Home Blogs After Hours April 2004
A Day | 04.01.04 | 06:13:12 AM
The lady who complained about my MTV's Wuthering Heights review got me to thinking about weblog entries I've done in the past that somebody or other didn't "get" or took offense to for one reason or another. Here's a sampling of gags that went horribly wrong.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/01/2004 06:28:14 AM
I think Waiting for Pedro is excellently funny.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.148.4
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/01/2004 07:14:56 AM
Thanks! I dunno, maybe it was just ahead of its time? Yeah...that's it!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: teenagesupervillain@yahoo.com
IP: 24.247.173.41
URL: http://roninneko.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/01/2004 07:59:59 AM
Weird for weirdness' sake is never wrong if it's "Waiting for Pedro".
Good god, that was hilarious.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.167.27.6
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/01/2004 08:27:41 AM
Yeah, what's with people "taking you to task" for that? Everyone on Spaceship Earth has a right to be weird just because they feel like it.
I find it hilarious when people fall for parodies. Except this one time, when this guy responded to a fake job posting I had up. I thought it was pretty obvious that it was fake, or at least not legal, but this guy with actual military experience sent me his resume, along with a desperate cover letter. I was a bit disturbed and felt bad for him at the same time.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/01/2004 08:58:32 AM
Well, considering how cautiously I take anything I read on a website, I think you are contributing to the culling process. It also ALWAYS irritates me when people complain about stuff on someone else's site as Not Being Entertaining.
I love you, B, even when you aren't funny, although you usually are when you want to be -- and occasionally when you weren't really trying.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.150.63
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/01/2004 01:03:04 PM
I'm always astounded at how literal-minded people can be when it comes to humor. I guess it's best to just laugh stuff like that off, though, because you can't really choose your sense of humor and I don't want to crap on someone for not getting a joke.
I did have an interesting debate once with another ex-significant other about ironic humor in particular. She felt that irony and sarcasm were elitist forms of humor, because (she claimed) you're trumpeting your superior intellect and sneering at the poor ignorant schlubs who don't get it. I had never looked at it that way before; I guess in some cases it can be true, or at least there's the potential for it to be seen that way. Maybe that's where the perception of "smugness" comes from. Anyway, the key here is EX-s.o. -- in the future I think I am going to just show up at first dates with printouts of my weblog and a laugh-o-meter. Or maybe not. But y'know.
The funniest thing is when two ironic humorists get together. You never know when the other person is being serious or ironic, which leads to conversations like:
"Dude, this Britney Spears video is awesome."
"Uh...do you mean it's awesome, or 'awesome'?"
"Oh my God...I don't even know anymore!!!"
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan
EMAIL: susan@flowerhead.com
IP: 66.173.50.53
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tundrababe/
DATE: 04/02/2004 04:49:15 AM
"To Serve Nachos" haunted me to this day, because I didn't understand it, yet found it strangely amusing. Now I know why! Although I don't recall seeing that episode, so I must be weird too.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.150.63
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/02/2004 04:54:48 AM
Like I said...too obscure!!
Oh, and I just remembered one other commonly-misunderstood thing from my blog, since I posted another installment of it just now...the Steven Woodworth entries. I remember on some of those entries, people thought Steven was a real person. One person even totally whaled on the poor guy, telling him to quit whining or something like that. Awesome.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/02/2004 10:33:51 AM
Sarcasm and irony DO play on knowing something that another person should, but presumably does not, know. However, I think the whole "elitist" argument is...facile?
Uneducated people, dumb people, and downright stupid people are often smug about their lack of knowledge, contemptuous of people with more education, and in general disdainful of all things uneducated, dumb, and stupid. You've seen it in endless movies and TV shows -- where the smart young college student rolls into town and finds out that all his education is nothing compared to the downhome wisdom of the people around him. That's usually played for humor, too, with the whole "fish out of water" scenario. And there are usually some sort of joking done by the omission of information or knowledge, too, perpetrated by the "dumb" people on the "smart" people.
So, is that "populist" humor or "elitist"?
By the definition given -- that elitist humor is dependent on a joke make by someone who knows something on someone who doesn't know that thing -- almost all humor can be catagorized as elitist. There's a bucket of water triggered to spill when a door is open. The person who set it up knows it is there. The person who walks through the door and gets drenched does NOT know it was there. But someone still laughs.
Feh. You're ok, B. You just need to be around more people who appreciate you.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.196.83.239
URL:
DATE: 04/03/2004 01:05:35 AM
you're the shiznit. you're my hero.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: teenagesupervillain@yahoo.com
IP: 24.247.173.41
URL: http://roninneko.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/03/2004 05:36:56 PM
Hey, speaking of cartoons, what happened to Daisuke and Monano? I am enjoy having the fun adventures again okay!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 172.169.135.122
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/03/2004 07:29:05 PM
It's not your fault that those people suck. How can they go through life without any sense of humor?!
☄
A Day | 04.02.04 | 02:17:24 AM
Oh my goodness, I am having so much horney feelings. Okay, I would like a fine lady for love making and sexing. I would like to joining FunHi and be playa pimp okay, and make sex with many fine hunies. Here is example of sexing ladies I would like to meeting:
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL:
IP: 68.42.114.87
URL:
DATE: 04/02/2004 04:56:23 AM
The FunHi Goldunn Rule: If ya can't say sumtin' nice, then don't say shieat!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.150.63
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/02/2004 05:17:07 AM
Word.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/02/2004 01:14:13 PM
I feel worry to you.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.150.63
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/02/2004 03:19:54 PM
Too much.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rengirl
EMAIL: imac@pixelsensei.com
IP: 12.22.65.5
URL:
DATE: 04/02/2004 05:54:52 PM
Well apparently FunHi is also loaded with filthy rich balla's. I'm all over that piece!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: teenagesupervillain@yahoo.com
IP: 24.247.173.41
URL: http://roninneko.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/03/2004 05:27:14 PM
It's not too much foxy, okay?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 172.169.135.122
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/03/2004 07:37:00 PM
Apparently, they have "several patents pending". I didn't know you could patent "shieat" like that.
