FIRST ANNUAL? BAH, HUMBUG

I really, truly hate it when they say that the First Annual Joe Schmoe 

Memorial Fun Run will be held Saturday. We don't know if it's an annual 

event. Maybe they'll run out of money, or maybe the fun run chairman 

will run off with somebody's wife.

I don't even like second annual. To me, you don't know if it's an annual thing yet. I don't look at an event as annual until the third year. They've proven something to me by then; they're not going to give up. They have people and a plan. They're going to find another chairman if he runs off to Acapulco.

To me, the first event is inaugural, not first annual. The next year, it's the second running of Joe's fun run. The third year? It's third annual.

By then, you go, Joe.

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First annual? How do you know?

Found online: I just found the FIRST ANNUAL SARANAC REVIEW WRITING CONTEST online.

That bothers me. How do they know it will be annual? Maybe the director will run off after one contest. Maybe they won't get any entries. (I'm being facetious, of course, and I'm making a point.)

Even the second annual event isn't annual yet. But if it makes it to third annual, then it's really annual. It'll probably make it.

I would call it the INAUGURAL SARANAC REVIEW WRITING CONTEST.

I love puns: I changed my iPod's name to Titanic. It's syncing now.

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing