Topic: Re: Blog Thread IIa: Beyond Blogosphere. (Read 226961 times)

Johnny C · « **Reply #600 on:** 14 Jul 2009, 22:26 »

aughghghgh i cut my thumb preppin mushrooms for frying and now it still really hurts hours later ffffff

De_El · « **Reply #601 on:** 14 Jul 2009, 23:08 »

Hung out today and saw lots of stuff for BRAVE NEW VOICES, saw Deja K. Taylor, Miles Hodges, Jesse Welch and more awwww yeaaaaaaah Lots of exciting poetry going on in Chicago this week.

look out! Ninjas! · « **Reply #602 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 00:20 »

Quote from: Zingoleb on 14 Jul 2009, 14:27

Quote from: nobo on 14 Jul 2009, 04:12
Quote from: Zingoleb on 14 Jul 2009, 01:40

Try some Advil PM

Tempted.

Nah, just have some "private time" and don't go straight from the PC to bed.

Yunior · « **Reply #603 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 00:57 »

Lately when I am in deep-thinking mode (11 PM - 1 AM) I start wondering if what I really want in life is to be a straight-up writer's writer, and not some filthy fake, doing the journalist thing.

Regardless, I will probably be a homeless.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #604 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 03:13 »

Hang on a minute maybe I am not reading this in the right way but how is journalism "fake"?

Dear Blog Thread today I went to see an accountant. I'm pretty sure this makes me a square or something.

Spluff · « **Reply #605 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 03:22 »

Dovey this is not good - it is now only a matter of time until you become an accountant and become so insufferably dull that you will have to be cordoned off from society.

Der Golem · « **Reply #606 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 03:24 »

Sup blawg

I don't really know you guys enough for it to be approperiate to talk about this kind of stuff here, but the nature of my problem is such that I can't discuss it with any of my real life friends. The thing is, basically, that a dude friend of mine raped a lady friend of mine. We were at a festival, we were hanging in his hotel room, and when it was time for the rest of us to head on to the camping site, this girl was too drunk too even walk. Her and the boy had kissed earlier that night, they are friends, and there was even a mattress on the floor, so leaving her there seemed ok to everyone.

The next day, I hear they slept together. My train of thaught here is something like "Alright, who am I to say anything, they can make their own decisions". The girl is in a bad mood the whole day, and she cries at least once. Nothing new though, she sometimes does that when she drinks. A few days after this she makes an offhand comment about being raped that night. I ask her to please repeat that, she says no and tells me to forget about it.

Now I am in the awkward position of not being able to remain friends with the guy, but also not being able to say anything about this to anyone ever, meaning most of my friends will still be good friends with the dude.

(slight edit, there was an incomplete sentence in there)

David_Dovey · « **Reply #607 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 03:59 »

Quote from: Spluff on 15 Jul 2009, 03:22

Dovey this is not good - it is now only a matter of time until you become an accountant and become so insufferably dull that you will have to be cordoned off from society.

oh no i did not know accountancy was contagious why did no one tell me

Jace · « **Reply #608 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 04:31 »

This is what occupied most of my afternoon and night: It is now 4:30am. Still needs more rivets and a few other minor things:

For those curious, it is actually two smaller tanks that have been welded (glued) together in the middle. There are mini powerplants and a comm tower built into the tank, and the boyz all stand on the back platform waiting to jump off and bust up da heads of some weedy gits. The tank is about 8" long by 5.5" high by 5" across. Also, it was ridiculously fun to make.

tania · « **Reply #609 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 04:55 »

why is it that despite applying for jobs all over the place and still kind of applying for jobs the only people who hire me are in retail and sales and i am the worst person ever at those kind of jobs. like, literally, the worst employee at both places where i work. it's kind of bumming me out, not just because i need these jobs and i don't want to be fired, but because i actually kind of enjoy working hard and doing a good job and wow i never realized how incredibly fucking bad at retail i was until now.

i have a lot of other skills! fuck youuuu economy

allison · « **Reply #610 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 05:21 »

Tania have you ever considered bartending or serving? I find them very, very different from retail and restaurants are like revolving doors in terms of employment (some people aren't cut out for it - probably the ones good at retail) so there are often open spots. Get your SmartServe though, that's a really useful credential and it's easy to get.

