The Future of Silliness is Ours

Dear Ministry of Silly Blogs Staff,

Now that the Month of NaBloPoMo Silliness has Officially drawn to a close (at least in most Time Zones), many of you may be Wondering what is to Become of the Ministry of Silly Blogs. I am quite Pleased to say, with both Seriousness and Silliness, that the Ministry of Silly Blogs will Continue into the Future. We at the Ministry believe that there is a Great Future for Silliness, especially in the Realm of Blogging, and we are Committed to Continuing to Promote and Celebrate such Silliness.

As the Future of the NaBloPoMo Ning Group is Uncertain, all Official Ministry Business shall Henceforth be conducted via the Official Ministry of Silly Blogs Blog. Questions about the Ministry of Silly Blogs, or about Silliness in General, can also be addressed via email to ministryofsillyblogs AT yahoo DOT com . Other communication may be attempted by Semaphore, Smoke Signals, or Miming, but results may Vary.

For those of you who have not yet claimed an Official Ministry of Silly Blogs Job Title, many Positions are Still Available. Details about this Process can be found on the page called The Official Staff of the Ministry of Silly Blogs.

We at the Ministry had hoped to provide Frequent and Regular posts of Links of Silliness, but the High Demands of NaBloPoMo blog-related Reading and Writing left us less time that we had hoped for such a task. It is therefore hoped that once the Frenzied Pace of November is behind us, we can Continue to Promote Silliness at a More Leisurely Pace. We would like to offer some Retrospective Posts to highlight the Blogging Silliness that has Happened over the Past Month.

If you wish to Submit links to your Own Silly Posts of the Past Month, please leave the Links (along with your Official Job Title, if you have such a thing) in the Comments for this, or any other recent post. Links for other Silliness that you have Encountered and Admired are also Always Welcome.

As always, we wish you Much Silliness.

Sincerely Silly,

The Chief Minister of Silliness
The Ministry of Silly Blogs
(aka alejna)

The Measure of Silly

The Head of Ministry Intelligence, Wit and Goofiness has brought to our Attention an important an important Link of Silliness: a Quiz that Claims to Measure Silliness.

As we at the Ministry are Self-Proclaimed Experts in Silliness (and likely in Other Areas of Expertise as well), I call upon you to Evaluate this Quiz in terms of both its Inherent Silliness and its Capacity for Silliness Evaluation.

Participation in this Action is Strictly Mandatory for all Ministry Members who currently, at this time, or at present have a Duck, Lobster or Lampshide positioned atop their Heads. For Ministry Members who do not meet these or other Criteria, participation in this action is Strictly Voluntary.

Silly Posts from the Staff of the Ministry of Silly Blogs

Having finally gotten up off our Metaphorical Lazy Ass, we at the Ministry are Quite Pleased to Finally be able to Offer to a Very Fine Selection of Silliness that has been posted in the Blogs of our Official Ministry Staff (and Perhaps in the Blogs of Official Ministry Onlookers):

• Chairperson of the Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party (aka srah) offers a Terribly Silly Neologism, as well as Her Shockingly Silly Results from a Very Silly Quiz. The Esteemed Chairperson of the SatBDSaLSP additionally offers the following Archival Silliness:
  Conversations in my mind
  Will somebody get this scantily-clad carpet out of my way?
  X-Men 4: The Last Lemonade and Cupcake Stand

We have also had a Variety of Excellent Submissions of Silliness from Various Untitled Members (or On-looking Non-members) of the Ministry of Silly Blogs, who Should Really consider Getting an Official Ministry Job Title:

• citystreets of inner citings Proudly Proclaims: “Silly things are happening all around me, you see,” and offers the following Supporting Evidence. Also offered is a description of a Silly Culinary Activity involving Shrieking in Horror as one of its Various Steps.
• Maricello of Cello Centered contributes Deliciously Silly instructions for How to Draw a Cello.
• Pixelation of A Pixelated Mind Ponders the Following Silly Topics:
  

  I wonder what Jack Bauer does on his off time.
  I bet he grooms prize-winning poodles. Wouldn’t that be a shocking twist?

  …and also submits the post Things I do that Jack Bauer doesn’t.

