DanielNester.com

Send in your topic/word/idea! I’ll even attribute and link to you if you want. A full explanation of the project appears below.

1. May 15 Notes on Stamps [suggested by BB]
2. May 16 Notes on Carbs [suggested by ME Griffith]
3. May 17 Notes on Email [suggested by Bryan Furuness]
4. May 18 Notes on Snakes [suggested by "Melissa S"]
5. May 19 Notes on False Modesty [suggested by "Melissa S"]
6. May 20 Notes on Robert Plant’s Hair [suggested by Mike Hotter]
7. May 21 Notes on Beyoncé [suggested by ME Griffith]
8. May 22 Notes on the Oxford Comma [suggested by Matt Klein]
9. May 23 Notes on Anxiety [suggested by Bridgett Williams-Searle]
10. May 24 Notes on Toilet Paper [suggested by Jim McNaughton]
11. May 25 Notes on Coffee Mugs [suggested by Eric Auld]
12. May 26 Notes on Lamp
13. May 27 Notes on CSI Miami [suggested by Matt Perez]
14. May 28 Notes on Cheese [suggested by T.V. Hartmann]
15. May 29 Notes on Tramp Stamps
16. May 30 Notes on YOLO [suggested by Erin Fitzgerald]
17. May 31 Notes on Op-Eds Masquerading as Essays [suggested by Sean H Doyle]
18. June 1 Notes on Twee
19. June 2 Notes on Moorlyn Terrace [suggested by Eric Schnorr]
20. June 3 Notes on My Mother [it's her birthday]
21. June 4 Notes on Beach Vacations [suggested by Bridgett Williams-Searle]
22. June 5 Notes on Daughters [suggested by ME Griffith]
23. June 6 Notes On Early Adopters [suggested by "Melissa S"]
24. June 7 Notes on Batman [suggested by "Melissa S"]
25. June 8 Notes on Vamp
26. June 9 Notes on Brave Writing [suggested by David Barringer]
27. June 10 Notes on U2 [suggested by Eric Schnorr]
28. June 11 Notes on Francophilia [suggested by Eric Auld]
29. June 12 Notes on Jesus [suggested by Molly Wellman]
30. June 13 Notes on Feet [suggested by Randy Howard]
31. June 14 Notes on Slap Bass [suggested by Thomas Beller]
32. June 15 Notes on Tofu [suggested by Tess Taylor]
33. June 16 Notes on Pinball Machines [suggested by Eric Schnorr]
34. June 17 Notes on Poetry/Book Readings [suggested by Alex Tunney]
35. June 18 Notes on Sizzurp [suggested by Tom Stebbins]
36. June 19 Notes on Unicorns [suggested by James Smith]
37. June 20 Notes on Car Washes [suggested by Eric Schnorr and Mari L'esperance]
38. June 21 Notes in Treble
39. June 22 Notes on Ass [suggested by Renae Jacquelyn Challender]
40. June 23 Notes on Flash Gordon
41. June 24 Notes on Nostalgia [suggested by Justin Taylor]
42. June 25 Notes on old media and the Misrecognition of Technology [suggested by Jason Schneiderman]
43. June 26 Notes on Bitch [suggested by Colin Challender]
44. June 27 Notes on Steely Dan [suggested by Ernest Hilbert]
45. June 28
46. June 29 Notes on Grad Students [suggested by Eric Auld]
47. June 30 Notes on Bourbon and Bacon as a Flavor Paring [suggested by Eric LeMay]
48. July 1 Notes on Post-Its  [suggested by Blaise Allysen Kearsley]
49. July 2
50. July 3
51. July 4 Notes on John Mellencamp
52. July 5
53. July 6
54. July 7 Notes on Nincompoops [suggested by Rob O'Neill]
55. July 8 Notes on Nudity [suggested by Matt Klein]
56. July 9
57. July 10
58. July 11
59. July 12
60. July 13 Notes on Night Classes [suggested by Bryan Furuness]
61. July 14
62. July 15 Notes on Noir [suggested by Penny Perkins]
63. July 16
64. July 17
65. July 18
66. July 19 Notes on Popes [suggested by Colin Challender]
67. July 20 Notes on Pity [suggested by Eric LeMay]
68. July 21
69. July 22
70. July 23
71. July 24 Notes on Nester [suggested by Rob O'Neill]
72. July 25 Notes on Public Transportation [suggested by Alex Tunney]
73. July 26 Notes on Typewriters [suggested by Bridgett Williams-Searle]
74. July 27
75. July 28 Notes on The Golden Mean [suggested by Eric LeMay]
76. July 29
77. July 30
78. July 31
79. August 1
80. August 2
81. August 3
82. August 4
83. August 5 Notes on Nebbish [suggested by Penny Perkins]
84. August 6 Notes on Feet [suggested by Randy Howard]
85. August 7
86. August 8
87. August 9
88. August 10
89. August 11
90. August 12 Notes on Not Being a Poet [suggested by Kaya Oakes]
91. August 13 Notes on Hand Sanitizer [suggested by Christoph Paul]
92. August 14 Notes on Smoking [suggested by Blaise Allysen Kearsley]
93. August 15
94. August 16 Notes on Skate Punks from the 1980′s  [suggested by Blaise Allysen Kearsley]
95. August 17 Notes on Squirrels [suggested by Molly Wellman]
96. August 18 Notes on Fatherhood [suggested by Taylor Mali]
97. August 19
98. August 20
99. August 21 Notes on Notes [suggested by Jamie Sue Lucia Ferrell]

