Now comes the decision time. I am working on a format for the languages so that we can add them as the information is filled in. We need to have a rough draft of language choices so that we can find people to sponsor those languages in the group.
Here's my proposed draft. If you want to add or discount any languages, leave comments and we'll talk.
English
Spanish
French
German
Portugese
Russian
Japanese
Mandarin Chinese
Arabic
Farsi
Hebrew
Modern Greek
Ancient Greek
Latin
Esperanto
This list can be added or amended as seen fit. Also, anyone that is interested in helping set up the formats for the new blog language centers is encouraged to send me a PM. Once we get a rough draft of the language choices I will be accepting sponsors for each language.
Ze Baron
Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
CONGRATS, CONTACTS
Dearest Contacts,
You who read this have made it through the annual spring contact-list purge. Well, I shouldn't objectify it like that. It's just that I have found that I'm having less and less time than I have had in the winter months, and so with that comes cuts. I haven't been able to spend as much time online as I'd like, but I still have enough time to write the occasional blog, keep up on PMs and comments, and read some of my contacts' stuff. Thing is, I had 85 contacts. After some deliberation, I scanned my list a few time and here we are now, 36 contacts less. Now I'm at 59.
Anyway, I want you all to know that the reason I'm telling you about this. I pruned my list so that I could have more time to visit you 59, who I would classify as closer friends whom I see more often. I sent PMs to all 36 I removed, so please, I'm not the type to have a feelings hanging in the air between us. The only way to solve a problem is to acknoweldge it. Remember that about me!
So, you all know that I started Y!360 Refugees... well, I am a member of a group called "World Languages: Language Exchange." This group has a little over 2,000 members. Since I have a fair understanding of German, I was looking for a place where I could polish my skills a bit more. Frankly, this group is dead in the water. I contacted the admin to see if I could be added as an admin and he went ahead and did it. He said as long as I don't turn it into a spammy place or sell out, presumably meaning I using it for marketing, then I have free reign. I hope to get the group in better shape so it's much more active and basically better.
Y!360 Refugees is exactly six months old for the next twenty minutes until midnight. I posted a quick blog about it over at the group. I actually started the group the day after I set up my account, so this is the six-month-plus-one-day anniversary of "The Guilty Bystanders" on Multiply. Well, overall, I think it's been an awesome six months. I can't believe it's been that long. Does it seem like that long?
I have probably been to 360 less than a dozen times since Oct 16. I didn't think that I could let go of it that fast -- it just goes to show how good Multiply is. I've heard around that 360 has had another flare up of glitches. I guess that just reassures me why I am here and not there.
Retrospecting, I remember a few bloggers at 360 I knew who were particularly resistant to leaving. If you think you know who I'm talking about, well, I'm talking about them and plus a few other people. I think it was amusing how they didn't want to move -- wouldn't move! -- and ended up moving. I would bet my TV that they moved because their readership moved. There was no one to read their blogs!
I even know of a person who has since blocked me who cites their featured-bloggership on 360 here on their Multiply page. That probably gives it away. The point is, though, that that isn't relevant here. This is Multiply, not 360. But in a broader stroke, this is the blogosphere. It isn't a popularity contest to see who can get ahead. The vanity of it is what amuses me. How quick priorities change once the tides shift. I guess that's how people are, though.
I don't want to make any mistakes about why I'm here -- to get my thoughts in the air but also to get comments and see what other people think about what I have to say. The feedback is important to me.
I guess we're all here for different reasons. Opinions welcome, as always, but this is one's written more for myself. Contacts-only so I'd hope we can keep it that way....
-Ze Baron
You who read this have made it through the annual spring contact-list purge. Well, I shouldn't objectify it like that. It's just that I have found that I'm having less and less time than I have had in the winter months, and so with that comes cuts. I haven't been able to spend as much time online as I'd like, but I still have enough time to write the occasional blog, keep up on PMs and comments, and read some of my contacts' stuff. Thing is, I had 85 contacts. After some deliberation, I scanned my list a few time and here we are now, 36 contacts less. Now I'm at 59.
