Monday Morning Mark
A scary thought, no doubt, but this is not what it sounds like.
WARNING: This story is mostly “self-promotion.” Although it is not a story that simply says, “Mark Starlin is great” repeatedly.
Which I would definitely consider self-promotion. I doubt anyone would argue with that. Not the “Mark Starlin is great” part. That statement is definitely arguable. My wife can set you straight on that if you have any misguided illusions of my greatness. But is it really “self-promotion” if I am promoting my writing? Wouldn’t that be “writing-promotion” or “story-promotion?”
Actually, I am self-promoting [ah, now I get it] a free weekly newsletter that contains my humor writing. So, if this type of self-promotion thing irritates you, STOP READING NOW! You will be furious! Or at least, incredibly annoyed.
And you will likely want to punch me in the stomach. Or declare me your arch-enemy. Or stop following me on Medium. None of those are a few of my favorite things. — Mark Starlin [not self-promotion]
Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way and prevented you from wasting your time or getting mad at me for doing self-promotion, I will get to the actual “meat” of the story. Which really isn’t meat. Why is English full of so many weird expressions?
What was I talking about?
Why am I asking you? You don’t know what I was thinking, or you wouldn’t need to read this. If you still are. Which, I am guessing, the odds are pretty low.
And if you are still reading, I imagine you are probably thinking, Why am I still reading this? Mark has lost it. I knew it was bound to happen. I just didn’t think it would be so public. I always imagined he would assume an alias and start writing articles about quantum physics and why hamsters are not ideal space-faring lifeforms. Funny how things rarely turn out like you imagine.
Anyway… [brace yourself for the actual promotion.]
I think the world needs more humor. Especially after the year we’ve just had. A steady diet of bad news is not healthy for anyone.
So back in August, I started a weekly free newsletter so people could start each week off with a short bit of quirky Mark Starlin humor—via email. Making email more fun in the process. Thoughtful, huh?
This year, I expanded the newsletter to include a 50 or 100-word microfiction story (which is often humorous.) Plus, a “friend’s” link to one of my older Medium stories that you can enjoy at your leisure during the week (or just ignore if you would rather spend the time reading rants on Twitter or Facebook.)
If that sounds interesting (I won’t judge you), you can find (and read!) all the Monday Morning Mark newsletters here (complete with handy newsletter “sign-up” buttons):
Kirk out.
