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BlogRush, BlogExplosion, BlahBlahBlah!
2007-09-19 20:48:00
Do any of these traffic exchanges actually work?If there's one thing that bloggers want for their blogs, it's more traffic. (That is, of course, with the exception of a few who want to keep things private.) In the two years that I've been keeping this blog, I've flirted with many of these gimmicky websites promising huge boosts in my traffic. Back the these sites were BlogExplosion, BlogMad, and others that focused on manual surfing. I'm sure most of you reading this are familiar with the concept. Generally, it's a 2:1 ratio. You visit two blogs, and you get one visit in return. I don't even want to know how many hours I spent clicking through blogs endlessly before I realized what a bad deal it was. True, a few of my current readers came to me through BlogExplosion, but this was after I probably visited thousands of blogs. Nowadays, those old exchange sites are a ghost town. In the heyday, I used to be able to generate up to 200 hits a day through BlogExplosion. To...

"So, What Do You Write?"
2007-09-19 01:40:00
In my everyday life, I don't like to make a big deal about the fact that I write. You'll rarely hear me squeezing words like "draft" and "manuscript" into a casual conversation with someone I don't count among my friends. I have found, in fact, that talking as little as possible about my writing is the best approach. Why? Because when my writing is going poorly, "How's the writing going?" sounds like nails on a chalkboard. I've explained to most people who know me that asking a writer how "the writing" is going can be just as foolhardy as congratulating a large woman on her pregnancy. If she is, in fact, happily pregnant, she might beam and say, "Thank you." However, if she actually isn't pregnant, well, then you've got a problem. There have been many times in which I've confided to someone that my writing is going very poorly and that I am feeling rotten about it, only to have them greet me the next day with, "Hey, how's the writing going?" People have no sense.Bu...
More About: Write

Same-Sex Heterosexual Sexless Monogamous Nonmonogamy
2007-09-17 06:26:00
I heard something from a friend of mine this morning, and I've been thinking about it quite a bit. I've decided to bring it to the table here just because I'm curious about what people will have to say. For once, I am going to try to keep my own opinions out of it, at least as far as the initial post goes.My friend is an artist, and shares some studio space in the city with another woman. We'll call this nameless woman A. A is in a committed relationship with another woman, B. All seems pretty normal, right? Well, it gets a bit trickier from here.Before I dig into this, let me just preface it by saying that I consider myself to be rather hip and progressive as far as modern nonmonogamy goes. Although I am a staunch monogamist when it cones to my own relationships, I recognize that my way isn't necessarily the best way for all people, and that nonmonogamy may be a rewarding and functional choice for some folks out there. Though I have never once seen a nonmonogamous rela...

No more dumb Netflix reviews
2007-09-17 05:49:00
Meh. I've been trying to write about The Piano for the last half hour and I just can't do it. I... can't... do it. It's not because of the movie. I love the movie. I mean, it's not the easiest movie to write about, but I certainly do have a lot to say on it. But I just can't seem to bring myself to keep up the weekly installments that I started up. It was a stupid idea to begin with. I've little interest in it. It doesn't really fit in with the rest of the things I post on my blog. Furthermore, I'd started doing it as a way to ensure that I'd have things to blog about, but I've had no shortage of things to say since I picked this back up. That completely defeats the purpose of the Netflix updates. In fact, I spent most of the time I was working on my post about The Piano thinking: Man, I can't wait until I get this post done so I can get started on what I actually wanted to post about.I'm currently working through the Star Wars trilogies due to a recent post...
More About: Reviews , Dumb

