Goodbye to the Weekend Assignment (Unless....)

I guess it's time.

I have been participating in the Weekend Assignment since the summer of 2004, just a few months after John Scalzi founded the meme as part of his AOL Journals gig. Within a few weeks it became an obsession with me. Since then I have written an entry in every single Weekend Assignment, whether the topic was assigned by Scalzi or, in more recent years, by my friend Carly or myself, or by someone else. A number of you have suggested topics as "guest professors," and for this I am grateful, even if I didn't use them all.

But the meme has been in decline for years, with most topics garnering from one to three entries, mine included. Coming up with fresh ideas for it, and second-guessing which ones are most likely to inspire participation, is a process that ceased to be fun for me over the last year or so. At the same time, my own life has changed dramatically in the last few months, as I've gone from working 4 to 7 hours a week to working full-time and then some. All in all, the prospect of writing the next Weekend Assignment question has become a chore instead of a game.

So I'm giving it up.

If anyone wants to take over this venerable meme, I will be glad to pass the torch, and help you keep it alight with announcements and promotions during the transition. I'll even do the assignments, but only as a participant.

Frankly, I suspect nobody will take me up on this offer, and the Weekend Assignment will quietly die. And that's okay. It's had a good, long run, encouraged people to write, and introduced bloggers to each other. Even if there is never another Weekend Assignment topic, the meme is far from a failure overall. Its time has just passed -- or, at least, my time as its champion has passed.

I will still be hosting the Round Robin Photo Challenges on another blog, and participating in Carly's Ellipsis Monday Photo Shoot. And I'm not giving up text-based blogging entirely. When I feel a rant coming on or have some news, you can expect to find me filling up a screen over at Outpost Mâvarin.

Meanwhile, here are the results of Weekend Assignment #366: You're Doing It Wrong. Because of Easter and Passover, I gave people an extra week to do this one, but it didn't help:

In a recycled entry from a previous Assignment, Anne said...

When I was 24 years old, I put together my first “entertainment system”. A stereo receiver hooked up to a TV, VCR, CD player and speakers. I don’t think I even had a DVD player yet, and I certainly did not have cable. I put it all together myself and it all worked. That weekend, my brother, then age 20, came over. I dragged him to the room to brag. Not about the stuff, mind you. But the fact that I did my homework, made good consumer decisions, and put it all together by myself. He took one look and said, “This is all wrong,” and started pulling out cables.

Karen said...

After 45 minutes or longer, we finally decided that one of us would continue to wait where we were while the other checked out the other apparently deserted parking lots at the same intersection. If I recall correctly, that was how we found Bob, and boy, was he mad! We had all been right where we had said we'd be, but missed each other in the dark, simply because it didn't occur to Bob that we might be shivering in the cold in the grocery store parking lot on the northeast corner of the intersection, not warm and safe in the bar on the southwest corner.

Thanks to everyone who has ever written up a Weekend Assignment entry, or taken the time to read the entries of others. See you around!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #366: You're Doing It Wrong

Please note: I am extending the deadline on this Assignment for one week, to Wednesday night April 27th. This is to give people (including me!) more time to come up with an entry despite a busy holiday week (Holy Week and Passover). We will resume our usual schedule with Weekend Assignment #367 on April 28th.--KFB.

Weekend Assignment #366: You're Doing It Wrong
Tell us about a mistake you made: directions botched or misunderstood, minor disasters suffered because you did something incorrectly. I'm thinking of problems with "Some Assembly Required" projects, maps misread and appointments missed, problems learning to use technology, etc., preferably with hilarious results!


Extra Credit: How good are you at giving directions, or teaching others to do something correctly?

You know how this works, right?

• You have until next Wednesday night to answer this question in your blog or in the comments below.
• If you do participate, please leave a comment here with your name and the URL of your entry.
• Don't forget to link back to here in the entry itself. 

That's all there is to it! Please play this week if you can. It's not nearly as much fun without you!

Last week, I asked about your tax preparation strategies. Apparently nobody wanted to talk about taxes except me. But appearances are deceiving, because Anne did the Assignment and forgot to mention it! :)

Karen said...

