Joy in Death?

This can't be happening. It's not happening. There's been some mistake. Everything's going to be fine. This isn't denial. panablog is going to be just fine.

How could you do this to me, panablog! How can this be happening!? I'm so angry right now. I am wailing and gnashing my teeth. You're not leaving me!

Okay, I will do whatever it takes to keep this from happening. I'll comment more. I'll post more often. I'll sell more t-shirts. Please don't leave.

What's the point? Why even get out of bed in the morning? I'm so fucking depressed.

You know what? I guess this is just how it's going to be. I'm sad, but I can accept this reality. I will survive.

Wow, such a roller coaster ride is this whole grief thing. So many memories. I think about the first post, how it made me laugh so hard I actually pissed my pants. And the second post and how I pissed my pants again. And then the third post when I realized that I should probably go to the urologist.

And I think about the videos and the photographs and the words. So many words.

And today, the saddest day in the history of the world ever, I lean on the words of Emily Dickinson, who I know would have loved panablog as much as I (but only if she had home broadband access, because she didn't get out much and probably wouldn't have been comfortable going to the public library, even though that's sometimes the only option in rural parts of the country, which is where she lived).

Joy in Death

If tolling bell I ask the cause.
'A soul has gone to God,'
I'm answered in a lonesome tone;
Is heaven then so sad?

That bells should joyful ring to tell
A soul had gone to heaven,
Would seem to me the proper way
A good news should be given.

I won't say goodbye. I won't. Because this isn't goodbye, it's simply hello from another angle.

Back in KC City!

That's right, Fanablog is back in Kansas City after a month-long teambuilding hike up the Appalachian Trail. Great experience for the whole team. Will share stories later. Now, it's time to catch up on five weeks of the world's greatest blog. So excited! For now, enjoy this video from our trip.

panablog, Year One: The Greatest Year That Ever There Was

One year ago today, panablog changed the way that all of us live our lives. Today, on the one year anniversary, we celebrate not just panablog the website, but also panablog the idea. I hope you are spending the day with your loved ones, thinking about all that Jay and Julia have given in order to make panablog a reality. I know I am.

Here in Leawood, crowds of enthusiastic youths have taken to the streets in jubilation, many unable to control the tears that are only natural on a monumental day such as this.

If you can't make it to a celebration near you, I encourage you to visit panablog and just be there. And remember: Without you, there is no panablog. And without panablog, there is no fanablog. And without fanablog, I'd have no reason to get up in the morning. Happy panablog Day!

Fanablog's Top 50 panablog posts: #50

#50: Ken Griffey, Jr., meet Los Osos con Malas Noticias

FastStats
Words: 620
Photos: 2
Videos: 2
References to Panama being an isthmus: 2

A good solid post. Some videos. Some photos. An "anydoodle." Great headline. (My espanol -- and again, I'm not going to take the time to figure out how to insert the Spanish squiggly above the "n"...just ain't gonna happen -- is a little rusty, but I think it translates roughly to "The Bears of the Bad News," which I believe is a reference to the Jack London book of the same name.)

Honestly, this post would have been much higher in the rankings had it simply included a reference to gigantism. Still, life-changing stuff. Next up, #49!

And don't forget to visit panablog tomorrow for the big one-year birthday extravabonanza. Follow the fun minute-by-minute at twitter.com/fanablog.

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Panatweet, Fanatweet

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Follow us following panablog at http://twitter.com/fanablog.

And when you get tired of doing that, follow panablog following us at http://twitter.com/panablog.

Tweet, tweet, fanafools.

Behind Fanablog's Top 50 panablog Posts Posts

One week until the big panabirthday celebration. This week, in honor of the first anniversary of panablog (the Interweb's #1 Panama Peace Corps blog), Fanablog (the Interweb's #1 panablog fan blog) will be counting down our top 50 favorite panablog posts.

Obviously it wasn't an easy decision to pick just our 50 favorites. As you know, they're all great -- as if handed down from a higher power. And to be perfectly honest, I just didn't have enough time to rank every single post. Between my part-time job at the panablog Retail Outlet in Olathe, sleeping three hours a night, and the 16 hours a day I already spend on Fanablog, there's just not enough time. Still, 50 is a great start.

Anywho, the selection process was brutal. We locked ourselves in an undisclosed extended-stay hotel for three weeks, during which time each of the 20 Fanablog board members read every word of panablog to the group.

With extended periods of applause and hearty laughter, the process went well into most evenings. That process lasted two weeks. The final week was spent ranking the posts in order of awesomeness. How, you ask, does one rank the sun over the moon, or the forest over the ocean? Notecards.


Board Chair, Frank "Fittzy" Fittzwater, leading one of our rankathons:

















In the end, we feel confident in the list, realizing that the greatness of each panablog post will lead to some contention. We welcome that discussion and expect to continue the robust discussion for which Fanablog has become so well known.

Up next, #50!