• The Director of the Bureau of Investigations of Particularly Silly Phenomena (aka fireweaver offers Prettifying Progress, a post in that makes reference to some Particularly Silly Phenomena.
• Smiler of From Smiler, With Love offers a
  

  I am concerned that I may not have sent you sufficient material. Should you require more I’ll be sure to give you very bad directions which are bound to get you lost which is a good thing because then I won’t have to tell you. To get lost that is. Which we wouldn’t want so please don’t say I haven’t sent enough, will you? (or should that be: “won’t you”?)

  Randomly Weird Stuff
  Do you have a Chorus of Fish Singing in Antarctica?
  The old woman and the toad
  “Clean is Happy”
  Re: “I think I’m in LOve.”
  My Russian Mail-Order Wife
  “Men are like cats”

Thank you to all who submitted these fine links. A Selection of other links, such as the Many Fine Links to Silly Websites, will Happen at Some Point.

We Bring to you More Officially Silly Job Titles

The Director General of Generally Indirect Silliness (aka Nerevised) offers to us a link to a News Article on a Topic that is Near and Dear to Our Collective Hearts here at the Ministry: Silly Job Titles.

On a Similar Topic, We are most Pleased to Announce that an Additional 6 members of our Staff have Claimed Official Job Titles:

Second Assistant Minister of Silliness: Jonny of Out Of Hans

Head of Ministry Intelligence, Wit and Goofiness: ThePearLady of Slices from the Pearlady

Director of Pastafarian Outreach: Cobwebs of The Art of Darkness

Deputy Chief of Goofiness: Mistress Snarkypants of Snarkypants

Exceptionally Imposing Figurehead with No Actual Responsibilities: Katstuff of Just Katstuff

Grand Secretariat of Bureaucrazy: laura of at home. together

For those who remain Untitled, and Desire a Title, please see the Officially Silly Instructions at the bottom of the Page Entitled “The Official Staff of the Ministry of Silly Blogs.” (There you will also find the Entire Titled Staff of the Ministry of Silly Blogs. If you have Claimed a Title and you do Not see Your Name or Title Listed, or should you Discover some other Error or Omission, it is most Likely due to Error on the Part of the Chief Minister of Silliness, whose Many and Varied Responsibilities have recently been known to keep her from the Realm of Silliness more Often than She would Like. Please Just Send her a Gentle Reminder by Email or Comments, or perhaps send her a Scone. She is Quite Fond of Baked Goods.)

Additionally, Three of our Ranks have expressed interest in Assuming positions of Moderate Responsibility (or at least Moderately Silly Responsibility), involving the Highly Coveted Level of Official Co-Authors of the Ministry of Silly Blogs. More information about these Exiciting Developments will arrive Shortly. (Or at least at Some Point in the Foreseeable Future.)

Seeking Officially Silly Co-authors

Dearest and Silliest Ministry Staff Members,

I have Mentioned Previously that We at the Ministry would Greatly Welcome Persons who would like to be Official Co-authors of the Official Ministry of Silly Blogs Blog.

Veronica, Our Chief Silliness Advisor, has asked the important question about the Potential Position of Official Co-author: “Does that involve real work?”

Ah, that all depends on what you consider “Real Work.”

I can without any Qualms, solemnly swear that Co-author Positions at the Ministry of Silly Blogs do not currently, Just Now, or at the Present Time, Entail, nor are they expected to Entail at Any Point in the Foreseeable Future, any of the Following:

1. Scrubbing Toilets
2. Operating Heavy Machinery
3. Digging Trenches, Wells, Pits or Holes of any Dimension
4. Motivational Speaking to Auditoriums Full of Bored Adolescents
5. Trapping Wild Animals
6. Remuneration

Positions of Official Co-authorship are Expected to Involve the following:

1. Verifying that Submitted Links of Silliness Adhere to the Official Criteria to Determine the Silliness of Websites
2. Posting LInks of Silliness, ideally with Some Sort of Brief Description of their Silliness
3. Participating in the Establishment of Official Criteria to Determine the Silliness of Websites
4. Writing with Excessive Use of Capitalization

Additionally, Co-Author positions offer the following Optional Possibilities:

1. Potential for Advancement in the areas of Personal Silliness Development
2. The Posting or Cross-Posting of Original Silly Content
3. Replying to Comments on Posts of Silliness
4. Scouring the Internets, with Particular Focus on the Blogosphere, for Silly Content Worthy of Ministry Attention
5. Chuckling, Chortling, Giggling, Guffawing, Snickering, Snorting, Snarfing, or (in limited Contexts) Cackling
6. Noodling

Please Note that the Above Lists are not meant to be Exhaustive of the Possibilities for any of the Above Categories. There are many Additional Duties which Would Not be Expected to be Performed.