Anyway, I want you all to know that the reason I'm telling you about this. I pruned my list so that I could have more time to visit you 59, who I would classify as closer friends whom I see more often. I sent PMs to all 36 I removed, so please, I'm not the type to have a feelings hanging in the air between us. The only way to solve a problem is to acknoweldge it. Remember that about me!
So, you all know that I started Y!360 Refugees... well, I am a member of a group called "World Languages: Language Exchange." This group has a little over 2,000 members. Since I have a fair understanding of German, I was looking for a place where I could polish my skills a bit more. Frankly, this group is dead in the water. I contacted the admin to see if I could be added as an admin and he went ahead and did it. He said as long as I don't turn it into a spammy place or sell out, presumably meaning I using it for marketing, then I have free reign. I hope to get the group in better shape so it's much more active and basically better.
Y!360 Refugees is exactly six months old for the next twenty minutes until midnight. I posted a quick blog about it over at the group. I actually started the group the day after I set up my account, so this is the six-month-plus-one-day anniversary of "The Guilty Bystanders" on Multiply. Well, overall, I think it's been an awesome six months. I can't believe it's been that long. Does it seem like that long?
I have probably been to 360 less than a dozen times since Oct 16. I didn't think that I could let go of it that fast -- it just goes to show how good Multiply is. I've heard around that 360 has had another flare up of glitches. I guess that just reassures me why I am here and not there.
Retrospecting, I remember a few bloggers at 360 I knew who were particularly resistant to leaving. If you think you know who I'm talking about, well, I'm talking about them and plus a few other people. I think it was amusing how they didn't want to move -- wouldn't move! -- and ended up moving. I would bet my TV that they moved because their readership moved. There was no one to read their blogs!
I even know of a person who has since blocked me who cites their featured-bloggership on 360 here on their Multiply page. That probably gives it away. The point is, though, that that isn't relevant here. This is Multiply, not 360. But in a broader stroke, this is the blogosphere. It isn't a popularity contest to see who can get ahead. The vanity of it is what amuses me. How quick priorities change once the tides shift. I guess that's how people are, though.
I don't want to make any mistakes about why I'm here -- to get my thoughts in the air but also to get comments and see what other people think about what I have to say. The feedback is important to me.
I guess we're all here for different reasons. Opinions welcome, as always, but this is one's written more for myself. Contacts-only so I'd hope we can keep it that way....
-Ze Baron
SIX-MONTH CHECKUP
Y!360 Refugees is six months old on the dime. I didn't even realize it until I was writing a post at another group.
I set up my Multiply page on October 16, 2007. I set up Y!360 Refugees on October 17, 2007. Here we are now, exactly six months later, with over 1,900 members in the group. At current count, right now, at 6:51 PM EST, we need 76 more members to hit 2,000. It would really finish off my already remarkable day.
In case you haven't visited our homepage in quite some time, I've partially rewritten our Welcome Message and added a group badge that you also can add to your page. The gem of the collection is the tagged content boxes that I set up a few weeks back. They are organized by "Basic Tutorials," "Tips," "Group Information," and "Multiply Info." The way it works is that when I post blogs, I set the tags to that they to to whichever module is appropriate. "Basic Tutorials" is for things that are a need-to-know for someone who's just starting out at Multiply or even someone who has been here a while. "Tips" are things that are nice to know that make your experience here better. Both of these modules typically include explicit instructions, screenshots, or videos eloquently illustrate how something can be done. "Group Information" includes things that you need to know about this group, or things that concern us as former Yahooers. "Multiply Info" contains up-to-date information, sort of like a current events headquarters. This includes briefings on posts at the official blog, as well as things that concern me and you as members of the Multiply community.
As a sort of celebration, I think that any members that feel so inclined should post a review here at the group. I'm sure many of you have ideas that are already bubbling in your heads, however, if you don't... write a review about what you think of Multiply. What's the best part? What makes it better than 360? Write a review about this group. What's the best part? What changes do you like? If the group has a fuller reviews section, we can show our group pride.
Secondly, I want you guys to do me a favor. We have 1924 members as of right now. I invited about two dozen acquantences from another group I admin to join here, which gave me an idea. To top 2,000 members, I'd like to see each person who reads this invite at least one person into the group. (I can hear you groan behind your computer screens.)
