The doors at Woodruff’s will open at 7:00, but things won’t get started in earnest until 7:30, when I’ll attempt to say “thank you,” and try, as best that I can, to engage people in a conversation about this little online community that we’ve built, and what we’d like to do with it going forward. I’ll briefly recap where we’ve been over the past decade, and share some stats regarding our readership, but I’m hoping that, for the most part, we can just sit in a circle and talk about projects that we might want to undertake in the future, and things of that nature.

Then, at 8:00, I’ll start asking folks up on stage to talk about little things that they’ve brought to share… So, if you have something that’s interesting, even if it’s just interesting to you, please bring it along and be prepared to talk about it for a couple of minutes. (I may also ask you a question or two.) Obscure and weird things are fine, as are things that have been found in Ypsilanti. I also like childhood artifacts, obscure pop culture finds, and things with sentimental value, but absolutely anything is acceptable.

Then, at 8:30 the bands will start. Trabajabamos will go first, followed by 25 Suaves at 9:30, and Minus9 at 10:30. As I’m terrible at writing about bands, I’ll leave it to you to follow the links and decide for yourselves whether or not you’ll want to bring your ear trumpets along with you. I will say, however, that I love all three bands, and I’m super excited that they’ve all agreed to join us. [note: While I told myself that I wouldn't attempt to convey in words what these three bands sound like, I did have a discussion with Pete Larson today about what we might expect from 25 Suaves after 6 years of retirement, and, in responding, he used the phrase, "cryptofascist panty-dampening job killers." If I remember correctly, the phrase "retired rockers loudly trying not to make mistakes" was also mentioned.]

And, depending on how long the bands choose to play, we might have time between their sets to do a few other things. But we’ll just play that by ear.

OK, I guess that’s it for now. I just wanted to let you know that, if you’re only interested in the bands, you should probably wait and show up at 8:30. If you want to participate in the other stuff, though, come earlier. And, if you do come earlier, please try to bring something to share. (I really like the idea of my regular readers having an opportunity to get up on stage and share little stories with one another.)

Oh, I don’t know if it will work, but I’m also thinking about having a whiteboard there, so that people, if they’re so inclined, can take photos of themselves with dialogue bubbles, or whatnot, which could then be uploaded to the site. (I was going to just have a laptop there, so that people could post their comments on the site in real time, but I thought that this would be more fun, and I like the idea of actually having photos of real people, and not just anonymous comments, for a change… Maybe, if they’re brave, people could even take the opportunity to out themselves, by standing next to their online aliases. That, I think, would be pretty cool.)

That’s it for now… See you Saturday.

[One last thing. It'll cost you $5 at the door to get in, and every penny will go to support the absolutely critical activities of FLY Children's Art Center in Ypsilanti's public schools. If you can't make it on Saturday, but would still like to contribute toward the incredibly important cause, you can do so here.]

If you want more, Trabajabamos recently appeared on WCBN’s local music show, and you can listen to an archived recording of the session here.

It’s shaping up to be a hell of a show music-wise, but I’m still trying to figure out what, if anything, we should be doing before, between and after the bands go on stage, to celebrate the site’s 10th anniversary. I just spent the last few minutes reading about how the Ann Arbor Chronicle celebrated their 4th anniversary on the web a few days ago, hoping to get some ideas, but I’m not sure if what worked for them will work for us. They, it would seem, had something like a banquet, during which they handed out awards to members of the community who they felt deserved recognition. I think it’s a good idea, but I seriously doubt that people would come out to receive an award from me. And, to be honest, I don’t know who I’d want to saddle with the distinction of having been awarded a Maynard, or whatever we’d call the damn thing… Let’s say were were to do something like this, who would you choose as the recipient of a “Most Epic Comment” award? I’m just curious.

The more immediate problem, I think, is that I’m not sure what to call the event itself, as it’s both a 10-year anniversary party for this site, and a fundraiser for Fly Children’s Art Center. As people are starting to refer to it as Maynardfest, I feel the need to hurry and put something out now, before the name sticks. The best I’ve been able to come up with so far is “The Blog Presents,” which is a reference to the time, several years ago, that the Ypsi cops busted up Totally Awesome Fest, telling folks that they’d read all about it, “on the blog.” As terrible as it made me feel, knowing that I played a part in ruining the weekend for everyone, I kind of liked that, at least in the eyes of these cops, this was “the” blog, as though none others existed… Anyway, if you have a better idea as to what it should be called, let me know.