ViolentDove · « **Reply #611 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 05:45 »

Quote from: Yunior on 15 Jul 2009, 00:57

Lately when I am in deep-thinking mode (11 PM - 1 AM) I start wondering if what I really want in life is to be a straight-up writer's writer, and not some filthy fake, doing the journalist thing.

Regardless, I will probably be a homeless.

You need a day job to be a writery writer in any case. Unless you're writing for TV or something.

Also journalism is pretty great. It takes talent to be a good journalist and write interesting copy, I think. Journalism is also a good way to Make A Difference In The World if that is your kind of thing. Last week I saw the enviro reporter basically expose a mining company for polluting a town's water supply. Today the health reporter took the country's health-care system to task for not having an adequate response to swine flu, and both of those stories have resulted in something being done.

Will · « **Reply #612 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 06:10 »

Quote from: De_El on 14 Jul 2009, 23:08

Hung out today and saw lots of stuff for BRAVE NEW VOICES, saw Deja K. Taylor, Miles Hodges, Jesse Welch and more awwww yeaaaaaaah Lots of exciting poetry going on in Chicago this week.

JEALOUS!
I'll be in Chicago in less than a month to try my hand at the Green Mill slam. Now that it's less than 30 days away, I am officially nervous.

Blog thread, yesterday I basically had a series of conversations at work that all congealed at the end into one of the biggest mindfucks I've ever had. Now I'm pretty much not in an entirely healthy mental state and not sure how I'm going to deal with having to be around people all day today.

Patrick · « **Reply #613 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 14:04 »

My mom just told me that I should get laid more (exact words: "it's important to be having frequent sex, even if it's singular!") to help ensure my prostate health. She wasn't even joking.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #614 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 14:19 »

Der Golem, it's possible that your friend made a bad word choice which she now regrets (which would explain why she won't talk about it again) to describe a situation she regrets getting into. The word rape is a very loaded term and triggers a very serious reaction in most people so she most likely needs to sort out in her head what she believes happened that night and what she feels about it, and what to do next. Just let her know that you are there if she needs you but don't worry until she tells you to, if that doesn't sound too callous.

I went to see Harry Potter today! It was good, I laughed a lot. I'm beyond the point where I pick apart the films for not being word-for-word like the books but it wasn't as good as reading it. Anyway, glad I saw it and I was amused by the number of teenagers there. Then I thought about it and realised that the people my age are the ones who grew up with the books. I first read them when I was in primary school; the release of book two is one of the only things I remember from before I was ten or so.

Been thinking about growing up a lot lately. We were talking about a family friend at tea today and I realised that I remember her when she was my age. She is now nearly thirty and has a baby. This is incredibly weird to me. Also on the bus to the film my friends and I were talking about people we remember thinking were so grown up (schoolmates, student teachers and so on) who we are now older than.

Basically, how the hell did I get to be this old without noticing it? Furthermore, how did everyone else get to be so old?

Also my mum casually mentioned something about me being her witness at her wedding in September today, like it was a foregone conclusion. I don't even know if I want to go to the wedding yet, although I guess I will so that I don't upset them, but I am fairly sure I would remember agreeing to that kind of thing. And I don't even know if I want to be a witness to a wedding I'm not all that happy with. Don't get me wrong, they're happy and I'm glad but I don't like it to the point of wanting to be an actual legal part in the ceremony. I have some thinking to do, I guess.

Hat · « **Reply #615 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 16:11 »

Went around to my friend's house and had some stimulating discussions over a game of Fallout 3, and smoked way too many cigarettes and ate a pizza good times!

