LENTEN CONTEST 2014--PICTURE THIS.

So, Lent starts today, and we all know what that means--Sure,  prayer, fasting and alms giving (or player, trapping and arms running--according to Jack McKeon ) But Lent also means it's time for the best, brightest, shiniest, most awesome blog contest EVER.  So, this year, as we all struggle with our Lenten sacrifices, (or not) there will be one daily bright spot in the glory of these forty days--this blog.  

But first, a little shout out to the best Pope ever.  I mean it.  He won't wear the Prada shoes (hey, I'll take those shoes), he doesn't live in the Papal lap of luxury, declines the popemobile, kisses the lepers, promotes real service over lip service AND in his Sunday Blessing last week, he dropped an F bomb. I swear to you, I have never been more proud to be a Catholic. (I'm not kidding--the church has gotten quite full of itself lately and our Francis is keeping it real--love, love, love it)  I know it was a mistake, I am pretty sure he didn't mean to swear, and most likely he just misspoke (but I kind of like to think that maybe now and again in private, when those pompous cardinals are getting on his nerves, he just lets it fly) For me, Pope Francis restores my faith in a church that has been way too focused on the letter rather than the spirit of the law.  I mean it when I say I feel much better about being a part of a religion headed by a guy who drops an F bomb every now and again. And thanks to the Pope's fine, fine example--Guess who's not giving up swearing for Lent this year? This f*@er.  ( I mean me…not the Pope)

http://rolandmartinreports.com/blog/2014/03/watch-pope-francis-accidentally-drops-f-bomb-in-vatican-sunday-blessing/ 


Little Aside: Has anyone else noticed that obviously it is the Year of the Francis. and that I am a little (lot) obsessed with a few Francis' these days? But really, who isn't? Pope Francis, Francis Underwood--both intriguing men of conviction and great power (I know, Francis Underwood's is fictional, but still) Sure, one's a murderer and one's the Pope, but the fact that I love them both, probably explains a whole lot about my twisted psyche. Also, one of the best people I ever knew was named Frances, Posey's middle name is Frances. And then of course, there is the Francis  from the comedy classic Stripes: (sorry about the homophobic reference--it's not mine) "Touch my stuff, I'll kill you" "Lighten up, Francis" RIP Harold Ramis. And, FYI--The cleaning lady on my floor at Notre Dame, back in the day was named Frances, too. Francis/Frances' all around!   

In the midst of my Francis obsession, I have managed to craft a new contest.  Lo, ho, ho Dear Readers, keep reading. I know, I know, I'm getting there. 

In the spirit of the Lenten Season, I will fully confess that I am shamelessly crafting this contest to drive massive amounts of traffic to the blog.  And if we all do our part, there is no reason that this blog can't have 100,000 hits by Easter Sunday.  It will be the Easter  Miracle for all of us, (or maybe just for me….but really, in the name of all things Francis, I could use one.) While I have an enormous soft spot for the original Lenten contest--The Holy and the Lowly---which I was sorely tempted to just redo, (for those of you who were not a part of our blog family back in the Holy and Lowly Days--follow this link:  http://youcantscaremeihavekids.blogspot.com/2011/03/back-with-vengeance-let-contest-begin.html ) I have a bit more pride than that--and if you recall, cheating was totally allowed and beyond rampant in the Holy and Lowly gig, which somehow never quite sat well with me. AND the scoring was a total nightmare. So, no repeat on that one.  

I also REALLY enjoyed the nerdy wordy contest.  (see it in all of it's glory AND get a chance to read --one more time-- my speech to graduates every where at: http://youcantscaremeihavekids.blogspot.com/2011/06/its-on.html ) Nerdy Wordy required a huge amount of skill (no real way to cheat, unless you stole limericks straight off the internet like a few of the contenders…not naming any names) and made me laugh all day long.  Seriously, go back and read some of the entries along the way. So, so funny.  Stacy Spracklin was a total master, if memory serves, with her one entry strategy that blew the judges away.   

