I can just taste the creativity lingering around here, man!
Yes, it is that time of the year again! Time to break out the thinking caps and dig the crafty shit out of the closet. Evil Squirrel’s Nest’s 2019 Contest of Whatever begins today! The CoW has been a February tradition on this blog dating back to 2014, and has resulted in literally thousands hundreds dozens of wonderfully delightful creations over the years by Nesters hoping I’ll send them a prize. And everyone loves prizes!
Give that man a Rainbow Donkey coffee mug!
Each year, two bloggers who play the CoW will bring home something utterly fabulous that they chose from my Cafepress shop. The themes and results of the first five Contests of Whatever can be found on this page, and you may note that none of the ten past winners has been a repeat. So if you have yet to bring home the gold, this may very well be your year! And of course, if you are a past winner…. well, somebody has to be the first to win twice, right?
Oh, come on… winning the CoW twice isn’t THAT embarrassing.
So how does the contest work? Well, it’s very simple! So simple, that everyone reading this should play…. yes including you! All I want you to do is to create something. It can be in any kind of creative art you can imagine… writing, drawing, crafting, photography, chainsaw carving, mime…. literally anything and any combination thereof. As long as your work is something you can post on your blog and is your own creation, it is up to Contest of Whatever snuff.
Very nice! And it even fits the theme of making a huge damned mess.
Each year, of course, I always add in a stipulation to keep all the entries themed around. One year it was including a possum, squirrel and unicorn… another year it was killing off Buster… themes that are a lot of fun. You may recall last year’s CoW wanted players to draw their inspiration from each of three randomly selected images I dredged up off of Google. That seemed to bend the brains of the audience a bit too much, and if not for a last week onrush of entries, the whole contest would have gotten rained out.
Not that some people, and pigs, don’t mind getting wet.
So my challenge for this year was to bring the theme back to something simple. Something that will encourage the casual players, while also providing the opportunity for a more robust creation for those so inclined. The record for most entries in a single Contest of Whatever remains the 11 I received in the first game. I want that record matched if not smashed this year!!!
Sure thing, ES.
I think I came upon the perfect contest prompt while I was compiling my annual Sandy Awards list last month! Ladies and gentlemen…. the theme of the 2019 Contest of Whatever is……………
A squirrel walks into a bar…
There you have it! What comes to your mind with that one lined theme? Make something, and show off to the world just how awesome you really are!
Where in the hell is the bartender?
Sometime between right now and the end of the day on Thursday February 28th, come up with something creative you can post on your blog based on the contest theme “A squirrel walks into a bar.” Where you go from there and how you choose to present your idea is all up to YOU! Simply post your contest entry before the deadline and make sure to leave a pingback to this post so that I won’t miss it (Leaving a comment here with a link can’t hurt either). I will post links to all of the entries received on Friday March 1st, and announce the contest winners on Sunday March 3rd. Prizes, as has been tradition, will be any one item valued at $20 USD or less from my Cafepress shop.
Oh boy! Useless junk!
There will be two contest winners. One will be chosen by me entirely based on whichever entry I like the best. Then a second winner will be chosen at random from all of the remaining entries. That means that even if you think you don’t have the right stuff to beat out your fellow creative Nesters, you can still win something based entirely on dumb luck. But only if you make something for the contest!!!
Don’t make Shadow have to hound you!
Best of luck to everyone who plays along with The Nest’s crazy idea of fun and games this year! Spread the word, and get those creative juices flowing!
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Ohboyohboyohboy……I’m up for it. I even already have an idea brewing (can you smell the burny aroma of brain cells exploding??).
Pam
Is that what that is? I just assumed some more of Miss D’s botox dripped on the burner again. I look forward to how this prompt has inspired you…
Oh good god, is it that time of the year already? February – annual major audit and COW. Um, I mean, yay, let’s get this thing done!
What is up with companies scheduling audits in a godforsaken month like February? I’m going to see to it that February is reserved for only the Contest of Whatever from this year forward…
Pingback: Sixth Annual C.O.W. | sparksfromacombustiblemind
Reblogged on “Sparks”. I hope your fur isn’t flammable….
DOH. http://sparksfromacombustiblemind.com/2019/01/27/sixth-annual-c-o-w/
Woohoo! Thank you for spreading the word!