Christophe · « **Reply #616 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 16:23 »

Quote from: Patrick on 15 Jul 2009, 14:04

My mom just told me that I should get laid more (exact words: "it's important to be having frequent sex, even if it's singular!") to help ensure my prostate health. She wasn't even joking.

I am only about two hours away from your current location Patrick. If you make a booty call though you're paying my gas money.

pwhodges · « **Reply #617 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 16:33 »

Hey, iBlog!

Today was the university's annual IT staff conference. Quite a decent set of talks this year, but the last one had no interest for me, so I skipped it and went out to buy a pizza for supper. I returned, though, for the closing reception, to chat to some folks and drink wine. The last talk over-ran, so being stuck waiting on my own and at a loose end I thought, what the hell, I'll fill in the feedback form; oh, can't be bothered to dig under the pizza for a pen; oh, there's one on the table. OK, so the form went into a raffle. So I won the first prize! Woo! A 16GB iPod Touch - I have not much use for it for music (my 120GB iriver H340 will do, thanks), but it's a great pocket wi-fi client for browsing and checking my email in hotspots when I'm travelling.

A good day.

Eli · « **Reply #618 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 17:07 »

Paul, there's a pretty cool game called Zen Bound for the ipod touch. It's quite soothing, if that's your kind of thing.

Blog Thread,
I'm still trying to recover from a migraine I had from yesterday until this morning. Blaaah. I've kept hydrated and I've eaten, but feel drained. Maybe I just need some sleep.

Metope · « **Reply #619 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 17:17 »

Bloggie, I just tried to dye my hair in a dark brownish red colour, but it somehow turned dark purple. I don't hate the colour itself, but my eyebrows were still mousy brown, so I used an eyebrow pencil that I thought was almost brown/black that turned out do be red/brown and oh god now I look like a clown. Good thing I can remove it in the shower, but my brows will still not match my hair tomorrow since I don't have the right pencil. Right, enough vanity from my part, good night all.

Scrambled Egg Machine · « **Reply #620 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 17:27 »

I got a haircut! I have no camera, though. Also, this has been the third night in a row I have had horrible nightmares. Suggestions?

Hat · « **Reply #621 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 17:42 »

goddamnit someone sell me some weed I've been working six day weeks for the last month and using my day off to get my shit done, now this week I finally have TWO days off and all I want to do is sit around and get high damnit

Yunior · « **Reply #622 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 18:17 »

Quote from: ViolentDove on 15 Jul 2009, 05:45

You need a day job to be a writery writer in any case. Unless you're writing for TV or something.

Also journalism is pretty great. It takes talent to be a good journalist and write interesting copy, I think. Journalism is also a good way to Make A Difference In The World

I'm starting to worry that journalism is a craft I love and an industry I hate. I agree 100%, journalism is great: its capacity to change the world I live in is something I really sincerely believe in, and it can be a incredibly fulfilling experience, taking you places you'd otherwise never go and talking to people you'd otherwise never meet. (It also kind of makes me happy on an artsy-fartsy-philosophical level, 'cause of one's relative inability to ever be objective. Like, it's totally easy to avoid blatant pontificating in a news article, but slippery things like word choice give away your entire perspective on the world and everything in it, in ways which are really, really difficult to anticipate.)

But it's also an industry that is totally, mind-bogglingly saturated with bullshit. I feel such disenchantment with all the journalists I've met, who I have thus far learned to compartmentalize by distinguishing them into two categories, Delusional and Big Meanies. Delusional journalists are the people responsible for the clusterfuck that is Michael Jackson's death-by-media-overload. They are responsible for all the stories about Twitter. When a little girl goes missing, and turns up dead, and it becomes an American Tragedy, they are the journalists that camp out on the family's lawn to ~~get a quote~~ ask how they are doing. (As if, when your daughter goes missing and dies, you have anything to say besides I am Sad and Please Get Off My Lawn, You Tremendous Pricks.) They justify all this with the belief that they are covering the story audiences want to hear. To some degree, it is probably true; the offensive underbelly is they produce journalism that is exploitive or morbidly detached from reality. They have zero sense of the big picture.