If you are interested in taking on this Adventure with Me, please send an email to:
ministryofsillyblogs at yahoo dot com

Sincerely,
The Chief Minister of Silliness

p.s. Thanks to Many of You for your Extraordinarily Silly Links. We will be posting them Shortly, once we can Muster sufficient Motivation to get up off our Metaphorical Ass and sort through the Silliness.

More Ministry Staffing Updates

I would like to take the Opportunity to Welcome 4 our latest Ministry Staff Members to have Selected Official Ministry Job Titles:

Chief Undersecretary of Imbecilic Images: city girl of Country Girl/ City Girl

Secretary General of the Department of Nomadic Housing and Landscape Design: Bashirs_Momma of Basenji Boy

Attache to the Institute of Silly Queer Blogs of Fabulousity, Sarcasm, Wit and Unapologetic Debauchery: ink2metal of ink2metal works it out

Deputy Chief of Goofiness: Mistress Snarkypants of Snarkypants

Along with the 5 Positions Filled as of the last Staffing Update and the 18 Positions Filled Previously, that brings our Grand Total to the Total that can be Arrived at by adding those Numbers to the Number of Positions Filled in this Post.

If you do not have an Official Ministry Job Title, Please Request one Posthaste.

How to Apply for or Accept or Create a Job Title:
You are welcome to choose from among the Job Titles listed on the Previous Staffing Update, or are invited to Designate a Job Title of your own Creation. (Or if you would like to add to the list of Job Titles for others to choose from.) If you would like to have a Job Title assigned to you at random, I will Happily assign one to you. If you have a Job Title listed, but would like to change it, let me know.

It would be most helpful to me if you would send the following information to the Ministry
( ministryofsillyblogs at yahoo.com ):
1. your name (as you would like to be listed)
2. your blog name (as you would like it to be listed)
3. your full blog URL
4. your desired Job Title (and possibly an alternate Job Title)

More Updates are coming Soon. Or Soonish.

Official Silliness Updates

I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, but I’m afraid my blog has become rather sillier recently, and so it takes me rather longer to get to work.¹

Many thanks to those of you who have left Comments, Emailed, Applied for Positions, and/or Submitted Silly Links for the Ministry of Silly Blogs. I feel extraordinarily Humbled to be a Part of such a Silly Group. Also Extraordinarily Silly. Another Post of Officially Silly Links will be Posted posthaste. Or at least relatively soonish.

We at the Ministry of Silly Blogs would like to encourage all Staff Members of the Ministry of Silly Blogs to submit posts of their own Silliness, in order to properly Highlight the Extreme Silliness of our Group Members, and thus of our Group. We would like to regularly post a List of Silly Posts of the Past Week or So. Additionally, we welcome Archival Posts of Silliness.

The Official Ministry of Silly Blogs NaBloPoMo group now boasts 48 Silly Members. And We at the Ministry do indeed like to Boast, especially where Silliness is Concerned.

We are pleased to report that 5 More Official Ministry Positions have been filled and/or created by Ministry Staff Members. Please welcome to our Ranks the following:

Secretary of Defense Against Squirrels: Ashley of If You Can’t Do Something Smart…

Chief Mistress of Leprechauns, Oompa Loompas, and Hobbits: Rach of Rachelskirts

Director General of Generally Indirect Silliness: Nerevised of kiwi countdown

Adjutant for Silliness Education, Indoctrination, and the Letter P: Bee of welikeplay

Chief of Staff: Anitra of I Love a Kiwi

In addition, 18 Official Positions had been filled at the time of our Last Official Update. Thus, there are now 23 Official Ministry Positions filled from among the 48 total group member. If my Arithmetic is Correct, this means that there are approximately 327 more members currently eligible for Official Ministry Job Titles. If you are among the Untitled Individuals, you may want to consider choosing a title from the list below, or creating your own title from the Mysterious Workings of your own Silly Mind. (For details on how to apply for a position, please refer to the previous Staffing Update.)