☄
A Day | 04.05.04 | 11:14:26 AM
Have you ever had an IM conversation where you think you're engaging in fun, lighthearted banter...then you look back at the transcript and you realize you've been inadvertently insulting the other person all evening? I was chatting the other day with this guy I'll call "Nick Adams," and I kept saying things that I thought were inocuous, but in retrospect were probably taken the wrong way, because of certain stylistic quirks that could have been interpreted as insults. Here are two examples from the chat, with the key words and phrases highlighted.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/05/2004 11:53:00 AM
for me, it's this part:
I was chatting the other day with this guy I'll call "
weLL.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.173.249
URL: http://bakiwop.f2o.org
DATE: 04/05/2004 03:50:06 PM
i take offense and the g@dd@mned f@ck@ng @ssh@le title #$@@#$%@#%! I mean, J@sus F@cking Chr@st! "Why I Don't Socialize, Part XXVIII", so what the f@ck are you doing when you f@cking write an entry here for US to read. Sh@t! D@mn! Cr@p! F@ck! H@ll! What the f@ck are WE?!?!?! Chopped liver?
And now I feel all f@cking guilty for writing a post that is meant to be f@cking funny but may be taken seriously when it isn;t supposed to be at all and all the feelings I may have inadvertantly f@cking hurt and - cr@p! - why did I hit that post button!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/05/2004 05:00:25 PM
I tend to pick up such things in people's conversation, but, being as all wise as I am (a state srrived at through the ability to make all the mistakes multiple times in the most severe way at a very rapid pace, leaving me the choice to wise up or kill myself) I tend to just come right out and ask "Did you mean that as a comment on me, or were you excluding me from the group of people to whom that remark would apply?" Which almost always gets copious apologies from the speaker, and a resultant built in caution in the future.
I avoid doing this myself by avoiding too much irony and sarcasm in my speech. This makes me boring, but safe.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.147.237
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/06/2004 05:56:18 AM
Hannah: Whut?
Matthew: F@ck...
Sherri: I wish (damn, I blew my "one word response" gimmick) people would do that more often, just asking for clarification instead of silently taking offense. Including myself! Like with my friend "Nick," he seemed stung by what I'd said, but I wasn't quite sure, and I didn't want to bring it up myself in case he wasn't stung, but might be stung if I brought the sting to his attention.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.197.2.203
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/07/2004 12:25:47 AM
my advice: spend less time chatting with people who just don't 'get you'.... (of course this is totally selfish advice - hint hint). :
☄
A Day | 04.05.04 | 11:10:07 PM
You know, sometime between December 31st and today, I forgot that I was 35 years old, and thought I was 36. I've been telling people for months that I'm 36. But I went here and it's all, "you are 35 years old." And I'm all, "Nuh-uh!" And I worked it out and sure enough I'm 35. It's a weird feeling to all of a sudden be a year younger in your mind. It's like when Daylight Savings Time ends and there's that whole "lost hour" when the clock goes back. So I guess this is my "lost year." I feel so young and alive!
Oh yeah, and I was:
32 years old at the time of the 9-11 attack on America
31 years old on the first day of Y2K
28 years old when Princess Diana was killed in a car crash
26 years old at the time of Oklahoma City bombing
25 years old when O. J. Simpson was charged with murder
24 years old at the time of the 93 bombing of the World Trade Center
22 years old when Operation Desert Storm began
20 years old during the fall of the Berlin Wall
17 years old when the space shuttle Challenger exploded
15 years old when Apple introduced the Macintosh
14 years old during Sally Ride's travel in space
12 years old when Pres. Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr.
10 years old at the time the Iran hostage crisis began
7 years old on the U.S.'s bicentennial Fourth of July
5 years old when President Nixon left office
3 years old when Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace was shot
not yet 1 year old at the time the first man stepped on the moon
This really puts things in perspective. I was just talking to Sandra today about how we can still remember phone calls being a dime, and that we are probably the last generation to remember a time when TV ended. Remember that? It would be about 1 or 2 a.m., and there would be the national anthem over the slowly waving flag, and then just static...on every channel...until about 5 a.m. when the Agricultural Report came on?
I feel kind of lucky to have been born when I was, because I was alive to remember a time before the digital age, before personal computers, the Internet, cell phones, and video games. I remember rotary phones, cable boxes where you had to push the little buttons to change channels, non-electric cash registers, manual typewriters, and when everyone paid attention when stewardesses -- I mean flight attendants -- did their safety demonstrations.
It weirds me out that there are people graduating from college who can't remember a world without PCs or cable TV. Wow.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.175.33
URL:
DATE: 04/06/2004 06:48:33 AM
agreed! and what blows me away sometimes is that i work with kids that weren't born until the year 2000
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.197.2.203
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/07/2004 12:18:51 AM
mom always liked you better than me, and now i know why. (oh lord, i didn't get much sleep last night...)
☄
A Day | 04.06.04 | 04:15:34 PM
I'm going to miss Smivey's blog. Even though he had his detractors, I found his writing and sense of humor delightful, and I'm sad to see him go. Of course, unless there is something going on in his life that he didn't reveal in his farewell entry, I predict he'll be back within four months. Hey, that's what I would do!
Sometimes blogging is like flying in a dream. It feels good while you're doing it, but if you think about what you're doing or become aware that it's just a dream, you plummet.
It's been almost exactly a year since I started my God Damn Diary, nine months since I started After Hours, and five months since BryanByun.com. Weblog, three months, weblog, four months, weblog, five months. So, if this were a question on an I.Q. test, it would be time for me to start another weblog.
I wonder what that would be. A book blog? Maybe, but that would require me to read something other than page 423 of Shogun that I've been reading and re-reading for the past two months, falling asleep in the middle of each time.
I've always wanted to start a website that was like an online encyclopedia, with all kinds of facts and informative articles, except that all of the facts and articles would be fake. I just think it would be funny to create a fake resource specifically to fool lazy students, and post completely bogus essays that they would copy and turn in as assignments. I could call it the Library for Information Exchange Services (L.I.E.S.), or maybe Bryan's Online Gateway to University Studies (B.O.G.U.S.) I would post fun facts like how the Brontosaurus was named after the famous author Charlotte Bront , who was a noted amateur paleontologist in addition to penning the classic novel Pride and Prejudice. Of course, my fear is that I would end up getting sued. I wonder how I could protect myself from something like that? Any thoughts on that, or suggestions for funny academic-sounding acronyms, would be welcome.