Big Meanies are the people I used to respect. They cover really important stories, and are most likely to make a difference in the world. What I abhor about them is that they are jaded and they hate their own audience. It is a little harder to sort out my feelings about them, but they are tremendously ugly and depressing people. I am not really ready to lose my sense of hope or compassion. This post is too long, and more important things are being discussed. Rape! I am quitting this post. Also, how do I go about getting a job in writing for television?

MrBlu · « **Reply #623 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 18:50 »

Quote from: Patrick on 15 Jul 2009, 14:04

My mom just told me that I should get laid more (exact words: "it's important to be having frequent sex, even if it's singular!") to help ensure my prostate health. She wasn't even joking.

Truth, but at your age, not something to worry about.

Quote from: Hat on 15 Jul 2009, 17:42

goddamnit someone sell me some weed I've been working six day weeks for the last month and using my day off to get my shit done, now this week I finally have TWO days off and all I want to do is sit around and get high damnit

Am I allowed to do internet dealing?

bainidhe_dub · « **Reply #624 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 18:58 »

This morning, I cut my own hair to have bangs. My husband came home at lunch and said, "I'm going to laugh at you forever." I'm still trying to decide if I like it (photo in the HAIR thread). This afternoon I bombed an interview for an advertising sales position that I really should have known better than to apply for in the first place. Tonight, I found out that we were outbid on yet another house offer. Boo.

Hat · « **Reply #625 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 19:00 »

Quote from: MrBlu on 15 Jul 2009, 18:50

Quote from: Hat on 15 Jul 2009, 17:42
goddamnit someone sell me some weed I've been working six day weeks for the last month and using my day off to get my shit done, now this week I finally have TWO days off and all I want to do is sit around and get high damnit
Am I allowed to do internet dealing?

reading an article about the singularity the other day and how more things than we expect might be able to be transformed into data to be disseminated across computer networks.

short answer: not yet!

a pack of wolves · « **Reply #626 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 19:02 »

Playing pool using limes on a miniature table works surprisingly well, and by surprisingly well I mean I kicked ass at it. I now have arm strain from an incredibly lengthy battle using squishy promotional pigs as ammunition. My friends had an enormous box of them, they just have that kind of a house. This experience has confirmed for me that growing up is for complete losers. All of this made me feel considerably better after the indignity of having to persuade the state to give me my damn JSA, although that also has the advantage of making me officially dole scum again and properly lumpen-proletariat.

Reed · « **Reply #627 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 19:19 »

Quote from: MrBlu on 15 Jul 2009, 18:50

Am I allowed to do internet dealing?

If you do, I fully expect you to hook me up. I lost my dealer a few months ago, and I have been sober for far too long!

allison · « **Reply #628 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 19:34 »

I'm pretty sure Neil Fallon said it right:
Everybody move to Canada, smokin' lotsa pot! Everybody move to Canada RIGHT NOW!

Reed · « **Reply #629 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 19:44 »

Yeah, Allison, we get it. The US is a shithole and Canada is awesome. You don't have to rub it in our faces.

Cadeonehalf · « **Reply #630 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 20:51 »

Blog Thread, this has not been a good night. Long story as follows:

After moving back home for the summer, I found out from my kid sister (she's still in high school) that she smokes pot. I really didn't care that she did, and said so. The fact that I didn't care meant that I was willing to pick her up when she couldn't be seen by our Mom, who does care. This afternoon, little sis called me at home asking for a ride back from a friend's house. My mom heard me talking to her and said she had an errand to run anyways so she would go get my sister on the way back. It wasn't until after she left to go get her that it dawned on me that my sister (let's call her Mary so I don't need to keep typing that) might've called me specifically because she was out smoking with said friends.
Obviously my Mom picked up Mary high as a kite and quickly figured out what was up. Apparently when the interrogation began, my sister (convinced that I had ratted her out) told Mom something along the lines of me approving of her actions. They got in a big fight, Mom was crying when they got home. She yelled at me a bit for not telling her what Mary was up to (which I didn't initially think was really her business). Mary has yet to talk to me since getting home, but she's really mad at me.