The Following Positions are still Accepting Applicants, including some Newly Added Silly Positions:
Minister of Internal Exterior Organization
Director of the Special Task Force on Mimes
Exceptionally Imposing Figurehead with No Actual Responsibilities
Deputy Chief of Goofiness
Head of Ministry Intelligence, Wit and Sarcasm
Supremely Powerful Director of the Department of Job Title Assignment
She/He Whose Job Title Shall Not Be Named
Second Assistant Minister of Silliness
Semi-Permanent Under-secretary
Undersecretary to the Third Assistant Minister of Silly Blogginess
Head of the Department of Jokes Involving Gerbils, Hamsters, and Other Small Mammals
Chief Investigator of Squid Intelligence
Curator of the Museum of Silliness
First Director of Secondary Silliness
Second Director of Primary Silliness
Silliness Liaison
Attache to the Undersecretary of Attaches
Chief Noodler (title suggested by the Director General of Generally Indirect Silliness)
Position of Pseudoscientific Quacktackery Attache (title suggested by the Director of the Bureau of Investigations of Particularly Silly Phenomena)

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¹ Actually, it’s not so much the Silliness, as the Quantity. I have added an Intimidating Large Number of Blogs to my feed reader for NaBloPoMo. And what’s worse, these are blogs that are showing new posts Every Single Damn Day. Sometimes even more than one post. Curse you, Prolific Bloggers! Seriously, if any of you want to join in as an Official Co-author, that would be Swell.

Silly Links of the Past Day or So

I am pleased to report that many Staff Members of the Ministry of Silly Blogs have been busy at the task of identifying Silliness on the Web, and Bringing Such Silliness to Our Attention.

Firstly, or in no particular order, the Esteemed Director of the Bureau of Investigations of Particularly Silly Phenomena (aka fireweaver “…humbly offer[s] the peeps research site. it was a big hit back in vet school, especially the surgical procedure.”

Secondly, or Subsequently, though not sequentially, The Director of Silly Quality Control (aka Sassy) has submitted the following:

This just in : The Silliness Quality Control Counsel has officially deemed the webstie Catprin as outstandingly silly.

And Finally, though likely not Terminally, The Chairman of the Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party (aka srah) brings to our attention the following: stuff on my cat .com (“In case there’s anyone who hasn’t seen this yet”)

And Lastly, and Primarily, the above Chairman offers Lord of the Pants, which warms me to the the very core of my own pants-loving heart.

Administrative note: I would like to encourage the submission of Silly Links to be made via the comments here at the Official Ministry Blog. The reason for this is the Laziness of the Chief Minister, who finds it easier to retrieve, identify and properly attribute comments found here, as the NaBloPoMo group site does not provide immediate links to the Submitters of the posts.

Official Staffing Update (and a Conflict of Pants)

I am Pleased to announce that many Staff Members of the Ministry of Silly Blogs have claimed or created Official Ministry Job Titles. Thank you for your various applications, which I received via Email, Comments, and Smoke Signal. If you applied for a Position, and do not see yourself on the List Below, please let the Ministry know via Email (ministrofsillyblogs.yahoo.com), Comments or Singing Telegram.

At Present, our Ministry Staff looks Thusly:

Chief Minister of Sillines: alejna of collecting tokens

Minister of Silly Socks: Celtic Angel of Celticangel.org

Undersecretary of Fun: Jessi of The Quirky World of Jessi

Director of Silly Quality Control: Sassy of eye heart internet

Director of Everything Else: Magpie of Magpie Musing

Super Secret Minister of Public Affairs: Evil Pink Cupcake of Evil Pink Cupcake

Director of the Bureau of Investigations of Particularly Silly Phenomena: fireweaver of laboratory tested¹

Grand Ambassador of Canadian Silliness and Such: Pamplemousse of French for Grapefruit