Ah! I see that sleep is once again my friend. Later, amigos.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.106.83.29
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/06/2004 06:39:49 PM
Disinformation is fun. I like imparting pseudo-science to little kids. Like "bananas are actually yellow throughout, but once you peel them and expose them to the air, the insides oxidize and become white and porous." I have no idea why this is satisfying to me.
I usually unveil the truth later, though.
Whoa - sleeping at 4 PM. As an irregular sleeper myself, I'm pretty impressed!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.197.2.203
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/07/2004 12:13:59 AM
you need to start a fouth blog? one word... photoblog. do it. nuff said. :)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BeerMary
EMAIL: mary@rantorama.com
IP: 24.8.13.121
URL: http://rantorama.com
DATE: 04/07/2004 05:14:35 AM
I think that idea is hilarious! I'd contribute.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.147.237
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/07/2004 07:05:56 AM
It would totally rock if you guys contributed.
Seriously, though, do you think it's something I could get in trouble for? I'm picturing someone getting an F on a term paper and then suing me.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.147.237
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/07/2004 07:07:43 AM
DVL: I don't think the world is quite ready for pictorial representations of my daily life. Unless you're a minimalist, I guess....
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rengirl
EMAIL: imac@pixelsensei.com
IP: 12.22.65.5
URL:
DATE: 04/07/2004 10:00:33 AM
Just do what most corporations do - bury a disclaimer in fine print. Make it really long. I'm assuming if a student is too lazy to properly research his own term papers, he's probably going to totally skip the "Terms and Conditions."
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: groovebunny
EMAIL:
IP: 68.224.168.139
URL: http://groovebunny.diaryland.com
DATE: 04/08/2004 11:44:25 PM
What a totally fun idea! See and it's even just reading ideas like this that make me come back for more. :)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 172.172.47.225
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/09/2004 10:13:54 PM
I love it! And those names are so great. Writing fake term papers sounds like so much fun.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: teenagesupervillain@yahoo.com
IP: 24.247.173.41
URL: http://roninneko.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/10/2004 10:50:41 AM
Printing a disclaimer in really small print in some hard to find place sounds like a pretty effective way not to get your ass sued. I'm not really a lawyer, though (but I do play one on TV!)*
Legal worries aside, that sounds like a great idea. Can I play too?
*No.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mary
EMAIL: mary@rantorama.com
IP: 207.14.214.200
URL:
DATE: 04/11/2004 01:18:10 PM
You can get sued for anything these days. That's why I left nursing before anyone sued me for putting a bandaid on them with a racially insensitive "skin tone" color and causing them irreversible emotional trauma. Hey, no job is worth losing my house over! ;-)
That aside, I really don't think they'd have a legal leg to stand on. There are tons of satire sites (the Onion, for example). I think you'd be safe.
☄
A Day | 04.10.04 | 11:43:50 AM
I got the e-mail today. You know which one I mean? Of course not! Let me tell you:
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.167.27.6
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/10/2004 01:54:29 PM
Hrn.
It appears that by not meeting him, no matter which way you go about not meeting him, will lead to feeling like an asshole. So you must decide which is the greater dishonor: Meet him and suffer through the chit-chat and life-comparing or feel like an asshole.
This is a difficult path to walk, but you must be resolved!
(Sorry, I was just re-reading Lone Wolf and Cub and have just absorbed a whole lot of samurai dialogue.)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan
EMAIL: susan@flowerhead.com
IP: 66.173.50.185
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tundrababe/
DATE: 04/10/2004 05:32:22 PM
Gah - I hate these kinds of encounters. Normally I just suck it up and go, or come up with a bullet-proof excuse (my mom is sick and I need to nurse her back to health, I have contageous pink eye, etc.).
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.175.15
URL:
DATE: 04/10/2004 05:38:56 PM
i'm with jim. since you have absolutely zero responsibility to this guy, do what makes you feel best (or least worst).
if you have to let him down politely, just tell him you have a huge deadline at work and use terms like "burning the candle at both ends".
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.197.139.218
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/11/2004 01:23:54 AM
first, you're an asshole, but for completely different reasons. (sorry, i know i can be a tough crowd... and am completely joking, of course! you know i love you to pieces, B , and that you're my hero!)
but seriously, if this fuckwit was someone who knew the definition of the word 'respect' he would not email last minute notice asking you to make time to babysit him while he's in town.
[of course, however, i completely reserve the right to call you at the last minute when i am in seattle and demand that you meet me at a moment's notice, and then listen to you squirm on the other end of the phone, hemming and hawing and trying to get out of it... (schadenfreude, baby)] xoxo
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Mary
EMAIL: mary@rantorama.com
IP: 207.14.214.200
URL:
DATE: 04/11/2004 01:14:50 PM
Schedule something for the last night he's in town. He'll be so tired from his travels, he'll likely cancel.
Or, say you'd love to meet him, but unfortunately you have the chicken pox. Or preterm labor.
(If I'm ever in Seattle, as much as I'd love to buy you a beer, I wouldn't want to put you in a position like that. So I won't buy you a beer, and will instead buy me twice as many beers. That's how much I care for you.)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 172.208.197.158
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/11/2004 11:55:00 PM
Don't you have major surgery that day? The doctor said you aren't supposed to have any food or liquids... or be around other people who are having foods or liquids, remember?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/12/2004 05:55:12 AM
So, what did you do?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/12/2004 07:31:23 AM
I didn't respond. I didn't want to lie, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings, either. I somehow doubt that he's broken up about it or anything. I don't feel like I really owe the guy anything -- he just rolled into town and wanted to do something with almost no notice. Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but he's the same guy who, several years ago, took a trip to Seattle and tried to invite himself and two other people to crash at my pad!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.17.5
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/12/2004 07:32:44 AM
took a trip to Seattle and tried to invite himself and two other people to crash at my pad!
Um..so what, that's a no-no?? Noted.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/12/2004 07:51:53 AM
With actual friends, I'm totally cool with it (provided I'm living alone or I get roomie permission). My door, floor, and couch are open to you! But I kind of resent it when people who aren't even really friends and who aren't in town to see you want to use your place for free lodging. Is that assholian? Then by God I shall be assholian!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: The Raz
EMAIL: KevinRazban@msn.com
IP: 68.136.22.54
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/kevin
DATE: 04/12/2004 07:50:28 PM
Yikes, I think I know who this is! BTW, are you sure it was him who invited himself several years ago or his brother? I seem to remember it was the latter. I don't think the meeting would've been as painful as you feared, but perhaps he would've been fishing for info about what you've been up to (especially media-wise).