Truth be told, I was worried about how much she was smoking- ever since she broke up with her boyfriend its been a daily ritual to get so high she could barely do anything and then call me to drag her ass home. Now both of them think I betrayed them and neither will believe me when I say I had no intention of any of this happening.
...I really want the summer to be over...

KvP · « **Reply #631 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:04 »

Tommy I thought you loved me I don't want to hear your shit you cad.

ViolentDove · « **Reply #632 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:13 »

Quote from: Yunior on 15 Jul 2009, 18:17

stuff

The type of journalism will vary with the publication you're at, I think. Most of the people at the paper I'm at seem to genuinely love their job, though morale is definitely quite low with the amount of redundancies that have been going around.

With regards to TV stuff, over here you'd ring up the particular TV station/program you're interested in working for, and basically pimp yourself out as an intern (most of them are open to unpaid interns if you have relevant training, though the more popular programs and stations can be quite competitive). Then while you're there you make sure you speak to the writers and say you're interested in doing some writing and is there any possible way you can help them out with anything.

Writing for community TV stations would a good way of getting relevant experience also.

Another way which is more competitive to get into but actually has a job at the end is through a cadetship with a government broadcaster, but I've no idea if they have this kind of thing in the US.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #633 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:17 »

There was a bunch of redundancies at The West just recently as well, including 30 from the editorial department. Although as far as I can tell everybody who got made redundant is pretty happy about it because they wanted to, and The West is a merciless vortex that will eat your soul.

Quote from: Ptommydski on 15 Jul 2009, 19:40

Reactions to my inability to maintain a stable online presence thus far have ranged from -

5) Tommy hasn't been online? I guess I didn't really notice. C'est La Vie.

Masterbainter · « **Reply #634 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:25 »

Setting up a party bus for my girl and her friends for a 21 st birthday party. I've decided to go ahead and foot half the bill myself and see if other people would be willing to throw in some money themselves, as it is their idea. They won't. I don't believe it. I asked for 15 bucks for 6 hours on a nice limo party bus and people are whining that they don't want to go if they have to pay.

So then I had to discuss with my girls parents about possibly paying part of the bill too.. so now they want to go and they want to bring some of their friends (who are in their mid to late 40s)... There is gonna be like 7 people over 40 and 7 people 21 to 25. Which maybe it will be fun with older people?

My issue is my girlfriend asked me to stay sober the whole night in case people that live out of town need rides home. yay....

BrittanyMarie · « **Reply #635 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:33 »

Clara! And Nick! Here is an article about (science) journalism. Hopefully Not Science Journalism will make you less jaded but geeeeeeez (though the author--PZ Myers--'s wikipedia article would fix that, maybe.)

Scarychips · « **Reply #636 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:34 »

Blog Thread, my life is getting boring.

In the past 3 days, I've been doing the same thing. I wake up, brush my teeth, read for hours, play a bit of violin, play a bit of Rock Band, then, I put on some Beatles and continue to read until about midnight. After that, I begin to draw things in my sketchbook (I'm actually preparing a "project") and I go to sleep.
I need to get out more but nobody wants to. Not even my girlfriend and that bores me even more. I tried to find a job, but apparently, they didn't get my CV at the local grocery store and other places don't need anyone. My best friend is in Lebanon, my other friends either have jobs or are just getting plain bored, but they don't feel like doing nothing and my girlfriend is will be out of town for the next weekend.

For those who didn't care to read: FUCK I'M BORED!

Hat · « **Reply #637 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 21:51 »

Woke up at 8 am, drank tea, smoked cigarettes, headed into town to sort out uni dramas, get my glasses adjusted, then I bought Dirty Mind on vinyl and some marijuana!