For a good time, call-- er... uhh... I mean, e-mail Chaim at...
2007-09-14 23:25:00
Those who know me well have, at one point or another, heard my rant about phones. I hate them. If I never talk on another phone again in my life, it will be too soon. I love to talk to people in person, but as soon as you put me on the phone I start fantasizing about vows of silence and living the rest of my life as a hermit off in a cave somewhere.I love to write. Not just for myself, and not just fiction or on a blog. I love to write to people. Letters, text messages (in which I use real words and complete sentences), e-mails -- It doesn't matter. I feel I can bring my thoughts across better in writing. I can't tell you how many times I have thought, after speaking, "Man, I wish I hadn't said that!" There are, in fact, many things I've said in the past that I think about now and cringe over. But there haven't been many things I've written that I wish I could take back. Not only can I proof-read something before sending it off, but, because my thoughts come forward...
More About: Mail , Time , E-Mail , Call , Good

By Pen, Key, or Chisel: How We Choose to Write It All Down
2007-09-14 05:10:00
Writing would be the easiest thing in the world if one didn't have to write. Generally, the thoughts form perfectly in my head. I have lines of dialogue, descriptions, names. All of the paragraphs are neatly formed. I can actually see the words before me, as if they were already on a page. I can imagine myself reading what I've written and laughing, or crying. If I could simply will my words into existence, I'd be a best-selling author in no time, I swear. It's only when it comes down to bringing the words out of my head that I run into trouble. The words never come forward as easily as they are initially formed. They come to the page, but they are in the wrong order, or they sound wrong, or they just look clumsy. Or perhaps, as I start to write, I forget the words entirely; the idea simply flutters out of my head. All writers experience this, and this is why enormous thought and debate always seems to center around the method and tools used for writing. When I first...
More About: Write , Choose

Don't Panic
2007-09-13 03:11:00
Sometimes I panic.I'm not talking about panic attacks. It's more of an intellectual panic. I think of one bad thing, which leads to another, which leads to the absolute worst-case-scenario. For example, right now I am out of work. I chose to leave my job, and now I am not working. No income. Nada. The panicky part of me reasons that I am destined to be homeless and hungry within a matter of hours!But there's another part of me that is Zen-like. This part is completely unaffected by worry. It says, and truly believes, that "everything will be fine." You know the tired old image of the devil on one shoulder and the angel on the other? This is what I experience on a daily basis, except that on one shoulder rests a wise old sage, while on my other is a paranoid, sleep-deprived Woody Allen-ish fellow.Here's a typical conversation:-You have no work. No money coming in. You were struggling enough as it was. What were you thinking?-Relax. You'll be fine. You have enough m...
More About: Panic

Six Years Ago Today
2007-09-11 23:30:00
I'm trying to avoid the television. I've seen the towers fall too many times. Over and over again. The plane hitting. The fireball. Collapse one. Collapse two. Seeing it makes me mad. It makes me think, just for a moment, that maybe we do need a War on Terror.If we do, in fact, need a War on Terror, then I truly wonder where it is. Despite the loose connections that Bush still tries to make between 9/11 and Iraq, the truth is that Iraq has far more to do with Al-Qaeda now than it ever did before we invaded. This was isn't about 9/11 anymore, but about some mysterious "way of life" that none of us can define but all of us take for granted.Americans don't care about death, violence and war. Not really. Even when it comes to our allies, everyone else is a "them." When is the last time you heard the news media talk about soldiers dying that are not our own? Other countries, our allies, have lost troops in this war, too, but we never hear about it. When we hear about I...
More About: Today , Years

Star Wars "Meme"
2007-09-11 20:40:00
When I made my little post about kids and Star Wars over the weekend, I didn't think of it as being anything out of the ordinary beyond what I normally write. However, it's gone on to be one of the more popular posts that I've ever made. It the days after I posted it, it attracted a surprising amount of hits and even appears to have made its way around an email address book or two.The post also generated some conversation between me and another blogger, Michelle, over whether age really does have anything to do with which Star Wars trilogy one prefers. She says it's gender. Well, now the debate has made its way into the blogosphere. She started a meme about it. If you have no idea what a "meme" is (at least, in this particular sense of the word), don't worry, I didn't either. I actually had to ask Michelle to explain it to me.Anyway, I normally don't do stuff like this on my blog, but I am going to participate because I am a good sport. (Even though she is essentially ...
More About: Meme