Notes, Suggested Topics

deep time, Sir Francis Bacon [suggested by Eric LeMay]

“Notes on Systems of Notation”
- “Notes on Knots” / “Notes on ‘Nots’”
- “Notes on Nottingham”
- “Notes on Nukes”
- “Notes on Alliteration”

– [suggested by Penny Perkins]

Notes on Minor Chords — Matt Klein

KITTENS!

Notes on Performance Art.Notes on/in Crayon

Explanation

Each day for ninety-nine days this spring and summer, I’m going to write “Notes on” prose piece, blog post, or essay or meditation or whatever you want to call it, on a specific word.

The schedule appears here.

This project is obviously inspired by Susan Sontag’s essay “Notes on ‘Camp,’” which I love.

It’s also partly out of a need for structure.

I need deadlines.At least when it comes to writing. I can’t just sit down and write. I need to be there for a reason. I need a topic, a theme.

During the summer, especially since switching over to working as a full-time teaching, I often get lost, blocked-up, amorphous. Don’t get me wrong: I love teaching, I love my job. And although the stereotype of professors doing nothing during the summer months isn’t entirely true—I planned my reading series and classes and ran a grad programs last summer alone, for example—the truth is I do the best work when I have a project with both an end and start date. I need structure and I also love taking notes.

It’s also inspired by my students, after I assigned them to write their own “Notes on ‘Camp’” essays last fall. The results were really impressive, especially by the freshman, who had not yet been indoctrinated with paperese-faux-scholarly tendencies in their other classes.

The ninety-nine days starts May 15 and ends on August 21. I’m going to blog like it’s 1999! For Ninety-Nine Days of Notes On, or NINDONO, I’ve also set up parameters and rules.

Here goes:

Consistent titles. The post will always be called “Notes on [X].”

Suggested, mapped-out topics. I’ve put out a call for what the X will be in the “Notes on ‘X’” posts and make a public schedule. Leave them in the comments here or email them to me at danielnester [at] gmail [dot com]. Some shuffling of X’s will have to happen, but I like the idea of publicly listing what I am going to write about, and when it will happen.

At least 500 words a day, in the main part of the post. That may not sound like a lot, but keep in mind I plan on doing this every day. If I feel compelled to update or edit a post later, that’s great (yay for me!), but it doesn’t count toward the 500.

“Leftovers” are fine but it doesn’t apply to the word count. If I wanted to add a little life updates, or other stuff to a daily post, I’ll do it. But if it’s not about the Notes On topic, it goes on the end of the post under the heading of “Leftovers” and it doesn’t count as part of the main post’s word count. This last part of the rule is particularly cruel.