☄
A Day | 04.12.04 | 04:27:23 AM
Okay, here's the thing.
I don't know yet if this is a done deal or not,
and
I may very well screw it up somehow,
and
even if I don't screw it up, they still might not want me back,
so
this is just between us until I know what's what,
but...
I might have a tiny little weekly contributor thing on Air America.
The producer for So What Else Is News?, a media/pop culture show hosted by Marty Kaplan that airs on Air America on weekday evenings, e-mailed me last night. They're looking for a weekly contributor on internet culture, for one of those "And here's (me??) with the latest from that wacky world called the Internet!!!" segments. Apparently the guy found me through PopMatters. They're going to "try me out" this week to see how I do.
Could someone FedEx me about a pound of Valium?
It's just one of those disposable 5-10 minute segments like the ones you hear two dozen times a day on NPR, and needless to say it won't pay anything, but oh man...if it pans out into a regular thing, it'll be the highest-profile gig I have ever landed, ever. Air America? Argh!
Expect about a hundred of these "Ack" posts between now and Friday. You may want to just avoid this site for a week or so.
Ack. Argh. Ack.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/12/2004 05:52:33 AM
Oh goodness, congratulations. You totally deserve it and they would be nuts if they didn't snatch you up for a "tiny little weekly contribution."
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Xkot
EMAIL: xkot@xkot.net
IP: 24.28.152.96
URL: http://www.xkot.net
DATE: 04/12/2004 06:07:09 AM
That's awesome! Now when my right-wing friends pick on Air America I can get all offended and say "But my friend is on there! Fucker!" Seriously though, I know you'll be great and I hope you have a lot of fun doing it.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/12/2004 07:35:24 AM
Thanks, guys. If nothing else, it'll be excellent weblog fodder. I'm just stoked to be involved at all with Air America, which is just the coolest thing ever. Hell, since I can't get it in Seattle, I'm happy if I can even get the internet stream!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.198.94.222
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/12/2004 08:48:56 AM
ACK!
(congrats)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.174.229
URL:
DATE: 04/12/2004 09:55:20 AM
i honestly can't think of a web guy that deserves it more. between your talent for writing and your involvement with all things internet you are perfect for this. congratumalations!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/12/2004 10:13:03 AM
Thanks, DVL and Matthew....I'm just going to look at it as a brief, fun chat with an interesting dude, and try not to think about all the other stuff. I tend to get really nervous in public speaking situations so I don't know how this'll turn out. The way I figure, if I make a total ass out of myself, at least I gave it a shot. And if it works out, it'll be something respectable to put on my resume.
The thing I think is funny about this is that once again I have fallen into something that I feel completely unqualified for. Maybe I should have gone for a career in biochemistry?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/12/2004 10:17:18 AM
By the way, I changed the way comments are displayed on both sites. Do you care?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.167.27.6
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/12/2004 11:24:26 AM
HELL YEAH! A very high five to you. The awesomeness of your style is paying off.
That's really cool of Air America to just choose people that have something worthwhile to say, rather than require that they have a smooth voice (which you may have, I don't know) and a "developed on-air persona."
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.174.237
URL:
DATE: 04/12/2004 02:20:51 PM
prefer the comments with newest on top, just like posts - but that's because my simple mind cannot handle the many subtleties of bloggingdom.
also, please please please let us know when you first piece goes up.
also also, you do have the talnt, humor and ability to do this - so don't feel unqualified you lout, just enjoy the break you (your talent, humor, and abilityu) deserve!
(damn talented people not thinking they have talent and not deserving shots at the big time and all...frggin' a)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wendy
EMAIL: wendy@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 172.171.241.19
URL: http://weirdsmobile.com/wendy
DATE: 04/12/2004 03:56:00 PM
That is really awesome! Will they eventually put a wacky picture of you on the web site too? Are you going to become too good for us and leave us? Does it start tonight?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wendy
EMAIL: wendy@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 172.171.241.19
URL: http://weirdsmobile.com/wendy
DATE: 04/12/2004 03:58:07 PM
By the way, I prefer comments the other way. Cuz, like now, people are going to read this first and be like "what the hell??". I like reading it like a conversation, in order.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 66.237.70.170
URL: http://realworldbloggerstyle.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/12/2004 04:24:48 PM
... and then she said "but i don't have a yeast infection, so why do you keep asking me?"
(i liked the comments better 'first in/first out')
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/12/2004 04:32:52 PM
Okay, it's 2 to 1 so far so the comments go back to old->new.
Despite the yeast infection comment.
Oh, and I'm going to be on the show Friday afternoon/evening sometime. Unless of course something goes very, very wrong! I think his show starts at 7pm Eastern.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 172.162.179.149
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/12/2004 10:14:56 PM
What about a yeast infection?
Congratulations on the gig!! That is the coolest! I'm sure you'll be brilliant as always. Valium or no Valium. Be sure to let us know when to tune in! =)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/13/2004 09:38:23 AM
Your Orkut cred is SOOO going to go up!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rachel
EMAIL: teenagesupervillain@yahoo.com
IP: 24.247.173.41
URL: http://roninneko.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/13/2004 03:23:28 PM
Sweeeeeet! Now I know someone who's almost famous, kind of! In all seriousness, though, I hope you get the gig 'cause you'll be awesome as always.
In the meantime, try not to morph into Cathy.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rengirl
EMAIL: imac@pixelsensei.com
IP: 12.22.65.5
URL:
DATE: 04/13/2004 05:07:26 PM
Awesome. I will do a crazy footdance behind my desk in celebration.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: groovebunny
EMAIL:
IP: 68.224.168.139
URL: http://groovebunny.diaryland.com
DATE: 04/13/2004 09:58:05 PM
How incredibly tres fantastic! :D Congratulations, you truly deserve this!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Susan
EMAIL: susan@flowerhead.com
IP: 66.173.50.118
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/tundrababe/
DATE: 04/14/2004 04:43:53 PM
Congrats! I've never heard this station, but I see they have Al Franken and Chuck D. Awesome!
I like the comments they way they are now, going from top-to-bottom. It's not a big deal for me either way, though. I have scrolling skills.