Even though I'm an accountant, and furthermore rely on my favorite tax preparation software, income tax preparation still intimidates me, almost every year. This year I was worried about the amended tax forms I got from First Magnus Liquidation Trust, and about the 40 boxes of donations to St. Michael's to sell at the English Faire, the dregs of which I hadn't finished cataloging after many hours of work on it. Plus I recently started working full time again, and had less time for chores at home. So I'd put it off until the very end of March, or possibly the first of April.

Anne said...

Once upon a time (read as: up until this year), I pulled my paperwork together as soon as humanly possible and loaded up the Turbo Tax.  The faster one files, the faster one receives the refund.  Assuming that one is entitled to a refund. I always found it fun - Turbo Tax is good stuff.  While I am not the most organized person in the world, I can generally keep my tax information in one place.

This year, for the first time, I used an accountant.  My finances became a bit more complicated and I figured it was time.

Thanks to Josie of josiespeaksup for submitting a topic idea last week on the "Be a Guest Professor page. I'll get to your suggestion soon. If you have an idea for an Assignment, please let me know!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #365: Tax Time

I've been working on my taxes all night. How about you?

Weekend Assignment #365: Tax Time
What is your strategy for doing your taxes? Do you get them done as soon as you can get hold of the paperwork, put them off to the last minute, or something in between? Do you hire someone, do the work yourself, get your spouse to do it, or share the load? Do you mail forms or e-file?

Extra Credit: Have you ever had to revisit a tax return after filing, due to an audit or other circumstances?

You know how this works, right?

• You have until next Wednesday night to answer this question in your blog or in the comments below.
• If you do participate, please leave a comment here with your name and the URL of your entry.
• Don't forget to link back to here in the entry itself. 

That's all there is to it!

Last week, for Weekend Assignment #364: Ahead in the Clouds?, I asked about your use of "cloud" technology, in which data is stored online and streamed rather than stored on your computer. Please click on each name to read the full entry:

Angus Brooks said on Facebook...

scary stuff , really , it could be good , but i myself wouldnt put any thing private in the clouds , a mix of the 2 would be good

Anne said...

I have enjoyed streaming video from Academic Earth and from hulu.com.  But it is sort of like books.  There are things I borrow and things that I buy.  I still buy DVDs (though not nearly as many as in the past).  I still have a half-full DVR of things I am not watching.  I haven't tried Netflix yet because I don't want to add another monthly expense. 

Florinda said...

When it comes to entertainment content, I'm still relatively traditional (as defined by "tradition" of the last decade, anyway). In other respects, I have embraced "cloud computing." I've used Google Docs for years as my main writing space, just because it allows me to access my documents anywhere. A good chunk of my life lives on Google's clouds, actually - my e-mail, many of my photos, my blog; I will be in BIG trouble if they ever crash!

Karen said...

All in all, though, I'm not that much into using cloud-based streaming and storage in preference to having the file locally, or even a physical object. I don't buy many CDs, but I do buy every Doctor Who CD from composer Murray Gold more or less as soon as it's available in the U.S. A few of them I've bought twice, because I've been known to wear them out.Then I rip them to iTunes at work and at home

Have a great week, everyone!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #364: Ahead in the Clouds?

This year's big tech buzzword is "clouds." Are you ready to fly?

Weekend Assignment #364: Ahead in the Clouds?
Suddenly the marketing departments of Microsoft and other tech giants are all about "the cloud" or "clouds," the practice of storing large files online and streaming them rather than everyone storing them locally on their hard drives. Do you think this is a good idea, a bad idea or both?

Extra Credit: Do you still buy CDs and DVDs?

You know how this works, right?

• You have until next Wednesday night to answer this question in your blog or in the comments below.
• If you do participate, please leave a comment here with your name and the URL of your entry.
• Don't forget to link back to here in the entry itself. 

That's all there is to it!

Last week, for Weekend Assignment #363: Scammed!, I asked about scams you've fallen for, and ones you haven't. Please click on each name to read the full entry:

Josie said...

Both Mr Rufai Garba, a manager for the Bank of Africa in Ouagadougou, and Dr Frank Lemon, also of the Bank of Africa, want me to act as next of kin for people I don’t know. Furthermore, the lovely Mrs Daisy Mercy and her late husband, who made a lot of money mining gold, would also like to leave me a large sum of money.

Anne said...