No “Shameless Self-Promotion” posts. I have lots of projects and books, things I want to happen and things that will never see their way into the world. You’re supposed to promote yourself on your blog or website or platform, and I’m OK with that. But it doesn’t’ count for NINDONO post; it goes into the “Leftovers” section, if at all.

No “Scrapbooking Posts.” I tend to post old photos with, like, one sentence, or post up some horrid piece of writing from high school. That’s too easy. No easy stuff.

No posts about (only) about my kids or my wife. I have a beautiful wife and two super-cute daughters, aged 5 and 3. They’re cute. Like, really cute. I could go on and on about them forever. I won’t do that to you. I might mention them, but if it’s just about them about not about the Notes On topic, it goes into the Leftovers.

Also: Wife, older daughter and younger daughter will be referred to, respectively, as Wifey, M and B.

I guess those are more like restrictions than rules, but that’s what I can come up with. More ideas will follow. As I write this, it all sounds so old school, so “remember when we used to blog every day.” That’s one the idea behind this. The other is just to write something new every day for 99 days.

Each day for ninety-nine days this spring and summer, I’m going to write “Notes on” prose piece, blog post, or essay or meditation or whatever you want to call it, on a specific word.

The schedule appears here.

This project is obviously inspired by Susan Sontag’s essay “Notes on ‘Camp,’” which I love.

It’s also partly out of a need for structure.

I need deadlines.At least when it comes to writing. I can’t just sit down and write. I need to be there for a reason. I need a topic, a theme.

During the summer, especially since switching over to working as a full-time teaching, I often get lost, blocked-up, amorphous. Don’t get me wrong: I love teaching, I love my job. And although the stereotype of professors doing nothing during the summer months isn’t entirely true—I planned my reading series and classes and ran a grad programs last summer alone, for example—the truth is I do the best work when I have a project with both an end and start date. I need structure and I also love taking notes.

It’s also inspired by my students, after I assigned them to write their own “Notes on ‘Camp’” essays last fall. The results were really impressive, especially by the freshman, who had not yet been indoctrinated with paperese-faux-scholarly tendencies in their other classes.

The ninety-nine days starts May 15 and ends on August 21. I’m going to blog like it’s 1999! For Ninety-Nine Days of Notes On, or NINDONO, I’ve also set up parameters and rules.

Here goes:

Consistent titles. The post will always be called “Notes on [X].”

Suggested, mapped-out topics. I’ve put out a call for what the X will be in the “Notes on ‘X’” posts and make a public schedule. Leave them in the comments here or email them to me at danielnester [at] gmail [dot com]. Some shuffling of X’s will have to happen, but I like the idea of publicly listing what I am going to write about, and when it will happen.

At least 500 words a day, in the main part of the post. That may not sound like a lot, but keep in mind I plan on doing this every day. If I feel compelled to update or edit a post later, that’s great (yay for me!), but it doesn’t count toward the 500.

“Leftovers” are fine but it doesn’t apply to the word count. If I wanted to add a little life updates, or other stuff to a daily post, I’ll do it. But if it’s not about the Notes On topic, it goes on the end of the post under the heading of “Leftovers” and it doesn’t count as part of the main post’s word count. This last part of the rule is particularly cruel.

No “Shameless Self-Promotion” posts. I have lots of projects and books, things I want to happen and things that will never see their way into the world. You’re supposed to promote yourself on your blog or website or platform, and I’m OK with that. But it doesn’t’ count for NINDONO post; it goes into the “Leftovers” section, if at all.

No “Scrapbooking Posts.” I tend to post old photos with, like, one sentence, or post up some horrid piece of writing from high school. That’s too easy. No easy stuff.

No posts about (only) about my kids or my wife. I have a beautiful wife and two super-cute daughters, aged 5 and 3. They’re cute. Like, really cute. I could go on and on about them forever. I won’t do that to you. I might mention them, but if it’s just about them about not about the Notes On topic, it goes into the Leftovers.

Also: Wife, older daughter and younger daughter will be referred to, respectively, as Wifey, M and B.

I guess those are more like restrictions than rules, but that’s what I can come up with. More ideas will follow. As I write this, it all sounds so old school, so “remember when we used to blog every day.” That’s one the idea behind this. The other is just to write something new every day for 99 days.