☄
A Day | 04.14.04 | 02:18:56 PM
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.106.83.29
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/14/2004 03:47:23 PM
Asian Bastard was the first blog that I thought wasn't dumb.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.173.174
URL:
DATE: 04/14/2004 06:35:40 PM
i have a lump in my throat...seriously. asian bastard was the best damn thing going - not all that talk about blogging and web design standards and all that computery stuff (which has its place of course), but rather, good old-fashioned hilaroius entertainment. i SO wanted to be you when i grew up...but then i realized i wasn't asian...damnit.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.193.9.80
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/14/2004 08:22:40 PM
"my balogna has a first name..." was the first tshirt logo of AB i saw, and it remains my favorite one. hey, can i have the fez? BSB, you're are, truly, my hero. (and i am not just saying that because i want the fez)(uh huh)
:
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Xkot
EMAIL: xkot@xkot.net
IP: 64.39.1.10
URL: http://xkot.net
DATE: 04/15/2004 04:27:59 AM
I'm tempted to go register it and start a memorial, but I'm afriad it would just sit around like the other 10 or so domains I own. Really though... I hope someone good registers it so the domain doesn't end up pointing to porn.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/15/2004 11:23:22 AM
DVL, you can have my fez...if I ever find it! I stashed it away somewhere during my last move, and it's been missing ever since!
Xkot...in a way I guess it would be a fitting memorial if Asian Bastard became a porn site. Maybe some kind of Asian-themed BDSM thing? Shit, I should have thought of this before the domain expired!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: xkot
EMAIL: xkot@xkot.net
IP: 24.28.152.96
URL: http://www.xkot.net
DATE: 04/15/2004 12:59:37 PM
Haha as I was clicking back to check your page again I thought "You know, he probably would get a kick out of it being a porn site." I was right!
Your idea about asian BDSM would probably be quite a hit, though. I'm sure there's an untapped market for it.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/15/2004 01:49:48 PM
Well, if Weirdsmobile ever goes under, maybe I can relaunch it as a Retro porn site, with a lot of Betty Page photos and stuff.
☄
A Day | 04.15.04 | 11:15:31 AM
Tomorrow is the day that I may or may not be doing that radio chat thing (I haven't heard from the producer all week, so I don't know if it's still on, or what!) and I had a couple of ideas for things to talk about. I want to solicit your opinions as fellow wireheads as to which you think are most topical and/or chat-worthy:
Virtual Economies: the buying and selling of intangible "virtual" products has become a thriving business. You have people selling magical items to Everquest players (Wired reports on a company that does nothing but sell this stuff), and now there's FunHi, where you pay actual money to buy each other virtual representations of gifts (diamond rings, watches, cars) in the form of little GIF icons. This is the one I'm currently going with.
Viral Marketing: Burger King's Subservient Chicken, the Decapitated Cat Ford commercial -- companies using bloggers and the Internet as no-cost marketing, distributing their ads to millions of people who might otherwise be ad-resistant.
Google's GMail E-mail Service and Amazon's A9 Search Engine: I haven't formed an opinion or any insight into this yet, but could...if properly motivated.
Moblogs: These aren't new, but I'm hearing about them more and more lately. Worth discussing? I have no idea!
I'm trying to keep in mind the audience -- I don't know what level of wiredness the typical Air America listener is on, but since the show is more of a general interest, "All Things Considered" kind of thing, I want to keep it on a broader level.
Anyway, any insights or opinions would be gratefully received, with much joyful weeping.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: xkot
EMAIL: xkot@xkot.net
IP: 24.28.152.96
URL: http://www.xkot.net
DATE: 04/15/2004 01:10:11 PM
I think the whole "let's pay to send each other gifs of shit" meme is very ripe for talking about, and I haven't heard it in any of the big media outlets yet.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/15/2004 01:44:42 PM
Jim: Thanks for the links! I remember reading something on Cnet the other day about the privacy issue. It seems to be generating some buzz. It's certainly a relevant angle...and the fact that it's like a gigabyte of storage and can store, what, years' worth of mail? I'm not sure whether to bring it up -- is it more of an "internet culture" type topic, or is it more tech-newsy?
Xkot: Gifs of shit. I like that.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.173.164
URL:
DATE: 04/15/2004 06:11:24 PM
i vote for "Virtual Economies" as well. that funhi thing blows me away.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.106.83.29
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/15/2004 06:25:08 PM
I guess the GMail situation is a concern for those invoved in internet culture, but not quite what you'd see as a special feature on a network newscast.
Probably not the best thing to go with if it's more of a light-hearted sort of affair in which a lot of explaining is going to bore people.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: The Raz
EMAIL: KevinRazban@msn.com
IP: 68.136.22.154
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/kevin
DATE: 04/15/2004 10:03:48 PM
Shit, Air America no longer "airs" in L.A. - at least for the time being. I suppose you should cater your stories to the casual NPR listener. I think the Gmail thing may still be too new to people. I think your first choice sounds like it could garner some laffs.
☄
A Day | 04.16.04 | 07:48:15 AM
The Air America thing looks to be taping in a few hours. No matter how it turns out, I have to admit that 75% of me doesn't want to do it. I mean, I know I have to do it, because it's good exposure and I can put "Air America contributor" in my list o' credentials. But there's something I don't love about being a talking head. I've been interviewed a couple of times before, once for a NY Times article on rejection slips (don't ask) and once by the Toronto Star for an article on Titanic (please...don't ask). Both times, it was a mixture of thrilling (NY Times OMG!!!11) and scary as shit (you feel like you're a bug living under a rock and someone just picked up the rock) and vaguely demeaning (being reduced to raw material for some disposable article).
Sometimes I feel like the only person left in America who has a problem with this. I loved the scenes in American Splendor with Harvey Pekar on Letterman, because his experience perfectly encapsulates the dilemma. You desperately need the exposure, but these guys don't give it to you for free. They want something out of you in return, and usually it's not something you want to give. So part of you hates what you're doing, has contempt for the other part of you that likes it, and is looking for any opportunity to fuck it up. What does Letterman say to Pekar? "You blew a good thing, Harvey," or something like that. And yeah, it's a good thing. But most people only remember Pekar as the freaky dude on Letterman.
Talk shows have two kinds of guests: A-list and Z-list. There's not much of a middle ground. Either you're a coveted guest of honor, or you're a trained seal act who gets dumped if the star babbles on a little longer than scheduled. You can be this distinguished man of letters, and you go on some talk show and you're reduced to a mouth-flapping face on the screen, or a monotonous drone you half-listen to while you're brushing your teeth. You're elevated and diminished at the same time. And in the end, nobody gives a shit because it's all about the show. You take your cut and go out the back door and wait until they call you again.
