It is only mid-November, but I have already broken last year’s record in terms of both the number of pieces and the number of words written. In other words, I have a month and a half to achieve a new and soaring record. But I sincerely hope it will be my last. This year I have let myself ramble on and on about everything under the sun just to see what will come out. It has been an experiment of sorts. And I have been my own humble subject. It will take me a while to digest the experiment’s results, but one thing that surprises me to date is the number of pieces written about worldly affairs—mainly economics and politics, but also climate change and history. There have been quite a few such pieces, and they have come along nearly every day. Purportedly, I could not care less about such topics, but the results show otherwise. Be that as it may, next year will be different. Neither the number of pieces nor the number of words written will be in my focus any longer. If I have nothing to say, I will remain quiet. The new challenge.

Addendum I (December 10, 2012)

Amazingly, I realized only today, a full month after this piece was written, that one of my writing records remains unbroken this year: the number of addenda written. I wrote many more both in 2000 and 2001. And this will thus remain a challenge in the years to come. For better or worse, the addenda yet to be written will perforce have to do with my own humble self. And how. Retracing my steps in terms of content analysis will perhaps be yet another distraction, but I cannot imagine having the strength to push it aside.

Addendum II (February 12, 2017)

In retrospect, this piece and the first addendum strike me as no less than ridiculous. Five years ago, I had no idea of the records ahead. And there were many, indeed. What is more, some of them were stunning by comparison with the time this piece was written. Luckily, all records are squarely behind me by now. The number of pieces and addenda, as well as the number of words written, will only dwindle from year to year in the years to come. And they will keep dwindling until I reach the numbers that marked the early years of my writing project. If there will be any records in the meanwhile, they will be records in reverse. The less I write, the merrier I will be. And my own humble subject will be dwindling and dwindling along the way…