It's really not that hard, though. I assumed that all my contacts were in the group -- it turns out, I found at least three that were not. All you have to do is go through your list of people you know who came from 360 until you find one person who is not in the group. Copy their username under their headshot. Then come back to YRefs, and on the right under our headshot you'll see "Invite Members." Click there (or here.) Paste their name (or a few names, seperated line by line.) Then you can edit the invite at the bottom however you please. My suggestion is to include a personal message at the top, then leave the "Group Description" so they know what we're about. Please note that new content is only viewable by group members.
If we could break 2,000 members by tonight, or even over the weekend, it would make me happy plus provide an infusion of fresh faces into our community. Bear in mind that members don't have to be from 360. I boast about our help files as I think they're some of the best in the cyber-land. Non-360'ers can appreciate that too!
Anyway, today's been a big day. I wish this group another healthy six months!
Ze Baron
Admin
I set up my Multiply page on October 16, 2007. I set up Y!360 Refugees on October 17, 2007. Here we are now, exactly six months later, with over 1,900 members in the group. At current count, right now, at 6:51 PM EST, we need 76 more members to hit 2,000. It would really finish off my already remarkable day.
In case you haven't visited our homepage in quite some time, I've partially rewritten our Welcome Message and added a group badge that you also can add to your page. The gem of the collection is the tagged content boxes that I set up a few weeks back. They are organized by "Basic Tutorials," "Tips," "Group Information," and "Multiply Info." The way it works is that when I post blogs, I set the tags to that they to to whichever module is appropriate. "Basic Tutorials" is for things that are a need-to-know for someone who's just starting out at Multiply or even someone who has been here a while. "Tips" are things that are nice to know that make your experience here better. Both of these modules typically include explicit instructions, screenshots, or videos eloquently illustrate how something can be done. "Group Information" includes things that you need to know about this group, or things that concern us as former Yahooers. "Multiply Info" contains up-to-date information, sort of like a current events headquarters. This includes briefings on posts at the official blog, as well as things that concern me and you as members of the Multiply community.
As a sort of celebration, I think that any members that feel so inclined should post a review here at the group. I'm sure many of you have ideas that are already bubbling in your heads, however, if you don't... write a review about what you think of Multiply. What's the best part? What makes it better than 360? Write a review about this group. What's the best part? What changes do you like? If the group has a fuller reviews section, we can show our group pride.
Secondly, I want you guys to do me a favor. We have 1924 members as of right now. I invited about two dozen acquantences from another group I admin to join here, which gave me an idea. To top 2,000 members, I'd like to see each person who reads this invite at least one person into the group. (I can hear you groan behind your computer screens.)
It's really not that hard, though. I assumed that all my contacts were in the group -- it turns out, I found at least three that were not. All you have to do is go through your list of people you know who came from 360 until you find one person who is not in the group. Copy their username under their headshot. Then come back to YRefs, and on the right under our headshot you'll see "Invite Members." Click there (or here.) Paste their name (or a few names, seperated line by line.) Then you can edit the invite at the bottom however you please. My suggestion is to include a personal message at the top, then leave the "Group Description" so they know what we're about. Please note that new content is only viewable by group members.
If we could break 2,000 members by tonight, or even over the weekend, it would make me happy plus provide an infusion of fresh faces into our community. Bear in mind that members don't have to be from 360. I boast about our help files as I think they're some of the best in the cyber-land. Non-360'ers can appreciate that too!
Anyway, today's been a big day. I wish this group another healthy six months!
Ze Baron
Admin
Changes in "World Languages: Language Exchange"
Hello group members,
I have been a member of this group for a while now. Every time I came here to poke around or make a comment, I've noticed little things that I thought could be done to make this group a better place. After thinking it over, I asked the groups founder, vilius, if I could be appointed to admin position to help him out with the group. He gladly accepted my invitation.
About myself... in October 2007, I founded a group here on Multiply the day after I set up my first account. Now, exactly six months later, the group has over 1,900 members. I feel that I'm qualified to admin here at World Languages.
Don't worry, the group will remain fundamentally the same. You will, however, be seeing changes every time you come back to the group in the coming weeks. The first change I have made is to restrict the use of blogs to admin only. That is standard policy in a lot of large and successful groups like User Support, Multiply Customized Themes, Multiply Design, and my group, among others. Unless further reason presents itself, no further restrictions will be placed on what content can be posted. The reason this is done is to provide the "official" and most relevant information in the group, with members content located separately so members can find exactly what they want more quickly.
Anyway, I am glad to be able to help admin at this group. If you have any concerns about this group, PM me or vilius but please realize I will defer to him. Suggestions are most gratefully appreciated.
-Ze Baron
Saturday, April 12, 2008
ODE TO PENNSYLVANIA
Well, Barack Obama is a typical liberal.
This is basically what he said:
Why, as it happens, I spent two hours shooting clay pigeons with my shotgun on Friday and tomorrow I'm going to mass. I've shot for a while now, I've always gone to church. The same with my father and grandfather. Is Obama proposing that areas that have a plethora of jobs are "past" religion and arms?
I don't take offense at his comment. He's allowed to make himself look like an ignorant ass. I'm terrified at the implications of his comment, though. He's shown his incompetence before (like justifying his friendship with Rev. Wright by throwing his white grandmother under the bus.) I am scared by how his mind operates. He says we cling to religion and guns. No, see, religion and guns are part of America. This isn't like how those crazy Mormons cling to polgamy. I read that comment as he thinks he's above or beyond religion and guns.
Now, I honestly think that Hillary will win Pennsylvania by a narrow-to-medium margin. There's no way she can sweep the state. I also think there is a very slim chance Obama will actually "take it" at all. Something that I've found... interesting: Those annoying yard signs.
I've never gotten one of those before for my yard. What's interesting, though, is that there is a huge proliferation of them, a huge amount that I've never seen before. People are genuinely interested in this election. I have faith in democracy! Why, it's the first time I'm proud of my country in my adult life! (*drips with sarcasm*)
Anyway, there's the unprecidented amount of those signs. The large majority are for Congress as our district's representative isn't running for reelection. There are some presidential ones. Guess, right now, which candidate has the majority of the signs in semi-rural conservative small-town PA?
Ha, fooled you! It's Ron Paul. It scares me to say that the most signs go to Paul. Ever see those huge signs for Paul in the dumpy pick ups? I think Obama captures the blacks, Hillary, the chicks, and Paul the folks who need new trucks.
Though... I'm proud to announce that I haven't seen a single Obama sign, but more to that later. Second place comes Hillary with an alarming number of signs. Disappointingly I haven't seen any McCain signs but I suspect that is because he has clinched the nomination and the GOP HQ hasn't set up yet. I doubt they (or the Dem's HQ) will until their respective conventions.
If you drive down my street, the house that is directly at the end (across the perpendicular road) has a Hillary sign. It's like a "T". Their house is right across from where the verticle part hits the horizontal part. I live on the verticle part.
I get angry every time I have to pull in my street by that sign. I have vowed to get a McCain sign for my front yard just as soon as they are available. I could call the campaign and have them send me one...!
Anyway, so yes... something that I notice that frankly scared me is that there is a "Obama For America" center downtown. They rented this tiny little commercial outfit. It's amusing, though. They don't even have any official signs or stickers in the windows. They're all hand-made! Kinda reminds me of this pic I saw online:
So, anyway, what with so many Hillary signs I think she's got everywhere but Philly, Johnstown, and Pittsburgh locked up. I'm actually really excited about this because it will give her more of a fighting chance, hopefully dragging the fight to June if not the convention!
Anyway, I think this is the best thing that could happen to the GOP. In 2006 the GOP lost a majority in Congress... politicos were calling for a trouncing in 2008... Hillary emerges as a front runner... Obama fights her... McCain, a right-leaning centrist with liberal tendencies (admittedly not the ideal conservative candidate) clinches the nomination... Hill and Obama scraping for candidates late into the game... PA will prolong the fight... the Dems divide... the angry voters head to the semi-lib McCain... happy GOP POTUS!
-Ze Baron
This is basically what he said:
Obama was describing how jobs had been disappearing in small towns in Pennsylvania and across the Midwest for 25 years with nothing to replace them. He then added: 'It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment, or anti-trade sentiment, as a way to explain their frustrations.'Well, I live in a smallish medium town of 15,000 people. Jobs have been disappearing. People are mad about that, sure, but we aren't bitter. Our town has adapted and developed into other industries after the traditional manufacturing jobs have started drying up.
Why, as it happens, I spent two hours shooting clay pigeons with my shotgun on Friday and tomorrow I'm going to mass. I've shot for a while now, I've always gone to church. The same with my father and grandfather. Is Obama proposing that areas that have a plethora of jobs are "past" religion and arms?
I don't take offense at his comment. He's allowed to make himself look like an ignorant ass. I'm terrified at the implications of his comment, though. He's shown his incompetence before (like justifying his friendship with Rev. Wright by throwing his white grandmother under the bus.) I am scared by how his mind operates. He says we cling to religion and guns. No, see, religion and guns are part of America. This isn't like how those crazy Mormons cling to polgamy. I read that comment as he thinks he's above or beyond religion and guns.
Now, I honestly think that Hillary will win Pennsylvania by a narrow-to-medium margin. There's no way she can sweep the state. I also think there is a very slim chance Obama will actually "take it" at all. Something that I've found... interesting: Those annoying yard signs.
I've never gotten one of those before for my yard. What's interesting, though, is that there is a huge proliferation of them, a huge amount that I've never seen before. People are genuinely interested in this election. I have faith in democracy! Why, it's the first time I'm proud of my country in my adult life! (*drips with sarcasm*)
Anyway, there's the unprecidented amount of those signs. The large majority are for Congress as our district's representative isn't running for reelection. There are some presidential ones. Guess, right now, which candidate has the majority of the signs in semi-rural conservative small-town PA?
Ha, fooled you! It's Ron Paul. It scares me to say that the most signs go to Paul. Ever see those huge signs for Paul in the dumpy pick ups? I think Obama captures the blacks, Hillary, the chicks, and Paul the folks who need new trucks.
Though... I'm proud to announce that I haven't seen a single Obama sign, but more to that later. Second place comes Hillary with an alarming number of signs. Disappointingly I haven't seen any McCain signs but I suspect that is because he has clinched the nomination and the GOP HQ hasn't set up yet. I doubt they (or the Dem's HQ) will until their respective conventions.
If you drive down my street, the house that is directly at the end (across the perpendicular road) has a Hillary sign. It's like a "T". Their house is right across from where the verticle part hits the horizontal part. I live on the verticle part.
I get angry every time I have to pull in my street by that sign. I have vowed to get a McCain sign for my front yard just as soon as they are available. I could call the campaign and have them send me one...!
Anyway, so yes... something that I notice that frankly scared me is that there is a "Obama For America" center downtown. They rented this tiny little commercial outfit. It's amusing, though. They don't even have any official signs or stickers in the windows. They're all hand-made! Kinda reminds me of this pic I saw online:
So, anyway, what with so many Hillary signs I think she's got everywhere but Philly, Johnstown, and Pittsburgh locked up. I'm actually really excited about this because it will give her more of a fighting chance, hopefully dragging the fight to June if not the convention! Anyway, I think this is the best thing that could happen to the GOP. In 2006 the GOP lost a majority in Congress... politicos were calling for a trouncing in 2008... Hillary emerges as a front runner... Obama fights her... McCain, a right-leaning centrist with liberal tendencies (admittedly not the ideal conservative candidate) clinches the nomination... Hill and Obama scraping for candidates late into the game... PA will prolong the fight... the Dems divide... the angry voters head to the semi-lib McCain... happy GOP POTUS!
-Ze Baron
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON BARON
This is your brain.
If you look carefully, you can see me on the left.
I'm often there while not at work.
If you look carefully, you can see me on the left.
I'm often there while not at work.
This is my brain.
I think that captures it much more eloquently than the fried sheep brains that I was thinking about using. Now don't get me wrong... my problem is that I have the hardest time starting something, such as, ehh, a blog or a project until the very last minute. The thing is, I do much better work when under pressure than if I have a long time to do it. 99% of the blogs I write are just me typing as it flows from my head with absolutely no proofreading or drafting or anything like that. I spellcheck as I type because I have a spellchecker installed on Firefox but I don't often pay attention because I actually can spell...
And now I'll bore you with some introspection.
My mind is sort of running at full power even when I don't need it or don't want to be. Trying to sleep? Try to get started on something? Trying to play tennis? It's nuts. I really admire my mind (I talk of it like a 3rd party, thank you) because once I'm focused on something like writing a blog, doing something at work, reading a book, or anything that requires attention I do it much better than most people can. I don't mean to brag... I just balanced with a weakness, so there.
Online a lot of people have remarked that I have a dry sense of humor. I find it odd that people can even pick this up online when the only form of expression is words and we basically have to take them at face value since there's no body language or tone associated except for what's conveyed in the text. In real life, though, I find that I guess I sort of have a funny effect on people. I like to think I'm a serious person, and often I am, but I guess the dryness has a sort of effect on people. That's why I included "Dry as a martini" on the Welcome Section of my page.
I guess I see that as a place that newcomers to my page first see, aside from the site title, so that needs to convey "me." I threw in a few quotes that I like, at least until another comes along, plus some words that I've come across that I sort of liked and think, perhaps naïvely, that seem to describe me. I didn't know a lot of those words until I looked them up and thought, neat! I hate uptight English rules but I love words. I dislike grammar but the best way to irk me is to make dumb spelling or grammar mistakes like switching "to" and "too" or "Send me reply's"... even awkward use of commas.
I get teased for having OCD. Now I'm not a paranoid basket case but I think I have slight OCD... which I'll call perfectionism. That might be why I can do things so well. I don't settle for less which often drives other people mad that I keep redoing things. Back to the OCD... I have five books I'm reading right now, four of which are on my nightstand and one of which I carry with me (and it's heavy at 973 pages...) The four books on my stand are stacked from largest to smallest according to cover size. All the novels on my bookcase are stacked upright according to height with the hardcovers grouped separately. Thankfully my DVD collection is not alphabetized... the good ones are in the front and the bad ones are in the back.
A while back I said that I thought I was serious. In most matters I am serious, but if you read my blog religiously (which likely totals to no one since a remarkable chunk of my list doesn't even come around to leave an insincere comment on my front page that they've left on all their other friends' pages) you'll remember I took up tennis. I'll be Frank and you'll be Nancy. I am not good at tennis. A lot of people are better than me, but I guess you start out at the bottom. I'm gradually improving and am proud to announce I lost my last match 4-8 which made me very happy. Anyway, when the other people I play with lose, they get mad and gloomy, but when I lost that game, I was probably the happiest person there. That was a major improvement for me and that made me happy when any self-respecting tennis player wouldn't show his face on a court for two weeks with that game.
This is probably going to be my longest blog ever because I'm just frothing at the mouth. If you've gotten here, go get a drink. I doubt most people will even read this far and then they'll make a dumb comment about the pictures at the top and nothing else.
I watched the movie "The Last Holiday" a few days ago because an acquaintance was going to watch it and I had nothing much better to do. First, Queen Latifah's calling is not as an actress. Maybe that's why she's on those diet commercials now... Anyway, it's about this woman who works minimum wage, takes a lot of crap, then gets diagnosed with a tumor and she'll die in three weeks. She tells of her boss, quits her job, liquidates her savings, and goes on a vacation to Europe where she goes BASE jumping and spends all her money. A Senator, Congressman, and business exec (the CEO of the company she quit) are there and they assume she's someone powerful. Anyway, that's all irrelevant. The point I got from the movie was that she didn't worry so much about stepping on people's toes because she didn't have to worry about what they thought of her after three weeks.
She wasn't rude, though. And in case you were wondering, her doctor got a used MRI machine that led to a false diagnosis. So that's what I'm thinking about as I write this blog. Twice there I called out these people I see on these sites who are doing it for superficial reasons. I've always wanted to tell them off but it's not really nice to do that to they're faces because they'll sic their superficial friends on you. Since most of these people either won't think it's them or won't bother to read my blogs let alone long ones, I'm confidant. Plus, I'll handle the fallout should there be any.
Another thing that amuses me is when people send me PMs asking if I have a problem with them and that's why I'm ignoring them. The answer is no. I think these people don't know me very well. If I have a problem with someone, I will make it clear by sending them a PM kindly outlining my grievances. If I remove someone without PMing them it's because they didn't care enough to come by my page at all during our friendship so why should I waste five seconds of my life sending them a PM explaining it?
I don't have as much time as I used to. This time of year is always busy for me. It gets better from this point out. I still have time to check PMs, read comments, and check out interesting blogs. Thing is, like I said above, I have problems starting things. Tonight I have absolutely nothing to do so after spending an hour writing this blog, I think I'll take a nap and then watch Fox or Glenn Beck. I watch the news for fun.
I often have enough time to write blogs even during this busy time, the thing is that I usually have to take a while to psych up for starting. Once I start a blog, though, it's easy... I just don't often have the time to start it. I started this one with the intention of posting two pictures and four sentences tops. Ha, well, look where that's got us.
I bet that most of the people who started this haven't gotten to here. These are the blogs that, when I'm reading, either bore me or intrigue me. I don't blame the people who didn't finish it but I think it's in poor form to only comment about the first two paragraphs. Then it makes you look ignorant. I've done it before.
I mixed up my page theme and now I'm using an ad for the '70 Camaro. I bet you, dear reader, that someone is going to make a comment on my front page about where Marilyn went since my last fiftyzillion themes were of Marilyn. And then you and I can laugh at them because we'll both know they didn't read this blog and are just trying to make superficial conversation.
Some people are going to be shocked by my ridiculing of these people. See, this is the type of blog written by a jaded baron. That link there defines jaded as "made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience." That's right: Life has made me cynical and blogging has reaffirmed it. I'd by no means call myself bitter, no, no, but rather jaded. In fact, I'll add "jaded" to my word bank in my welcome message right before "misanthropic" which is just a fancy word for cynical.
This sort of reminds me of "A Different Kind of Love Song" by Cher... opening lines: "What if the world was crazy and I was sane/ Would it be so strange"
Would it?
Ze Baron
And now I'll bore you with some introspection.
My mind is sort of running at full power even when I don't need it or don't want to be. Trying to sleep? Try to get started on something? Trying to play tennis? It's nuts. I really admire my mind (I talk of it like a 3rd party, thank you) because once I'm focused on something like writing a blog, doing something at work, reading a book, or anything that requires attention I do it much better than most people can. I don't mean to brag... I just balanced with a weakness, so there.
Online a lot of people have remarked that I have a dry sense of humor. I find it odd that people can even pick this up online when the only form of expression is words and we basically have to take them at face value since there's no body language or tone associated except for what's conveyed in the text. In real life, though, I find that I guess I sort of have a funny effect on people. I like to think I'm a serious person, and often I am, but I guess the dryness has a sort of effect on people. That's why I included "Dry as a martini" on the Welcome Section of my page.
I guess I see that as a place that newcomers to my page first see, aside from the site title, so that needs to convey "me." I threw in a few quotes that I like, at least until another comes along, plus some words that I've come across that I sort of liked and think, perhaps naïvely, that seem to describe me. I didn't know a lot of those words until I looked them up and thought, neat! I hate uptight English rules but I love words. I dislike grammar but the best way to irk me is to make dumb spelling or grammar mistakes like switching "to" and "too" or "Send me reply's"... even awkward use of commas.
I get teased for having OCD. Now I'm not a paranoid basket case but I think I have slight OCD... which I'll call perfectionism. That might be why I can do things so well. I don't settle for less which often drives other people mad that I keep redoing things. Back to the OCD... I have five books I'm reading right now, four of which are on my nightstand and one of which I carry with me (and it's heavy at 973 pages...) The four books on my stand are stacked from largest to smallest according to cover size. All the novels on my bookcase are stacked upright according to height with the hardcovers grouped separately. Thankfully my DVD collection is not alphabetized... the good ones are in the front and the bad ones are in the back.
A while back I said that I thought I was serious. In most matters I am serious, but if you read my blog religiously (which likely totals to no one since a remarkable chunk of my list doesn't even come around to leave an insincere comment on my front page that they've left on all their other friends' pages) you'll remember I took up tennis. I'll be Frank and you'll be Nancy. I am not good at tennis. A lot of people are better than me, but I guess you start out at the bottom. I'm gradually improving and am proud to announce I lost my last match 4-8 which made me very happy. Anyway, when the other people I play with lose, they get mad and gloomy, but when I lost that game, I was probably the happiest person there. That was a major improvement for me and that made me happy when any self-respecting tennis player wouldn't show his face on a court for two weeks with that game.
This is probably going to be my longest blog ever because I'm just frothing at the mouth. If you've gotten here, go get a drink. I doubt most people will even read this far and then they'll make a dumb comment about the pictures at the top and nothing else.
I watched the movie "The Last Holiday" a few days ago because an acquaintance was going to watch it and I had nothing much better to do. First, Queen Latifah's calling is not as an actress. Maybe that's why she's on those diet commercials now... Anyway, it's about this woman who works minimum wage, takes a lot of crap, then gets diagnosed with a tumor and she'll die in three weeks. She tells of her boss, quits her job, liquidates her savings, and goes on a vacation to Europe where she goes BASE jumping and spends all her money. A Senator, Congressman, and business exec (the CEO of the company she quit) are there and they assume she's someone powerful. Anyway, that's all irrelevant. The point I got from the movie was that she didn't worry so much about stepping on people's toes because she didn't have to worry about what they thought of her after three weeks.
She wasn't rude, though. And in case you were wondering, her doctor got a used MRI machine that led to a false diagnosis. So that's what I'm thinking about as I write this blog. Twice there I called out these people I see on these sites who are doing it for superficial reasons. I've always wanted to tell them off but it's not really nice to do that to they're faces because they'll sic their superficial friends on you. Since most of these people either won't think it's them or won't bother to read my blogs let alone long ones, I'm confidant. Plus, I'll handle the fallout should there be any.
Another thing that amuses me is when people send me PMs asking if I have a problem with them and that's why I'm ignoring them. The answer is no. I think these people don't know me very well. If I have a problem with someone, I will make it clear by sending them a PM kindly outlining my grievances. If I remove someone without PMing them it's because they didn't care enough to come by my page at all during our friendship so why should I waste five seconds of my life sending them a PM explaining it?
I don't have as much time as I used to. This time of year is always busy for me. It gets better from this point out. I still have time to check PMs, read comments, and check out interesting blogs. Thing is, like I said above, I have problems starting things. Tonight I have absolutely nothing to do so after spending an hour writing this blog, I think I'll take a nap and then watch Fox or Glenn Beck. I watch the news for fun.
I often have enough time to write blogs even during this busy time, the thing is that I usually have to take a while to psych up for starting. Once I start a blog, though, it's easy... I just don't often have the time to start it. I started this one with the intention of posting two pictures and four sentences tops. Ha, well, look where that's got us.
I bet that most of the people who started this haven't gotten to here. These are the blogs that, when I'm reading, either bore me or intrigue me. I don't blame the people who didn't finish it but I think it's in poor form to only comment about the first two paragraphs. Then it makes you look ignorant. I've done it before.
I mixed up my page theme and now I'm using an ad for the '70 Camaro. I bet you, dear reader, that someone is going to make a comment on my front page about where Marilyn went since my last fiftyzillion themes were of Marilyn. And then you and I can laugh at them because we'll both know they didn't read this blog and are just trying to make superficial conversation.
Some people are going to be shocked by my ridiculing of these people. See, this is the type of blog written by a jaded baron. That link there defines jaded as "made dull, apathetic, or cynical by experience." That's right: Life has made me cynical and blogging has reaffirmed it. I'd by no means call myself bitter, no, no, but rather jaded. In fact, I'll add "jaded" to my word bank in my welcome message right before "misanthropic" which is just a fancy word for cynical.
This sort of reminds me of "A Different Kind of Love Song" by Cher... opening lines: "What if the world was crazy and I was sane/ Would it be so strange"
Would it?
Ze Baron
Saturday, April 5, 2008
BUSY BUSY BEE
Wow. I have never been this busy. I apologize for not visiting many blogs, posting like I used to, or even keeping up much at Y!360 Refugees. Life has gotten the better of me. I think it should calm down soon enough...
I'm still on every night but for dramatically reduced amounts of time. Anyway, I just wanted you people to know I'm not dead and don't have anything against you. I personally hate commenting on these "I'm-too-busy-to-blog-so-I'll-post-a-blog" blogs, so please don't feel pressed as I just want you to see this.
Josef
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