I'm not saying the prospect of fame and exposure doesn't attract and delight me. When I've been contacted for these things I've had fireworks go off in my head. I don't think you can be even halfway sane and not be pleased and honored. And obviously you can always say no -- nobody is holding a gun to my head and making me go on the air. But I think most people want success on their own terms, in their own way, preserving their dignity and image. Or don't they?
I think about cats like Faulkner and Fitzgerald flogging their wares in Hollywood, desperate to sell out because their towering genius, along with a dime, would buy a cup of coffee in this country. It probably killed them to do it. Does anyone feel hesitation about selling out anymore? Or is the culture so media-obsessed that it's just assumed that mass-media whoredom is a universal value?
So, I'm gonna do this talking head thing and if I don't screw up too badly maybe I'll get a regular slot. I'll get a few thousand hits to the website and freak out. I'll add Air America to my credits. And if it leads to something better down the road, then it'll have been worth the stress. And if not, then I'll disappointed, but also relieved to be able to crawl back under my nice, cozy rock.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 209.242.228.11
URL:
DATE: 04/16/2004 07:55:26 AM
buena suerta, hombre! make it as much yours as you can and try to enjoy it s much as possible!
just remember, you have ACTUAL TALENT - this seems to be right down your alley.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/16/2004 08:12:05 AM
Thank you, mi amigo, but while I am reasonably confident of not looking too ridiculous in print, being an on-air personality is something else altogether! But I shall do my best and, yes, try to make it as much my own as I can. That's probably the only way to come out of it unscathed.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 204.52.234.67
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/16/2004 01:07:31 PM
How did it go? When will it air?
☄
A Day | 04.16.04 | 01:45:46 PM
Holy shit, am I glad that's over!
So, they were supposed to call at 11, and 11 passed without a ring.
11:15.
11:20.
Sitting there staring at the phone. Forehead damp. Queasy.
11:30.
At this point I was wondering if they'd decided to cut me and didn't bother to let me know.
11:35.
I had to pee.
11:38.
I peed.
In the bathroom.
11:42
I get an "urgent" e-mail from the producer, saying that their mail server is down and can I call his office? I do, and he takes my number and says he'll call me back in 2-3 minutes.
11:50
I get another "urgent" e-mail from the producer, saying that he lost my number and can I call his office? I do, and he takes my number and says he'll call me back in 5 minutes.
11:55
He calls back, and I'm patched through to Marty.
11:56-1?:??
I honestly don't remember a whole lot of the actual interview. It was all kind of blurry and strange. I'm sure I came across as a total spaz, but you know, it wasn't that bad. I was afraid Marty was going to be one of those in-yo-face hosts, but he seemed pretty cool and laid back.
I'm kind of dreading hearing the actual broadcast. I know they'll edit out the stupider parts, at least I hope so.
I talked to the producer afterwards and he seemed really upbeat. He asked me if I thought there were enough topics to do this on a weekly basis, and I said there was plenty of bizarre shit out there to cover. So I guess I'm in!
Good Lord, though, I'm glad that's over. I think my spleen's been lodged in my armpit for the past week.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.106.83.29
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/16/2004 03:42:39 PM
And thus you are reborn a Radio Personality!
Awesome.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL:
IP: 66.84.173.242
URL:
DATE: 04/16/2004 04:24:46 PM
congratumalations, again! will there be a link or something we can download for those of us who missed it?
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/16/2004 04:27:58 PM
It's only half over, and my segment hasn't aired yet!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: B²
EMAIL: b@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 4.35.144.109
URL: http://www.weirdsmobile.com/b/
DATE: 04/16/2004 04:28:59 PM
They don't seem to have any archives up yet...which may be a good thing...we'll see...
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 66.237.70.170
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/16/2004 04:46:45 PM
*sigh*
my hero.
xoxo
☄
A Day | 04.17.04 | 04:36:14 AM
Thank you for your support and for putting up with all this radio angst this week. Now that the craziness has abated, at least until next Friday, let us return to the topic for which I am sure you stop by regularly: tedious introspection!!!
Outline of this morning's nebulous web of thots and impulses presented with bullet points for maximum readability:
I'm jonesing for Chinese food right now like you wouldn't believe.
I haven't slept more than four hours a night for the past week, with no naps. Last night I was so exhausted that I was dozing off at the kitchen sink, and fell asleep the moment my head hit the pillow, yet once again I woke up right on schedule, four hours later.
I woke up with a profound sense of unease and guilt, as if I'd committed some kind of misdeed. I couldn't quite place it, and no matter how many times I consulted the magic shrunken severed head of my upstairs neighbor, no answers came to me.
A heapin' helpin' of General Tso's Chicken would go down a treat.
That's all for now. Thanks for your consideration.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.196.98.215
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/17/2004 08:44:20 PM
... pass the sweet & sour sauce.
☄
A Day | 04.19.04 | 03:23:25 PM
Time expands and contracts. Saturday seems like a week ago.
Today, I feel simultaneously lighter of heart, and heavier. I feel more energetic than I have in a while, but there are all these minor notes coloring the melody.
I've been going to bed at absurdly early times (for me), like 8:30pm and 9pm, and waking up at 3am. It's like my brain has switched to Eastern time.
I spent a good deal of time yesterday on AIM. Just to see what would happen, I undid all of my privacy settings so any and all could see me. The result was disconcerting. An AIM/AOL Buddy List is like a room containing everyone you've ever met in your life. So, people you haven't spoken to in months or years suddenly show up, and they can see you. The question is, do you talk to them? An ex popped up in the list. I had previously blocked her screen name so as to avoid awkwardness. There was some awkwardness.
Emma, a friend I haven't heard from in over a year, IMed me. Now, I had originally distanced myself from her because she was an emotional vampire and a deep, deep abyss of neediness from which there was no escape. However, at some point in the intervening months I apparently forgot all of this, because she wanted to talk on the phone, and in accordance with my new policy of glasnost, I actually agreed. Two hours and one thrilling tale of family discord, alcohol abuse, nymphomania, violence, more nymphomania, cultural alienation, more alcohol abuse, and still more nymphomania later, I began to regret the whole glasnost thing. It wasn't the story so much as the fact that it was delivered in this nonstop, hyperactive flood that left me just sitting there going "Uh huh...yeah...wow." I guess a solid wall of blab is preferable to a vast chasm of awkward silence, but by the end I felt like a well-wrung-out sponge. Gotta remember to restore those privacy settings ASAP.