I’m so glad the contest has a squirrel in it. Not that it wasn’t fun to write a twisted tale of man/pig romance last year. It was. But, yay, a squirrel! Maybe this will get me to finally print and back-up some of my better squirrel photos before my ancient desk top dies.
There are no limits on WHAT might be in that bar the squirrel walks into…. so a man/pig romance wouldn’t be out of the question if you want to write a second tale of a man and his bacon. But yes, get those squirrel pics backed up! I’ve at least uploaded all of mine to my Photobucket account, but I lost a lot of the originals when my desktop died a year ago. You’ll need something to make you smile during all of that boring weather…
I actually have an idea. I’ve never had an idea for one of these before, but I’ve got one now. I’m very excited! Garry wants you to autograph something for him. He wears your baseball shirt and I pointed out that your painting is still on our mantle, but apparently, that’s not enough. Just saying.
I saw that comment and immediately thought of autographing a picture and sending it to you… but my photo printer bit the dust a while back. That would mean I’d have to order a print somewhere… I’ll see what I can do. I certainly won’t forget the request…
Well, I read about this first over on Melanie’s blog. I like this year’s theme but am drawing a blank at the moment. Still… maybe… we’ll see…
You have five weeks. No pressure. I’ll bet you can come up with something awesome…
guyz…..whoa….thiz onez tuff…….if we due knot think bout it…..we will come up with sum thin !! 🙂
Awesome!
What kind of bar has no customers save one little bitty tree rat? Huh?!
Hmmmmm…. why don’t you tell me! It might win you a prize…
I see what you’re trying to do. 😈
I am so excited. I love The Contest of Whatever.
But wait… wait… I did this one already (or as my child used to say “I ready all did that”)
Don’t worry, because that is ok. I’ll do it again another way. Love it. Squirrels and bars never get old. Never. I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.
One more thing – refresh my memory – who is that guy at the top of the page? The one tasting the creativity? Thanks.
That’s guy’s from the Blue Boy episode of Dragnet. Friday and Gannon meet find him at the LSD party eating paint out of the can. It always cracked me up…
I look forward to your creation! As one of the two remaining perfect attendees, you and Draliman help keep this contest going!
Go Draliman! Woot Woot.
A squirrel walks into a bar… Sounds simple enough. Maybe too simple…AAAAAAAAAAA!!! Overload… on both of my brain cells.
So simple that it’s hard! Have fun with it! I forgot to post that rule, but it’s the most important one of all… have fun!
Here’s my entry! Hope I’m not too late! https://authormandywhite.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/evil-squirrels-nest-6th-annual-contest-of-whatever/
I really could use another RD coffee mug…
The world needs more RD coffee mugs. Give it a shot!
I have been anxiously awaiting this! Little guy had hot chocolate in his official ES mug just the other day and asked if it was coming soon. May the odds be in our favour!
YAY! And I do hope the hot chocolate came out of ES’s fur OK…
He cleans up really well! 😉
Yay! Last year was the first time I did the contest, and it was really fun. I’ll see what I can come up with this time. 🙂
I can’t wait! I’m hopeful for a lot of great entries this year…
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Here’s my entry for the contest! 🙂
https://wp.me/p3RE1e-6ND
Pingback: Evil Squirrel’s Contest of Whatever 2019 | draliman on life
Okay, so I’ve done mine, for what it’s worth…
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Pingback: Vlad’s Vampire Diary: A Squirrel Walked Into A Bar (and it was cute) | Vampire Maman
I finally finished mine. This is pretty silly.
https://vampiremaman.com/2019/02/27/vlads-vampire-diary-a-squirrel-walked-into-a-bar-and-it-was-cute/
Pingback: The Cat on My Head blog enters “A Squirrel Walks into a Bar” contest.
We are entering our contest with poem and a meme. You will get a wingback and here is the link to outpost. https://www.thecatonmyhead.com/a-squirrel-walks-into-a-bar/
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Pingback: Evil Squirrel’s Nest 6th Annual Contest of Whatever | Mandy White
Here’s mine! https://authormandywhite.wordpress.com/2019/03/01/evil-squirrels-nest-6th-annual-contest-of-whatever/
Pingback: A SQUIRREL WALKS INTO A BAR – Roxanne Hope