Good day!

pwhodges · « **Reply #638 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 22:59 »

Quote from: Patrick on 15 Jul 2009, 14:04

My mom just told me that I should get laid more (exact words: "it's important to be having frequent sex, even if it's singular!") to help ensure my prostate health. She wasn't even joking.

Not so simple!

MrBlu · « **Reply #639 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 23:16 »

Quote from: allison on 15 Jul 2009, 19:34

I'm pretty sure Neil Fallon said it right:
Everybody move to Canada, smokin' lotsa pot! Everybody move to Canada RIGHT NOW!

Canada: Weed.
Jamaica: More weed.

Canada: LazerQuest
Jamaica: No LazerQuest.

I'm torn.

Patrick · « **Reply #640 on:** 15 Jul 2009, 23:50 »

Quote from: Christophe on 15 Jul 2009, 16:23

I am only about two hours away from your current location Patrick. If you make a booty call though you're paying my gas money.

Fuck that shit man, I already have tickets for my Albania visit in November (fuckin' psyched, get to go to Bosnia for Thanksgiving), I've got shit lined up ALREADY. I really gotta get a calendar or something.

Quote from: pwhodges on 15 Jul 2009, 22:59

Quote from: Patrick on 15 Jul 2009, 14:04
My mom just told me that I should get laid more (exact words: "it's important to be having frequent sex, even if it's singular!") to help ensure my prostate health. She wasn't even joking.

Not so simple!

So basically you are telling me that I should not get laid until I'm like 40?

FUCK

THAT

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #641 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 00:11 »

I have to say that it's weird for me to read about someone who is excited about going to Albania. I grew up when that fucking wall was still up and the feeling that everything is fucked up on the other side has never left me.

So, your happy eastern european stories just weird me out and make me realise that I'm OLD.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #642 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 00:17 »

Hey Pat what is that term for sexually frustrated you had?

Dear Blog Thread,

I am ______. I am so, so, so so ________

Zingoleb · « **Reply #643 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 00:51 »

Spaqia?

In my head I am pronouncing it "Spa-chee-uh"

Johnny C · « **Reply #644 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 00:52 »

If it helps, Tommy, I think you're a sack of shit but it's unrelated to how much you've been online.

Patrick · « **Reply #645 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 00:54 »

Yes Ed that is how you say it

Also I am going flying with my dad tomorrow! I'm gonna make my dad take a few photos before we do our preflight, and I'll try to snap a couple of myself while we're in the air. SO EXCITED

ViolentDove · « **Reply #646 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 01:22 »

Hey guys, should I be suspicious of someone who says their website (it's a discussion forum, mainly, and no it's not this one) gets just under one million unique views a day?

Does anyone know of independent website ranking thingies I could use to check this out?

For reference they have ~17,000 registered members, and 1,325,289 posts.

David_Dovey · « **Reply #647 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 01:28 »

This is probably really obvious and silly but most forums have "view" counters for the threads. Do any threads have 1,000,000 views over it's entire life? Obviously that doesn't exactly prove anything but it would be a pretty good metric of how heavily trafficked a site is i.e; if there are not any threads with even close to a million you can dismiss any claims out of hand.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #648 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 01:52 »

Why do you care?

ViolentDove · « **Reply #649 on:** 16 Jul 2009, 04:50 »

Oh right, sorry. Should give it a bit of context. It's part of an interview that'll be going into the Sydney Morning Herald, which is one of the bigger papers here in Oz, so I'm just looking into whether thig guy might've been exaggerating a bit. Funnily enough, Dovey is also in the story! It's about shaving websites.

I'm going to ask the tech editor tomorrow what he reckons, but this forum has a pretty wide base of knowledge in various fields, so I thought I'd throw it out there.

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Re: Blog Thread IIa: Beyond Blogosphere. (Read 226961 times)

Zingoleb