But sometime after that I got to chat a while with the funny and smart and sassy Miss H, which was extremely pleasant and groovy and washed away all the earlier crap.
Ever since I started taking the meds regularly again, my appetite has all but disappeared. So I keep forgetting to eat. Like, all day. And then at around...well, now, I start fading out and getting looopy and feeling faint. Of course, this inadvertent fasting isn't yielding any side benefits in terms of weight loss, which strikes me as rather bogus.
I'm going to go lie down now.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.175.134
URL:
DATE: 04/19/2004 05:15:37 PM
i always try stalking you but can never find your AIM name and then i get distracted by a pretty shiny object and forget what it was i was trying to do in the first place...
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@aol.com
IP: 172.192.89.89
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/20/2004 03:26:52 AM
this is the reason tonight i fell asleep at 9:30p and woke up at 3a.... i hate being a dollar short and a day late.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/21/2004 12:00:16 PM
thanks, The B! You're not bad at sassy yourself.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: groovebunny
EMAIL:
IP: 209.246.244.1
URL: http://groovebunny@diaryland.com
DATE: 04/22/2004 11:42:23 AM
I think being able to hold an intelligent and interesting IM is an art. One that I am not good at. So I usually hide incognito online while watching people sign on and off. Once in a while I'll wait until they've put the away sign up and then send over a message saying something like, "Hey sorry I missed ya. I hope you're doing well and I think of you often" just so they know I haven't forgotten about them. The danger in this however is they maybe lurking themselves and decide to answer my IM before I can set myself back to lurk mode. I have to admit though I haven't added the B to list yet, just cause I'm afraid of actually talking to you. Just cause you're so cool and all.:)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 209.242.228.11
URL:
DATE: 04/23/2004 10:00:00 AM
are you going to make us wait until your broadcast before we can find out what today's topic is going to be? oh you foul and heartless trickster!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/23/2004 01:24:23 PM
B talked to me on AIM once a few years ago. I suspect I scared him, as I was stuck in a hotel room during a show while my husband was wandering around having fun.
As for the appetite thing -- one of the big tricks to weight loss is to eat JUST ENOUGH of the RIGHT STUFF to make your body dip into the pantry but not think it's starving and has to hoard every little fat cell. Thus not eating doesn't really show weight loss until you've been at it, like, a month solide, and the fat is the last thing to go. Sucks, doesn't it?
☄
A Day | 04.16.04 | 01:45:46 PM
Well guys, as it turns out, I will not be on Air America. After giving the matter a good deal of thought, I decided not to continue. This may sound nuts, but as much as I enjoyed being on there last week, this gig just isn't for me. It's one of those things that sounded fantastic when it was first offered to me, but as it progressed it just became less and less what I wanted, to the point where I didn't believe in it or feel good about being part of it.
I realized today that the only reason I still wanted to do this was the cachet of being on national radio. And while I'm not dismissing the appeal of that, or the value of the exposure, it's just not worth the time and energy that I would need to put into it while everything else in my life suffered. What's important to me right now is my writing and my relationships with the people I care about, and if anything is going to impinge upon that, it had better be damned special...and this ain't that special.
For most of my life, I've stayed fairly true to my principles, even at the cost of material gains and career opportunities. Some would call that foolish, and I wouldn't blame them. And I'm not saying I don't look at the successes of people who went where I wouldn't and think, "Damn." Sure I do. But I just can't live any other way. Maybe that's my tragic downfall, I don't know. I can certainly see myself noble, proud, and living in a refrigerator box. And I'm not saying I haven't whored myself out in the past. I'm not pure by a long shot. But there is that point, you know, that you can't go beyond without losing something valuable, and I've just worked too hard to build that up to let it go for a tiny little taste of quasi-fame.
When I made the decision, a tremendous sense of relief washed over me, and hasn't gone away since. I think this is the right thing for me. Of the rules that govern my life choices, number one is to be true to yourself. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Rengirl
EMAIL: imac@pixelsensei.com
IP: 12.22.65.5
URL:
DATE: 04/23/2004 04:42:20 PM
You are too awesome. And the people that know you are lucky.
Sadly though, I missed your show last week so I'm kind of praying someone out there has a recording of it.
But still... I have a feeling this isn't even your last brush with fame.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Sherri
EMAIL: Sylkenvelvet@yahoo.com
IP: 68.59.165.165
URL: http://www.formyselfandothers.blogspot.com
DATE: 04/23/2004 06:39:05 PM
Those reasons are some of the ones that make me love you, B.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.106.83.29
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/23/2004 07:28:10 PM
I had no idea preparing for Air America was so intense!
That is a good rule to live by. And generally any decision on which you have sufficient information that you feel good about is usually the right decision. OK, enough obviousness stating here.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: matthew
EMAIL: bino1@hotmail.com
IP: 66.84.174.224
URL:
DATE: 04/23/2004 09:33:32 PM
i'd say "more power to ya" but i think you got it already. so i'll just say "bully for you!" and congrats on having made the hard decision and being happy with it!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wendy
EMAIL: wendy@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 172.131.255.163
URL: http://weirdsmobile.com/wendy
DATE: 04/24/2004 12:56:53 PM
That is exactly what happened to me two weeks ago! I got offered a job doing what I love to do at a time when I wasn't getting any job offers... but I was offered little money and I would have to relocate to a place where I wouldn't be very happy. And though it was foolish to turn my back on a possibly good career opportunity, I decided that it was about time that I stop following jobs above all else. I just want to be happy and comfortable. The fact that you feel the same way comforts me. The moment I said "no", as hard as it was, a huge weight was lifted off me and I felt like I could relax. I know as soon as the project airs on TV and I can't say I was a part of it, I'll be bummed for a short time, but it's better than being depressed for ten months.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: groovebunny
EMAIL: wabbit@groovebunny.com
IP: 68.224.168.139
URL: http://groovebunny.diaryland.com
DATE: 04/24/2004 10:27:14 PM
Good for you B. Sorry I missed your show last week. I did try and catch it this week, but found you weren't on. The very best thing is to be true to yourself and do what your heart tells you is right.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: misshannah@livejournal.com
IP: 68.42.114.87
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/25/2004 05:58:36 AM
I missed it too. I just found out, though, if you register as a "charter member" at Air America, you get access to audio archives. They don't exist yet, apparently they might. They say "Coming Soon."
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@gmail.com
IP: 172.197.177.86
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/27/2004 01:01:47 AM
i understand your decision, but you know this means you're going to have to phone me every friday at 4:30p and coo into the phone.
☄
A Day | 04.26.04 | 03:54:27 AM
It's 3 a.m. -- I'm afraid my pseudo-Eastern time zone, farmer's hours have come to an end. I can't sleep. I think because I had some semi-naps earlier in the evening while doing my Scary Ear Treatment (which requires me to lie down on my side).
You know what I love, is the smell of fresh tomatoes on the vine. I bought some today and I can't stop smelling them. It's unseemly, but I can't help it.
Why should it be so scary, to let someone in, to give them a good look at the real you? Why do we spend so much energy trying to protect ourselves. From what? Rejection? Judgment? It seems silly, in a way. I mean, how often do we experience some level of judgment and/or rejection in our everyday lives? Why should it matter if one person doesn't care for you, if there are a dozen others who do, or might?
Hannah made a perceptive observation the other day, that I have online journals because I want to reveal myself to people, but in a way such that I can control the image that I project, and construct the identity that I want to show others. I don't (generally) meet online friends in real life, because I can't, or it's harder to, control the image of me that they see. Everything I am most unhappy with in myself is right out there in the open for all to see.
This is actually why I'm so quiet around people I don't know well. Not so much shyness as self-consciousness. Real life moves faster than online life; you have less time to shape and form your image. The possibility of saying or doing something stupid looms large over every interaction. I suspect the one thing about me that would surprise most people is that I'm actually an unbelievable chatterbox. But that self -- the real(er) self -- only emerges on those ultra-rare occasions when I'm feeling completely un-self-conscious, when I'm not feeling...watched.
And beneath that there is the true self, which nobody has seen, or, in truth, would want to see. Trust me on that one.
But as much as we guard those real selves, we have that desire, don't we, to have those selves seen and accepted and cherished? We hope to meet someone who will venture down to those inner depths and see what is there, and not just accept it but resonate with it. I don't know that such a thing is even possible.
It's not even just that, either. We often punish the brave, loving souls who try to cross into those dangerous, forbidden zones. It's a cruel irony, isn't it, that we work hardest to repel those who come closest to being the ones we yearn to have in our lives. Knowing this, I do tend to take it in stride when I feel myself being pushed away. But, being human, I can't not be affected by that. Yes, it is possible to drive me away. I can't honestly claim otherwise. But, oh gosh, how sweet it can be when that doesn't happen, when we just relax and live and be happy, happy in each other and leaving the rest of the cold, stupid world at the door.
- - - Comments - - -
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 04/26/2004 06:21:14 AM
We hope to meet someone who will venture down to those inner depths and see what is there, and not just accept it but resonate with it. I don't know that such a thing is even possible.
I think it's possible to the extent that we will allow it.
But I also think we can't say "I will trust you IF you won't hurt me." I feel like we have to say "I will trust you and let you in knowing that you will hurt me at some point, even inadvertently, but that being inside with you is worth that risk."
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Wendy
EMAIL: wendy@weirdsmobile.com
IP: 172.149.195.69
URL: http://weirdsmobile.com/wendy
DATE: 04/26/2004 07:45:51 AM
You know, everyone goes through that. And I know for me, I would hope that you came off as "unhip", or I would be feeling too self conscious of myself to talk to you. It's only the people that you show your weaknesses to that become your true friends. Everyone else is just pretending.
I've become more and more comfortable lately with the knowledge that I'm not going to be friends with everyone. Being friends with everyone means having to compromise myself at some point. And I spent way too much time while growing up in the midwest, trying to fit in and be liked by people that were, ultimately, a huge waste of time.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: BOB
EMAIL: bob@agirlnamedbob.com
IP: 172.146.76.18
URL: http://agirlnamedbob.com
DATE: 04/26/2004 11:24:01 PM
I think I kind of know how you feel. It takes me quite a while to open up to people. It's weird with blogs though, because, of the handful of people I've met through them, it kind of cut through months of getting to know one another.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jim
EMAIL: chaos@corrupt.net
IP: 67.167.27.6
URL: http://chaos.corrupt.net
DATE: 04/26/2004 11:35:42 PM
James Hetfield actually says something along the same lines about opening up to people and exposing weaknesses:
"Yes, it definitely was difficult. That was one of the most difficult things of all. I had no humility and I felt that I couldn't show any weakness...
There's a lot of machoism in this world, but I suppose the most manly thing you can do is face up to your weaknesses and expose them. And you're showing strength by exposing your weaknesses to people. And that opens up a dialogue, it opens up friendships, which is definitely what it has done for me."
Much easier said than done, of course.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: dvl
EMAIL: dvloranger@gmail.com
IP: 172.197.177.86
URL: http://dvl.buzznet.com
DATE: 04/27/2004 01:06:48 AM
i love the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables.
(i watch you, but only when you're not looking)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: groovebunny
EMAIL: wabbit@groovebunny.com
IP: 209.246.244.1
URL: http://groovebunny@diaryland.com
DATE: 04/28/2004 02:58:25 PM
Sometimes I think the reason I m such a doting mom, and throw so much of my energy into being a strong figure for my wee one, is because I don t have anyone in my life with whom I can be vulnerable. Sure I m proud of the fact that I can make all his owies go away and soothe his fears, but at the end of the day, I find it a lonely situation not having anyone I can feel it s all right to show my weaknesses and vulnerabilities to.
Oh and I like the smell of fresh veggies and fruit too. I have a few tomatoe vines we grew from seed and one of my fave things to do is give it a good sniff after watering them. Yeah I know...I'm such a freak.:)
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: hannah
EMAIL: hannahw@med.umich.edu
IP: 141.214.129.152
URL: http://www.livejournal.com/users/misshannah
DATE: 05/12/2004 07:34:16 AM
And beneath that there is the true self, which nobody has seen, or, in truth, would want to see. Trust me on that one.
Not true.
☄
For Skattie.