So, with this new contest, my intent is to create a friendly challenge that requires some skill (but not too much), that is not super labor intensive (for me), that increases blog camaraderie ( for us all--I have sorely missed the lively banter between Judy, John, Brenna/Kim, Mrs. Sarge, Sue chi and all the others who would chatter daily on the old blog) AND that makes me laugh, during this Lenten season.  Remember that Gospel (it's one of the few that sticks with me--that and my favorite Bible verse--"Jesus wept") where Jesus told the hypocritical, garment rending, dirty faced pharisees to stop being so full of themselves during Lent? (you know you do…)  So this blog contest, and the rollicking good time that will be had by all involved, is my  little attempt to "not appear to men to be fasting"  In other words, let's put the ent(ertainment) back in Lent…

The year's Lenten contest is called Picture This…it's pretty simple. Every Thursday and Monday afternoon I will post a picture on the blog, (starting tomorrow).  It may be a photo (major potential for Big Head Nate pics just for you, Fatrick), a cartoon (just like the New Yorker), or any other random image that strikes my fancy.  And you,  Dear Readers, will provide a caption for the picture.  ON THE BLOG---NOT ON THE FACEBOOK-on the blog, please.  That's where the action, scoring and good times happen. On the blog, please.   (yes, yes, I totally stole this idea from the New Yorker, but that doesn't make it any less Lentertaining-copywrite pending...), it's just that easy…you provide captions…hopefully, funny, funny captions.  I provide prizes. You will have until 5:00pm on Friday (and Tuesday for the Monday posts) to post your captions. 

THEN, I will pick my favorite three captions, post them up and the world will be able to vote on which one they like best….I am PRAYING that people will get in the Lenten spirit of this whole thing and take the time to vote  (I tried this voting thing once before and it didn't go very well, so I'm not sure I can pull it off)--and am willing to take any advice from those of you who have any great ideas regarding getting the vote out, because it would sure be nice NOT to have to pick the winners myself. It would be even nicer to have a big bunch of voters hitting on the blog… There may be a way to incorporate the Facebook to get some real votes going but we will play it by ear for now.  Voting will stop Saturday at midnight. (Wednesday at midnight for the Monday posts) Sunday is our collective day off (Remember the Bob Giunti Rule--Sundays aren't part of Lent, so do your sinning on the Sabbath) And it starts all over again on Monday.  

Here is how the scoring works: Like Nerdy Wordy, there will be points for quantity (need those hits) and points for quality (quality always trumps quantity, just ask Stacy--it's a real smart strategy that won her a Tiffany necklace if I'm not mistaken) You will get a point for EVERY single caption you provide-as long as it is a legitimate caption-(no random cluster of words just to get the quantity points) and as long as it is on the BLOG-- BUT each caption has to be a separate comment and please try to log in and out of the blog as often as possible, so that the hits just keep on coming.  Quality points will be assigned as follows: The three favorite captions will each get 20 points. (unless the quantity points gets so skewed that we need to recalibrate)  After that, it's all up to the people.  The caption with the highest votes will get 20 points, (in addition to their quantity points) the caption with the second highest votes will get 10 points and the third place caption gets 5 points.  Does that make sense? And again, we will let this kind of play itself out…I reserve the right to tweak the system for the betterment of the contest. Be ready--photo number one will be posted tomorrow afternoon. The contest will conclude on Holy Saturday.

Now, for the prizes: In keeping with our "That's Lentertainment"(copywriter pending)  Theme, the winners will have the choice of three awesome prizes, based on almsgiving, fasting and prayer…kind of. 
Almsgiving=$100 Visa gift card--(pretty obvious) 
Fasting=A $50 Chipolte gift card plus choice items from Sugarfina
Prayer= The Tory Burch Mini Ella Canvas Tote (not to be confused with the Nylon Ella tote)--because frankly, I've been praying for one of these for quite some time.

The first place winner gets the first pick of these beauties, second place gets second pick, and so on.  Work hard, Dear Readers, and one of these gems can be yours come Easter Morning.  "Sweet Moustache!...Willikers! Harry watches kids breaking their nose cartilage on the window panes of broom stores. This IS heaven." Yes, This IS Heaven and this is Lentertainment! 

Be ready, Dear Readers. The fun begins tomorrow--look for the post. 

Today's Top Ten: 

1. Lentertainment! (copy write pending) 

2. Frederic Fekkai shampoo--it's a bit pricey, but worth it.  

3. Dunkin Donuts-I stuffed a bunch down my big yapper yesterday on Fat Tuesday. STILL waiting for the Daisy cakes--

4. Matthew McConaughey--He's smarter than he appears.  Nice speech. 

5. The Good Luck of Right Now--new book by the guy who wrote Silver Lining Playbook. Weird, but very good. 

6. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Women's Basketball Team--they are for real.  29-0 

7. France(i)s every where. 

8. Hand pulled mozzarella --great Lenten treat, when we can't eat meat.  (not much of a sacrifice) 

9. Pictures with witty captions--looking forward to a ton of them

10. Blog Contests--Here's to 100,000 hits.  

Pay attention--the first picture lands tomorrow.  You know you want that Chipolte gift card, Jamarcus.