drink to that, Bacon! You are one of the many new friends who joined me this year, and I thank you for not only tagging along on my adventures here, but for keeping me just as entertained over on your blog! Happy New Year!
Aaww. How very sweet my friend. I have so enjoyed your blog as well this year. XOXO – Bacon
What a fantastic year you’ve had! You’ve done so much! I can’t wait to see what wild and crazy stuff you come up with in 2014. Cheers!
Neither can I! Hopefully I can make next year’s entertainment even better than this year! Thanks for the kind words!
I sometimes try to look back at your posts to see if I missed some, usually I caught them! That is amazing to me about your blog. I cannot do that on others in quite the same amounts! You have been a fun place to visit, thanks for the laughs and also, your witty comments on my blog!
Awww, thanks for the kind words, Robin!!! I’m glad you enjoy looking back at even the old stuff, and hearing comments like this give me all the more confidence in the things I post here!
Happy New year Evil Squirrel! Your humour in all its wonderful, whacky, far-out and creative forms is an absolute delight! 🙂
Oh my, thank you! And Happy New Year to you as well!
🙂
Happy New Year … Here’s hoping for a great one!
Indeed! Best wishes to you for 2014!
Happy New Year ES!!!! Shane and I look forward to more squirrely fun from America in 2014!!!!!
Thank you! Happy New Year to both of you as well! And I do believe that it is almost, if not already 2014 in your neck of the woods… hope it’s starting off well!
A great year on the Nest!
Maybe I should look back at all my flash fictions and see how many people I killed or maimed during 2013?
Have a great New Year 🙂
That would be a swell idea! You could even include a running tote board in your header!
Happy New Year, Draliman!
Hey, I just recently found your blog and you’re definitely in my top ten. Keep it up!
I’m honored! Thank you! I enjoy your stories and writing as well!