Lazy Sunday CXXXIV: Best Ponty Posts of 2023

After posting my best posts of 2023 last week, it occurred to me that my loyal guest contributors deserved some love.  Ergo, I decided to put together a “Best Guest Posts of 2023” post.

As I began going through the top three most-viewed guest contributions, however, I realized they all belonged to Ponty/Always a Kid for Today, one of the greatest and most stalwart champions of this humble blog.  As such, I’m dedicating this edition of Lazy Sunday to his three best posts of 2023.

Some disclaimers:  “best” is purely quantitative, based on view count.  Of course, Ponty’s work is always qualitatively excellent, too.  Also, the posts had to be published in 2023.  The numbers are based on when I checked them, which was 31 December 2023 (the perfect time to review the last year’s numbers!).

So, without further ado, here are Ponty’s three best posts of 2023:

Happy Sunday—and Happy New Year!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXXIII: The Best of 2023

The old year is waning, with just a few hours left.  What will 2024 hold?  Will yours portly expand to his greatest heights—and girth—yet?  Or will I fly too close to the sun on my beautiful hot dog wings?

The future is full of mystery, but the past is a done deal.  2023 was, like any year, one full of ups and downs.  As the old year passes away, I’d like to focus on the ups—the “best” posts of 2023.

I put “best” in scare quotes because I am basing that assessment purely on quantitative performance, not the relative qualitative merits of the posts.

These three posts had the highest views as of 15 December 2023, when I put this post together.  I also excluded pieces from guest contributors (many of which, notably those from Ponty, had higher views than the second and third pieces here).  Finally, the posts had to be published in 2023.

With those preliminaries out of the way, here are the top three best posts of 2023:

Happy Sunday—and Happy New Year!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXXII: Christmas Concert Reviews

The major professional highlight of the Christmas season for yours portly is the annual Christmas Concert at school, a time-honored tradition that is frequently honored in the breach (leave a comment and I’ll explain what I mean by that).  It’s a huge undertaking for myself and my students, but when everything clicks, it makes for a truly magical experience.

Here are past posts about Christmas concerts from 2021-2023:

Happy Sunday—and Merry Christmas!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXXI: Chapel Lessons, Part II

It’s another Lazy Sunday, and another look back at some of my short chapel devotionals:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXX: Chapel Lessons, Part I

Sometimes I fill in for our chaplain at school, which I always treat as a humbling opportunity to share some bit of biblical wisdom with our students.  I can only pray these seeds fall onto fertile soil and bear fruit:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXIX: Civilization Series

Yours portly is in the midst of his busy Christmas performance season, and wistfully dreams of blowing hours of his life conquering the world as various historical leaders.  I haven’t had much time for world conquering, but I’ve certainly written about the legendary Civilization games for years now.  Here are my posts about this beloved franchise:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXVIII: 2023 Releases

It’s been a prolific year for short-form electronic composing for yours portly.  I’ve released three albums and/or EPs in the past three months:  Spooky SeasonSpooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids, and Leftovers.  They’re all available on Bandcamp, but also on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, etc.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXVII: Indie Musician Rants

I’ve been in a mood lately—a mood of laying everything out there and being even more candid that usual.  That’s manifested itself in some recent posts, in which I’ve ranted and vented about the trials, the tribulations, and the smells of being an indie musician:

  • Sleep!” – A bit of a downer of a post, in which I contemplated shuttering the blog.  Only one person commented, so I suppose this cry for help and/or desperate ploy at getting attention failed.
  • Spotify Theft: Another Indie Musician’s Rant” – The main response to this post was, “sorry, I don’t stream music.”  Well, perhaps none of us should now that Spotify is stealing royalties from small artists like me (or will be starting in 2024).
  • Confessions of a Frustrated Creator” – A post detailing some of the frustrations that I and, I imagine, many artists face.

But, hey, who cares about art when we can have debates over the marginal tax credit and how much money to send overseas?

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXVI: Veterans Day Posts II

Yours portly has been run ragged lately.  It’s a bad sign when I’m unable to get Lazy Sunday posts written two weeks in a row.  We’re getting into the busy season for events at school, and setting up lighting and sound equipment with a broken ankle does not make it any easier (although I must note that I have had tons more help than usual with these tasks, and I have been blown away with the outpouring of charitable good cheer from my colleagues, administration, and fellow students).

I slept around twelve hours Friday night into Saturday morning, and apparently, it was exactly what I needed.  That doesn’t make for keeping up with a writing schedule, but it sure helped with my overall health.

But today’s post isn’t about yours portly.  It’s about remembering those who have served our nation in our armed forces.  Each year I reblog a Veterans Day post from 2018.  It might be one of the best public addresses I’ve ever given.

Here are all of the Veterans Day posts going back to 2018:

There you have it, folks.  Thanks to everyone who has served, and a huge thanks for those who have given their lives in the line of duty.  No mere blog post can do justice to the depth of your devotion.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXXV: Ghostly Doings

Spooky season is in full swing, and yours portly couldn’t be happier.  This time of year always draws out spooky fun, and there’s been quite a bit of it here on the blog.  As such, I thought it’d be worth dedicating an edition of Lazy Sunday to some ghostly doings:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments: