Caught a post on my Tumblr dashboard today. While I appreciate Mr. Green’s passion, I have to call bullshit.
Give a read HERE
Publishing Shills Still Trying To Convince Us They Are Important
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Category Archives: General Nonsense
Let’s Talk About… (#1)
Hi. My name is Angry (Travis if you don’t like using internet nicknames), and I’m going to start a new discussion called “Let’s Talk About…” and each one will talk about something different that has to do with you, writing, editing, publishing, and possibly even reading.
Today, Let’s Talk About…Story Ideas
Right. So. You want to write a story/book, but you think your ideas are weak, or you cannot come up with good plot. Maybe you just need a little push to get going in one direction, and then as you get writing, it’s like a snowball roll down a mountain. Continue reading
Jenna Marbles Is More Popular Than You…
*cough*Good Morning America*cough* and some lady named Cecilia Vega.
There’s a reason why almost no one in the overall scope of possible viewers watches GMA anymore. The biggest reason is that when most of us wake up, we want our coffee, our shower, and our email, and not necessarily in that order. I’m forty years old and haven’t watched Good Morning America for at least twenty years. It should also be noted that I’m a modern American so I choose to get my news and feel-good stories from the internet instead of lame-ass mainstream network news/morning shows.
My news comes from aggregate lists at Google and SeattlePI.com where I can click on the interesting headlines and get multiple views of the same story. My feel-good stories tend to mostly come from places like Tumblr (go ahead, click the link and type in something relevant like ‘bullying’ or ‘LGBT’ or ‘suicide’ and tread through the vast amounts of heartfelt blogs, rants, and advice…I’ll wait). Continue reading
Still Not A Fan Of Twitter
As I’ve been slowly working on building a ‘cadre’ of ‘followers’ at Twitter, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Twitter for people like me, which is basically anyone that is trying to sell either themselves or their product, is nothing better than a giant flea market with tens of thousands of stalls all packed into one Expo Center and every stall has a person shouting at the top of their lungs the wares they are offering.
I won’t say that Twitter isn’t going to end up being useful, and for the moment it is kind of interesting that I can tweet morons like Rep. Mike Rogers of Michigan (@RepMikeRogers) who claim that the CISPA bill making its way through Congress is only being opposed by ‘14 year olds living in the basement‘. Continue reading
Apologies: What, When, and How by John Scalzi
A very, very good blog post by author John Scalzi on apologies and apologizing. Please give this a read and make the world a better place.
First thing: What is an apology? Leaving aside classical definitions that are not directly on point to how the word is used in everyday life:
An apology is an admission that you’ve wronged others and that you are actually sorry for it. This is of course why it’s difficult for people to apologize. No one likes to admit they are wrong or that they screwed up. No one likes the complicated, defeated feelings that come with being wrong and screwing up. No one likes having to go to other people, publicly or privately, and admit to them they’ve been wrong and have screwed up. It is, literally, humiliating, since apologizing almost always requires humility and a willingness to put the needs of those you have wronged over your own. For ego-bound creatures, and we are all ego-bound, this is a hard thing to do.
I think it becomes less hard, however, if you consider the following:
One, everyone’s wrong at some point. Because, hello, you’re a human, and humans are imperfect beings. It’s okay to recognize you are not infallible.
Two, it’s better to center your ego on doing what’s right rather than never being wrong. Because, per point one, you’re going to be wrong at some point.
Can You Save A Life Over The Internet?
So last night while I was tooling around Tumblr, I happened to come across a post on someone’s blog (she runs a sort of anti-bullying blog and she’s awesome). As you can see below, it was fairly disturbing:
every-one-is-mad-here: Would anyone here be pissed off or Sad if I committed suicide today? Seriously considering it.
If this was ten years ago, I might have not cared much, or worse, thought it was some cry for attention. Keep in mind I haven’t always been the nicest or most caring guy for a big chunk of my life. But over the last decade or so, I’ve had a huge shift in my thinking. Continue reading
The America Is Full Of Stupids #1
I had a pleasant dream the other day. The dream was that America was full of intelligent people who actually read books, newspapers, and websites that were full of facts. An America where an opinion was something that you maybe didn’t agree with, but were at least respectful enough to allow that someone else might have a different one than yours. An America that wasn’t full of mindless drool-tards that got their information from one source and tweeted/tumbld/facebooked it the instant they saw it instead of actually checking to see if information was factual or just opinion.
But then I woke up. Continue reading
Naked, Wandering Child…
Right. So. I’m sitting here just taking a quick view through Tumblr, and I’ve got my noise-canceling headphones on, and I notice my cats acting all crazy like a drug-crazed lunatic has just jumped our back fence and is attacking a tree or something. Whenever anyone walks along the canal behind our place, and they are in the back yard, they get REALLY HUGE and puffy and run inside the house and act freaky.
The other time they do this is when the doorbell rings. Normally I hear it, but like I said, I’m diddy-bopping on the internet with my headphones on. Cats are freaking out, I wander out back to see what the drug-crazed weirdo is doing, but no one is there. So I go to the front door and look out the little window, and I see an older lady from the neighborhood at my doorstep with her big German Shepard on a leash. Continue reading
Superior Cat Litter Box For Cheap!
So first I have to tell you that we have 6 (SIX!) cats. Do NOT ask me how we came to the conclusion that having this many cats would be a good thing. It is not. None of them have a job. None of them pick up after themselves. All of them leave hair, hairballs, puke, and shredded human items everywhere. The one thing they do NOT leave around the house though is their urine/feces. This is because for the last ten years or so I have been using my own custom-made litter boxes.
We start doing weird, deviant things when Dad is messing with our litter boxes!
I’ll tell you how to save some money, and possibly make your life easier.
Amazon.com = Still My Favorite Company
So first, let’s see the commercial, because while it might not have broken much new ground for its main message, it is the first time I’ve seen this type of secondary message. And I’m damn angry it has taken this long for anyone to take a chance, but at the same time, the respect and loyalty I already have for Amazon.com has just skyrocketed even more. And my wife and I already love Amazon even more than rednecks love WalMart (or NASCAR. Or Larry the Cable Guy. Or Country music. Okay, you get it, I’ll stop).
Right. So.
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT work for Amazon, nor am I paid by Amazon for any endorsement. I am an Amazon Prime member, and I’m also an Amazon KDP (e-book self-publishing service) member.
Because I know at some point, some pinhead is going to come shout out about how I’m either an Amazon shill, or I am pushing the homosexual agenda. You agenda-accusers just hold on, I’ll get to you in a minute. Continue reading