These photos are of the official presentation of the 3rd Bloomin’ Onion certificate in the Great Muckville Blog Free Bloomin’ Onion Essay Contest!

Back on February 27th we had the 3rd winner, Mr Donald Guy Wilson III!

https://muckville.com/2014/02/27/we-have-still-another-bloomin-onion-gift-certificate-winner/

Below are photos and the winning essay! And keep in mind … there is still one left!!!!

Thank you Outback!!!!

Donald is a very bright and very funny young man who is also the son of Don Wilson. His dad graduated 3 years ahead of me in high school at S.S. Seward and worked on our farm as a teenager for many years back in the 70′s and 80′s! He was a great worker and good friend.

Here is the latest winning entry:

Many people feel most content in their rooms, or perhaps doing an activity they most enjoy. Weird it may seem, but I feel most myself while being locked inside of a three-drawer office filing cabinet. My marred childhood led to what seems like a strange discovery, but it led me to an epiphany: everyone is just a file.

When I was nine years old, my parents passed away at a rave due to an overdose of MDMA ecstasy. My only memories of them are that of abuse and neglect due to their abhorrent drug addictions, not only to ecstasy, but to heroin and crack as well. My worst memory was when my father was in a crack-induced rage and swung at me with a metal folding chair, thinking I was an opponent in an upcoming wrestling tournament, breaking three of my ribs. I was rushed to a hospital, where I stayed for twenty one days.When I got the notice that my parents passed, I felt bittersweet, knowing that the years of abuse had finally ended, but a void was created where my parents used to be.  The void was quickly filled by my uncle Tertius, who took me into his household without question. However, Tertius proved to be just as abusive as my parents, and I quickly turned to codeine, having a supply to alleviate the pain of the injuries my dad gave me. When I turned twelve, I got a job working at a local three-story office building, sorting office supplies in the storage rooms. The manager of the office, Tria, became a mother figure to me, giving me not only a place to work, but guidance in life. She even helped to cure my addiction to codeine. However, after three years of working at the office complex, Tria passed away. To cope, I ran away and fell back to codeine. I was walking down my town’s Third Street, and found an aged, beat up three-drawer filing cabinet. My mind was cast back to three years ago, where I first got the job working with Tria at the three-story office complex. I quickly jumped inside the cabinet, knowing that the three drawers would offer me the comfort and solace that codeine could not. As I lay inside, remembering the how at home I felt working for Tria, I decided that this cabinet would be my new home. For forty days and forty nights, I wandered the streets, but I always came back to the three-drawer filing cabinet.

As the fortieth night began, I climbed inside the cozy cabinet, and it hit me: I was a file. We are all files, trapped inside the filing cabinet that is life. I wrote a three-page paper to the Triad Record, describing my thoughts on the situation. We enter the filing cabinet little files with nothing in them. As time goes on and on, our files grow, until one day, they are removed from the cabinet. That is, we die. These realizations brought me the epitome of tranquility that I always hoped for, inside my new home, the three-drawer filing cabinet.

In short, I should get a free Bloomin’ Onion coupon.

CONGRATULATIONS DONALD!

Link to first winner: https://muckville.com/2014/01/24/we-have-our-first-bloomin-onion-winner/

Link for the second winner: https://muckville.com/2014/01/29/we-have-another-bloomin-onion-gift-certificate-winner/

As I have mentioned multiple times previously my campaign to raise funds for an editor will be featured in an upcoming episode of the new Crowd Funder Show.

 

https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/1efvb/ab/61mkb2

 

My campaign has now been modified. Since I now have a literary agent I no longer need to raise funds for an editor for my memoir. Now I am exploring the creation of a tv show based on my life and experiences, the same experiences detailed in my yet to be published memoir “Muckville!”

 

What is the Crowd Funder Show and what does it mean to appear on the show? According to their website:

 

The Crowd Funder TV Show highlights various ideas that have been selected based on their merit for creativity, social relevance, and commercial viability. Each episode focuses the spotlight on six or seven inspiring projects and personal goals that give the viewing audience insight into the campaign, its principal, and the reason(s) why it should come to fruition. The Crowd Funder TV Show highlights various ideas that have been selected based on their merit for creativity, social relevance, and commercial viability.

 

What is so neat about their crowd funding method, versus Kickstarter’s, is that it is not “all or nothing.” Further, the rewards are much more exciting. Again, from their website:

 

Viewers can choose to support the projects they watch by contributing directly to the campaign website or by calling a toll-free number. The Crowd Funder Show rewards contributors with sponsored gift cards for the same amount of money they contribute, up to $100. Supporting people and their projects has never been easier so it’s no wonder you can’t help but feel like you’re a part of something special. The Crowd Funder TV Show is an interesting, inspiring program that highlights human ingenuity and co-operation.

 

When you go to my page you will see locations once can choose from for the gift card include: Sears, Best Buy, Home Depot and Toys R Us. So, if you plan on doing any shopping at any of these locations anyway you are essentially donating to my cause for free. A total win-win!