As for what I should be doing at this event, the best idea I’ve come up with so far involves me sitting inside of a small glass cube, in my pajamas, blogging. The cube, as I’m envisioning it, would be on the corner of the stage, and every now and then people in the bands would jump up on it, to play their blistering guitar solos. And, between bands, readers of the site could try to clog my air holes with french fries.

And I know none of the trolls out there in the audience, like EOS, Designated Republican or Tater Salad, will believe me when I say this, but I’d very much like to take a few minutes and talk with one of them on stage, and find out more about them, as human beings. I’d love a chance to get beyond the rage, and ask a few questions about how they came to take such an interest in our little online community.

Oh, one more thing. At the Chronicle’s 4th anniversary party, the folks at Zingerman’s apparently served a drink they’d concocted especially for the occasion, called the Ink-Stained Wretch. Perhaps we should have a little contest leading up to the party, to design a drink that reflects the shared values, vices and obsessions of the community that gathers here. (As some of you may recall, we did something similar 8 years ago, with a fair amount of success.) If you have ideas, let me know.

While there will be other big announcements in the days to come, as of right now, there are only two bands on the bill that I am at liberty to talk about: 25 and Minus9… I’m tempted to bill them together as “16″, but I don’t think that anyone would get it.

There is, after all, only so much you can do with my head….

Speaking of which, one of these days, I’d like to cast professional models who look at least somewhat like Linette, Clementine and me, and do a series of photo shoots around town. The idea would be to take photos in every conceivable situation, so that, regardless of the subject of the post from now on, I could have something to drop in that would appear natural. (And, yes, it’s wanting to do this kind of thing that made me finally embrace the concept of paid advertising. I realized that I need cash to hire a more attractive me… And here’s the truly great thing. I’m convinced that, once I hire professionally outgoing and attractive people to portray the members of my family, the readership of the site will skyrocket. And, this, in turn, will mean that I’ll make more money from advertising. And, with that money, I can then hire even more attractive models, which in turn will attract even more readers, and hence bring in even more advertising revenue. There would be no end to it. Each year, we’d get more and more beautiful, and the readership would grow accordingly. It would be like an on-line perpetual motion machine.)

Anyway, back to this new header…. As I still want this to be somewhat collaborative, I thought that I’d ask for your help with a new tagline for the site, which could be used in conjunction with this photo. So, leave your ideas, and we’ll have a vote. (I’ve used “For All Your Mark Maynard Needs” for the better part of ten years now, and I don’t know that it works with this image. Or, at least, I think we might be able to do better.) And, for what it’s worth, I’m not wedded to the idea of using this header either, so, if you have a better concept, let me know. That $10 in beer is still up for grabs.

So, right now, I’m looking at a crumpled-up napkin full of notes that I’d written on Friday night. It’s not by any means an exhaustive list, but these are the categories my friend and I came up with after swilling a few tankards of beer. If you have ideas for others, please leave a comment. [note: Some are in poor taste. Rest assured, they would not be asked if we actually went forward with this competition.]

Best Bacon
Best Urinal
Best Fried Chicken
Best Glory Hole
Most Neglected Property
Best Place to Discipline a Child
Best Store for Shoplifting
Best Place to Be Alone (Masturbating)
Best Place to Be Alone (Non-Masturbating)
Most Clearly Marked Safety Exit
Best Indoor Seating
Best Abortion Provider
Best Homoerotic Experience
Best Smelling Waitstaff
Least Likely Place to Get Laid
Best Stains
Best Local Character
Most Awkward Bathroom Experience (Male)
Most Awkward Bathroom Experience (Female)
Best Local Blog
Best Happy Hour
Best Place to See Some Weird Shit Go Down
Best Puppet Theater

Here, for those of you who are interested, is the list of categories that AnnArbor.com uses.