I (think that) I'm writing this, my first log, because I want to relate why I might not be filling the rest of my requests.
This isn't me, E2 Big Deal, gently letting down the legions of fans that await my reQuest 2018 writeups with bated breath. I hope I don't sound so self-important. This is me, A Couple Notches Above Lurker, trying to thank the people who read the tendencies of my writing and gave me such thoughtful requests. In the event that those people (or anyone else) were looking forward to seeing those requests filled, I want them to know that, if they aren't filled, it wasn't because I didn't care. I care. I liked this quest, and I hope it gets put on again.
Reading my first request—"Write a list of titles this poem could never have"—felt like I was a kid getting that puppy I'd always wanted for Christmas. ("A List of Titles This Poem Could've Had", before it was even written, demanded companionship.) That feeling lasted until I was cleaning puppy poop off the rug. "Dogs are a big responsibility," echoed my brain. "A List of Titles This Poem Could've Had", albeit unfinished, was far less challenging to write than its sibling is proving to be. "A List of Titles This Poem Never Could've Had" hasn't given me a break in which to say, "Even though there's more to do here, what I have could go up on E2." It's now a slobbery hound, still not housebroken.
Completing my third request—to fill my nodeshell counting-out rhyme—will mainly be a matter of deciding how much to say on the subject. A simple definition of what a counting-out rhyme is would be easy to write, but its only appeal would be in learning a name for something familiar. Don't get me wrong—it's fun to learn words like "escalope" or "gazoony". I just think that the better writeup would let the reader know something of why and how academics study counting-out rhymes. (As an example of one possible, and the most probable, engagement I'm considering.) My trepidation's from my lacking knowledge in the theories/perspectives/frameworks/etc. (e.g speech act theory) that the editors (Roger D. Abrahams and Lois Rankin) of this book (Counting-Out Rhymes: A Dictionary) are applying. I don't want to misconstrue or misrepresent. I don't want to plagiarize. It'll take extra care.
My fourth request—"A resignation letter telling them how you really feel about it". I don't know how to approach this without the kind of abstract or ironic aloofness that, I suspect, would leave myself and everyone else dissatisfied. If something dynamite announces itself in my head, I'll give it a chance. Otherwise, 'fraid I'll have to pass.