Chief of Stuff: azahar of casa az

Director of Chortles: merrymishaps of merry mishaps

Oversecretary of Underpants: Sarcastic Mom, aka Lotus, of Sarcastic Mom

Grand Poobah: Madame Meow of A Daily Dose of Zen Sarcasm

Chairman, Standing at the Back Dressed Stupidly and Looking Stupid Party: srah of srah blah blah

Chief Mistress of Leprechauns, Oompa Loompas, and Hobbits: Rach of Rachelskirts

Chief Silliness Advisor: Veronica of Sleepless Nights

Very Important Personage Whose Job is Somewhat Mysterious: Calliope of Silliness.org

Other Very Important Personage Whose Job is Somewhat Mysterious: Erika of DRY Ink (This title is pending, depending on the ending decided by the Applicant, which doesn’t rhyme with ending)

Additionally, the position of Eighth Minister of Pants has been claimed by urban pedestrian of urban pedestrian, who has made the following announcement.

Greetings, I would like to nominate, appoint and accept myself in the postion of Eighth Minister of Pants.

Thank you

As my first official action I would like it to be known that from here on “pants” shall be known as “trousers” by one and all and designated as such in all official an unofficial documents and correspondence. Anyone not abiding by this proclamation will face severe penalties. SEVERE, I tell you! Signed, The Eighth Minister of Trousers.

As I, Chief Minister of the Ministry of Silly Blogs, have close Professional Ties with the Ministry of Pants, I fear that this issue may need to be more fully debated. Or we may have an Official Feud on our Hands.

The Following Positions are still Accepting Applicants, including some Newly Added Silly Positions:
Minister of Internal Exterior Organization
Director of the Special Task Force on Mimes
Exceptionally Imposing Figurehead with No Actual Responsibilities
Director General of Generally Indirect Silliness
Secretary of Defense Against Squirrels
Deputy Chief of Goofiness
Head of Ministry Intelligence, Wit and Sarcasm
Supremely Powerful Director of the Department of Job Title Assignment
She/He Whose Job Title Shall Not Be Named
Second Assistant Minister of Silliness
Semi-Permanent Under-secretary
Undersecretary to the Third Assistant Minister of Silly Blogginess
Head of the Department of Jokes Involving Gerbils, Hamsters, and Other Small Mammals
Chief Investigator of Squid Intelligence
Curator of the Museum of Silliness
First Director of Secondary Silliness
Second Director of Primary Silliness
Silliness Liaison
Chief of Staff
Attache to the Undersecretary of Attaches

How to Apply for or Accept a Job Title:
You are welcome to choose from among the Job Titles above, or are invited to Designate a Job Title of your own Creation. (Or if you would like to add to the list of Job Titles for others to choose from.) If you would like to have a Job Title assigned to you at random, I will Happily assign one to you. If you have a Job Title listed, but would like to change it, let me know. If you would prefer not to have a job title and/or a link from the Ministry of Silly Blogs Blog, let me know that too.

It would be most helpful to me if you would send the following information to the Ministry ( ministryofsillyblogs@yahoo.com ):
1. your name (as you would like to be listed)
2. your blog name (as you would like it to be listed)
3. your full blog URL
4. your desired Job Title (and possibly an alternate Job Title)

Additional Opportunities from The Ministry of Silly Blogs:
If you would like to be an Official Co-Author of The Official Ministry of Silly Blogs Blog, I would Welcome your Company. You would need to have a WordPress account. If you don’t have one already, you can get one lickety split from WordPress.com.

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¹ fireweaver has also suggested the alternate Position of Pseudoscientific Quacktackery Attache, which, pending her approval, may be Available for Someone Else to claim.

Ministry Approved Linkage: Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century

Nerevised of Kiwi Countdown has brought our Official Attention to the high levels of Silliness that can be found at Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century, a weblog that is “A Daily Celebration of The Golden Age of Upper Lip Hair.”

This site offers regular offerings of mustachioed imagery, which are additionally often offered with insightful commentary.

Dear Gentle Reader,
Many of the following pages have graphic and clear images of the masculine mustache in all its forms, both sublime and grotesque. My intent is not to shock or titillate, but merely to inform on the subject. The Nineteenth Century gave us many things, but above all it was a hotbed of facial hair experimentation and this is but a poor sampling of those many lost forms.