Weekly Netflix Digest - Sunday, 9/9/07: Sling Blade
2007-09-10 05:54:00
Sling Blade Before Billy Bob Thornton became known as the guy who was sleeping with Angelina Jolie before Brad Pitt came along, he was poised to become the next great darling of independent filmmaking. I remember when this movie came out in 1996. I was in middle school at the time. My teacher, a ferocious progressive (who had a huge effect on the way I see the world even today), would not stop talking about this movie and its writer and director, Billy Bob Thornton. Specifically, she referred repeatedly to an interview she saw with Thornton, in which he was condemning the big-budget Hollywood scene. I never saw this interview, but according to her, he said something to the effect of: "It's a shame to spend $100 million dollars on a film. That money could feed the world for weeks." This was only two years before he would appear in the $140 million blockbuster, Armageddon. I never had a chance to get my teacher's thoughts about this.According to The Numbers, the production bu...
More About: Sunday , Netflix , Digest , Weekly

Kids and "Refrigerator Blindness"
2007-09-09 18:45:00
"There's nothing to eat!"If I ate full meal for every time I've heard the kids say this over this weekend, I'd be in the hospital. Their parents left the house with TWO refrigerators packed with food.Here's a conversation I had with the 9-year-old boy this morning:ME: Good morning, how are you?KID: I am starving. I want breakfast.ME: Okay, what would you like?KID: I dunno.ME: Would you like a bowl of cereal?KID: I hate cereal.ME: Would you like me to make you some eggs?KID: I don't eat eggs. I hate them.ME: Well, how about some fruit and some yogurt?KID: Eww. No way.ME: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich?KID: Don't like it.ME: What about some toast? I can take some toast, melt some cheese on it, an--KID: I won't eat it.ME: ... Hmm... What about bugs? Do you like bugs? I'll go outside and catch some bugs for you and mash them into a nice smooth paste! You can eat it over some dog poop!KID: That's not funny.I informed him that I wasn't a mind-reader and thus could not d...
More About: Kids , Blindness , Gera

"The future of Darth Vader intrigues me."
2007-09-09 07:07:00
One thing that's always fascinated me about Star Wars is how its appeal spans generations. I am not old enough to recall the theatrical releases of the original films. They were introduced to me by my parents, who thought the movies were very, very cool. I thought they were cool, too. I remember when the original trilogy was re-released in the theaters in a "Special Edition." I knew tons of kids, big and small, who got to play hookie on the day A New Hope came out. I can't think of any other film that dates to the 70's that can kids and adults equally giddy.Anyway, I had some experiences this weekend that have made me wonder whether the prequel trilogy (episodes I-III) hasn't completely ruined this dynamic:I mentioned in my last post that I am up in Connecticut, and that I am here with friends. What I am actually doing is watching these "friends" for the weekend. One friend is 16, one is 13, and the youngest is 9. I'm here at the house with them while their parents are...
More About: Future , Darth Vader , The Future , Vader , Darth

Between the apple and a hard place
2007-09-07 19:20:00
Well, last night was my final evening behind the bar at my old job. Now I am free, so to speak. I mean, I’m going to have to look for work eventually. Quite soon, in fact. For now, I am relaxing. I’m up in Connecticut hanging out with some friends, and don’t expect to be back in the city until Monday. (I will still be blogging.)I gotta be honest: I am a basket case. I haven’t been sleeping properly. My body is behaving strangely, sometimes tricking me into thinking I am an old man. Depressing enough in itself, no? But then I remember I am actually only 24, and that my back should not be hurting like this, my head should not be aching, my arm should not be “acting up,” and then I get really upset.When I first got to New York, and first started working the busy restaurant, I was walking on air. New York was a raging river just rushing along, and I was riding the current and loving every moment. A customer of mine back then told me about the first time he moved...
More About: Apple , Hard , Place , Ween

