New Year’s Resolutions

We’re in that wonderful period of time where we convince ourselves that all of our 2010 coulda woulda shouldas will be transformed into 2011’s totally gonnas.

In that spirit, I submit the following blogger resolutions:

1. Daily posts, come rain, snow, or sleet sloth, indifference, or better things to do.

2. Start 100 Greatest Men.  Rankings done, but oh boy, is it a lot of writing!

3. Write about the nineties, eighties, and seventies so much that readers think we’ve gone back in time.

4. Continue being diplomatic to the almost-stars of yesteryear, until they mess with Ben Foster.

5. Take being the weakest writer on my own staff as motivation to do better! I’m gunnin’ for all y’all in 2011.

What are your New Year’s Resolutions for 2011?

27 Comments

  1. First comment of 2011! Yay!

    I’m also planning on writing more about the 70s, 80s, 90s. Planning on doing a few “Retro” reviews sometime soon. It’ll show people that, even though I’ve written lots of negative reviews, I really DO like country music. I’d also love to do a few more interviews if possible, and I want to write better album reviews.

  2. I’m merely a reader here, so I’m just going to stick with a policy I began to adopt sometime a couple years ago. Namely, that if all I have to say about a given post or discussion amounts to little more than an affirmation that I’ve read it and agree with what someone else has already said, to just move along and not clutter the thread.

    I know I’ll never be a daily blogger; Crohn’s wipes me out too often for that kind of focus and energy. But I do look forward to the increased content here throughout 2011 and hope to have something to say from time to time.

  3. Kevin:

    1) Happy New Year
    2) The weakest writer on you staff you certainly are not
    3) I look forward to your retrospective articles

    My resolutions will remain private, but I’ll try to comment more frequently

  4. Ditto to Paul’s list.

    My resolution is to go back to being a more diplomatic commenter on country music blogs. I’ve found that I’ve gotten more intense after reading certain comment threads, which has resulted in having less fun. I can just stay out of things once in awhile, I think. I’ll still partake in a good, reasonable debate though.

  5. I will heartily endorse the idea of your writing more, Kevin, and you’re not the weakest CU writer, though you keep such fine company that such a distinction wouldn’t mean much anyway.

    I had not seen that Chad Brock thread before, and *wow* was that nasty and just plain uncomfortable to read.

  6. Kevin there is no way you’re a ‘weak’ writer. I’ve listened to country music for forty plus years and I still learn new things here. Thanks to all her for that.

    I hadn’t seen the Brock thing either; wow. I think I’ll subscribe to the ‘Thumper theory’ on that.

  7. …i’ve been reading cu now for quite a while and it was noticeable that some of the writers had a little bit more on their plates in 2010 than in the years before – fair enough, that’s the way it goes.

    still, there were plenty of blog-entries that were worth reading and discussing/commenting. seeing kevin becoming a little edgier and less forgiving with some acts was a refreshing development. if you guys keep up those features where you score with those often excellent little write-ups and add one or the other homer to it, cu remains what it always has been: a very civilized and worthwhile stop in the blog world.

    everybody knows, how tough it is to come up with something relevant on a daily basis – sometimes the world ain’t just that interesting on any given day. so what. and when you think, christmas eve would be a peaceful time – ben foster picks a fight with chad brock. lol.

    have a good new year everybody, see ya!

  8. In my opinion, nobody here on the Country Universe staff is a “weak writer”, merely that each of them is different and unique in the way they write; and for that I applaud each of them.

    Keep up the good work.

  9. That was so nuts. A regular visit to Country California, happened to notice in the “Recent Comments” section that the Chad Brock thread from two months ago had fired back up, and I’m like, “Whoa… all this is about me?”

    For future reference, arguing with Chad Brock is an astounding waste of time.

  10. A regular visit to Country California, happened to notice in the “Recent Comments” section that the Chad Brock thread from two months ago had fired back up, and I’m like, “Whoa… all this is about me?”

    We’ve got your back, Ben. ;-)

  11. Say what you want about that Chad Brock thread but no one looked good in that. Before I start let me say that I’m not a fan of that song, “Yes.” One of my least favorite songs ever.

    Ben expresses that opinion and then gets called on it. If you’re going to express negative opinions on a public forum you have to expect to get some blowback for that. Brock’s argument is insipid but he is allowed to express it.

    Then Brock continues saying dumb things and the entire thread eventually devolves into a bunch of people arguing over the Internet. No one wins in that scenario, and no one looks good. Also, was it really the real Chad Brock or just someone who was pulling an overly elaborate ruse?

  12. I’ve metthe real Chad Brock – he was a DJ for a radio station in Ocala for a while – he never came off as a jerk so I suspect the online version is an imposter

  13. I also resolve to write more this year – I don’t think 2011 will be less busy for me, but I do plan on putting myself on a stricter writing schedule with CU and some other projects. We’ll see how that works out :)

    Happy New Year, y’all!

  14. “Say what you want about that Chad Brock thread but no one looked good in that.”

    You must not have read my comment. Hey-oh!

    In all seriousness, I think it was a worthwhile discussion simply for demonstrating support for Ben after he came under rather vicious personal attack for expressing a completely fair, respectful opinion. Sure, there’s always the chance that you can get personally attacked for expressing an opinion on the internet, and you should know that before you do it. But that doesn’t mean you should never express it, or that people shouldn’t defend you if you’re attacked. To draw an admittedly extreme analogy, there’s always a chance you can collide with a drunk driver on the road; that doesn’t mean you should never drive, or that people shouldn’t offer support if you have a collision with one.

  15. I suspect most of us are better in person than the animity of the internet. Not to rehash that thread here, but Ben simply simply said that he was indifferent to the song, Brock attacked his age rather insultingly in return. Ben wasn’t even acting as a critic as Brock claimed, but as a commenter on a blog. While I thought the fake news story was funny, I would have understood if he was angry about it. I would have also understood if he lashed out at some follow up comments, but Ben’s pretty innocuous comment was a lame target to hit. If anything, Brock’s response was not an equal reaction to Ben’s initial comment.

    CMW is pretty sure that it was the real Chad Brock. Most bloggers have ways of all but knowing these things.

  16. This is true. There’s not as much accountibility when you say something on an Internet thread, so it’s easy to become uncharacteristically forceful or opinionated. I try to be diplomatic in blog discussions, but I know there have been times when I’ve said things in comments that I probably wouldn’t have said right to someone’s face.

  17. More is better. :)

    CU is my favorite blog. The tone of this site is great. And for the most part any comments submitted are made with respect. I certainly don’t expect to agree with everything and that is a good thing. But I don’t enjoy having what could be a good discussion ruined by some comment that is not called for.

    I’m very excited for the 100 Greatest Men series. I’ve been waiting for it since, well, the 100 Greatest Women’s ended.

  18. wow, hadn’t seen that Chad Brock thing. Also, who IS Chad Brock? I was listening to country music at that point, but I don’t recall him….guess I’ll have to check out youtube later.

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