There was one time, at Noodles and Company, when I handed over my Visa to pay for lunch and it was declined.  I called Chase to rip someone's head off and found that two hours earlier, someone tried to use my card to download music in Brazil.  Had I tried to use my card to download music in Brazil?

Karen said...

Last week, a guy with a heavy Asian (India/Pakistan or something) accent call the land line here, claiming that "Your computer has a virus." Which computer? Mine? John's? The iPad? I didn't ask him that, though. "Go to your computer and let me show you," he said. Yeah, right.

Thanks also to Anne for some great ideas for future assignments. Have a great week, everyone!

Karen

Weekend Assignment #363: Scammed!

Weekend Assignment #363: Scammed!

Have you ever been successfully scammed? Was it a phone fraud, a phishing email, a trojan worm, or something else? How did they fool you, and what have you learned from the experience?

Extra Credit: Tell us about a scam that didn't succeed in tricking you.

You know how this works, right?

• You have until next Wednesday night to answer this question in your blog or in the comments below. 
• If you do participate, please leave a comment here with your name and the URL of your entry.
• Don't forget to link back to here in the entry itself. 

That's all there is to it!

Last week, for Weekend Assignment #362: Emergency!, I asked what, if anything, you've ever abstained from for Lent or some other spiritual purpose. Click on the names below to read the responses:

Sandrine said, on her new blog...

To test your earthquake supply knowledge, I’ve made a small list of things you should and things you shouldn’t have. You decide which is which. We have them all. [The list starts with "A flat on the ninth floor."]

(Sandrine also left a great comment on my personal blog, scolding me for not being prepared for "an alien invasion" or "a zombie apocalypse.")

Anne said...

"What kind of disaster would have to occur for there to be no Internet in Chicago, Columbus or Washington, DC? (the latter cities being the alternate work sites under discussion)"
"A nuclear event," was the answer.

Karen said...

We are so unprepared for emergencies that I feel a little guilty as I admit to you the Awful Truth: our entire stash of emergency supplies consists of two cinnamon and nutmeg votive candles and two partially used boxes of matches. I was going to say that at least we have duct tape, but John corrected me. What we actually have is several rolls of clear plastic tape, suitable for mailing packages.

Please do the Assignment this week if you get a chance - and watch out for scammers!

Karen

Watch This Space

Due to the paid work I've been doing all night (webmastering and newsletter editing), I'm unable to post the new Weekend Assignment tonight. Fear not, however: it will be posted on Friday evening this week, and will return to its usual Thursday night scheduling next week. Thanks for your patience.

K.

Weekend Assignment #362: Emergency!

A number of recent events in the news have reminded us that life isn't always safe and predictable. I don't want to trivialize those events for a Weekend Assignment, but I will ask a related question:

Weekend Assignment #362: Emergency!

How prepared are you for emergency situations? Do you know how to do CPR? Does your home or business have an evacuation plan or do fire drills? Do you have a generator, duct tape, candles, first aid kit, fire extinguisher, sandbags or other emergency supplies on hand? Why or why not?

Extra Credit: Does your smoke detector (if you have one) have fresh batteries in it?

You know how this works, right?

• You have until next Wednesday night to answer this question in your blog or in the comments below. 
• If you do participate, please leave a comment here with your name and the URL of your entry.
• Don't forget to link back to here in the entry itself. 

That's all there is to it!

Last week, for Weekend Assignment #361: Give It Up!, I asked what, if anything, you've ever abstained from for Lent or some other spiritual purpose. Click on the names below to read the responses:

Anne wrote...

Back in the day, I gave up French Fries every year for Lent. It was a good one for me because it was something that I enjoyed enough to make it a sacrifice, but not such a deprivation that I was twitching two weeks in - like those people that give up caffeine. I considered it participating in a tradition that many of my friends and colleagues valued, and it was good for my health.

Karen wrote...

One year, I gave up playing Mahjong on the computer for Lent. It was one of the games on a Disney Mulan software package, and I'd become quite addicted. Giving it up cold turkey was a really good thing to do. Did it bring me closer to God? I'm not sure, but I certainly don't regret my choice that year.

There are also some fascinating and varied responses on beliefnet. Have a look!

Please do the Assignment this week if you get a chance - and stay safe!

Karen

See also: Red Cross Save-a-Life Saturday