iPod touch? Cheaper iPhone? iWant. iLust. iDrool. (...iBroke.)
2007-09-06 20:30:00
I got word of the iPod touch last night and got pretty excited. I don't particularly need a new phone or a camera, but love the iPhone's functionality. The fully-functional Safari browser is particularly enticing. But it just seems like too many features for my needs. The iPod touch, on the other hand, seems pretty much perfectly geared towards what I'm looking for, and comes it at roughly the same price as the 4G that I bought two years ago, which is soon probably going to need to be replaced. I haven't even really had a change to handle an iPhone yet, and I'm still a bit skeptical about the touch screen. Can one really type effectively with it? Will, say, answering emails even be remotely practical on a touch screen? I don't see any reason to be able to browse the web with a small gadget unless typing is practical. Email is probably my preferred method of communication at this point (aside from speaking in person, of course -- I can't stand phones) but don't enjoy ...
More About: Iphone , Ipod , Touch , Ilus

A Milestone Reached: Readership now at 1993 levels!
2007-09-06 10:09:00
When I returned to this blog last month and decided to dedicate myself to it for real this time, I started running my site feed through Feedburner so that I can better keep track of how many people are reading me. I was surprised to learn that I already had six subscribers, and this gave my spirits quite a lift, to say the least. Well, this morning (actually, given the current hour, it was actually technically yesterday morning) I logged on to Feedburner and saw that I have reached an important milestone. Don't laugh! This is actually a big deal to me. I have 18 subscribers! Now, I do hope that if I keep at this, at some point in the future I'll be able to look back at that number and chuckle. For the time being, however, that's definitely enough to get me excited. Why? Well, as far as I know, I haven't had that many "subscribers" since I was 10 years old.I was a rather entrepreneurial kid. I got an allowance every week from my parents but, because I had so many pets t...
More About: Milestone , Tone

Facebook, Lyndon LaRouche, and the problem with conspiracy theories
2007-09-05 00:17:00
I was browsing the net a couple of days ago and plugged "Facebook " into a search somewhere, just because it has been on my mind lately, and came upon an unexpected result: An article from the good old LaRouche organisation (Newsweek Puts a Mask on Facebook's Profile!):Watch out. Why are two of the biggest corporate media warmongers, responsible for giving cover for Dick Cheney's genocidal wars, so interested in promoting "democratic" youth culture? First, the British Empire's Rupert Murdoch bought up Myspace. Now Washington Post Co. chairman & CEO, Don Graham, is promoting Facebook, having arranged a $12.5 million investment from a "friend" to promote it. And now, Graham & Co. are giving Facebook millions of $ in free advertising with a cover-story on the latest Newsweek magazine.The LaRouche Youth Movement is warning, "Is Goebbels on your Laptop?"So, here is what we have so far: The British Empire has direct control over Rupert Murdoch, and Murdoch promotes a right-wing agenda...
More About: Problem , Conspiracy , Conspiracy Theories , Theories

Stupid sleep, %@$#ing insomnia, and memories of a simpler time
2007-09-03 12:50:00
I've mentioned before that I have trouble with sleep. Sometimes -- well, usually, it's because I just don't want to. Something is on my mind, and I'd prefer to think about it some more rather than go to sleep. Or, maybe I am reading a book that's more exciting than an 8-hour coma. Maybe it's a video game. Maybe I am writing. In general, sleep usually feels to me like it's a waste of time.But sometimes, sometimes I actually do want to sleep and still can't. Tonight is one of those nights. I'm physically tired. I'm getting over some mystery illness that's making me feel like crap. I've had a lot on my mind due to the fact that I'm going to be looking for a job this month. I'd like to put it all to rest and get some shut-eye, but I can't do it! So, I am going to pour myself a finger or two of Maker's and spend a little time writing about sleep. Maybe if I get some thoughts out of my system, I'll feel psychologically dead enough to get to bed.Even when I wa...
More About: Time , Stupid , Memories , Sleep , Insomnia