Hola!
Over at Shooting Suburbia we have part two of "My Neighborhood". Over here, we a few random nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjectives strung together to form a few tidbits of what happened to me this week. The tidbits in question cover the following: the Internet, literary journals and blogs.
1} The Internet: earlier in the week I decided to catch up on the few blogs and websites that I visit on a very infrequent basis. Unlike the blogs I have stashed in my reader, I have a few blogs and websites that sit in about a dozen custom made folders for me to peruse whenever I need to take a break from reality. Anyways, I was looking for a link to a nifty cartoon drawn by Nik Houser called "Gentleman Caveman", and had a problem remembering which folder I shoved it into (turns out I didn't put it into a folder, but kept it separate from the others). In one of my folders called "Very Weird" was a link called Celebrity Morgue. Anyways, I brought up the link and began searching the bottom tabs. Lesson learned was this: do not, under any circumstances, go exploring a link that you aren't properly prepared to experience. Especially at night and especially if your brain is already shutting down for the day. If you want further details, click on the link if you dare. If you really want to experience the dark side of the Internet, click on this portal link. Oh and, the link called "Celebrity Morgue" is sponsored by Rotten.com.
2} Literary Journal. One of the things that I've grown to dislike from entering writing contests sponsored by literary journals are the subscriptions that you get with your entry fee. So the other day, instead of filing a copy of The Texas Review (Sam Houston State University) in the circular file, I decided to bring it to work and give it away for free. Repeat after me, free. Anyways, I put it out and a couple of hours later, I noticed it was gone. I thought to myself, "Kewl, someone took it."
Imagine my surprise when a few hours later I called into a private meeting with my supervisor. She gave me the journal and said that someone flipped through it, saw something objectionable and complained about it. I said "How could that be? Literary journals as a rule don't carry provocative stories." Anyways, I opened it to the first story (Miss Juicy Owns It by Charles Alcorn) and within the first paragraph I saw this sentence:
His "working" name was Circus Penis.
Yup, someone apparently bitched about the word "penis" and I got called to the carpet on it. My boss wasn't really upset and in fact found it as funny as I did that someone, who works in an agency that among other things is in the forefront for LGBTG issues among children and teenagers, would find the word "penis" offensive.
'Nuff said.
3} Blogs. Earlier in the week, I asked all of you for suggestions on what kind of blogs I should add to my blog roll. In no particular order of importance, here is what the following people suggested for me to add.
Charles Gramlich suggested Pattinase
Lynn suggested Windy Skies
Chris suggested Bad Ass Of The Week.
Bruce suggested Make Daddy A Sammich and one of his own blogs called The Guy Book.
Bearman suggested Crabby Old Fart
Sparkling Red suggested Joey's Pad and Wigsf3
Nurse Myra suggested Alone With Cats and Renal Failure.
Riot Kitty suggested a few as well, but I already follow the ones she suggested.
This past Friday evening, I did some blog surfing, and boy, were those seven blogs and one website interesting. After doing a quick read of each one (or at least try to do a quick read of each one), I narrowed done my choices to three blogs and one website. The website is Bad Ass Of The Week and the three blogs are Make Daddy A Sammich, Crabby Old Fart and Alone With Cats.
The others I will definitely keep under consideration as I do have a tendency to purge whenever a blog doesn't do it for me anymore.
I thank one and all for the blog suggestions, and now my current total is that familiar cliche number that we all love to use when we're insulting someone or something.
101.
Aww that was nice of Spark to suggest my blog. :)
ReplyDeleteI must check out the other ones listed too.
I can imagine you liking Crabby Old Fart, not because you are one of course...
The word penis is offensive? Good grief!
ReplyDeleteI've been to Rotten.com before. "Interesting" to say the least.
ReplyDeletegood on ya! oily does post some crazy stuff!
ReplyDeletehe was one of the first blogs i followed...
i will have to check out the other i am not familiar with...
thanks for the shout out !
i do the similar thing, as opposed to following any more blogs, i file them into an interesting reading file...
so the second catpcha i get is mis mat..like it is laughing at me cuz i mis matched the first time
Joe: Don Mills is a bit strange (for lack of a better word). I first saw his commenting style on the blog "Just Making Conversation", but never really quite got the jist of his humor. Maybe I'll starting getting it this time. :D
ReplyDeleteMama Z: It was the only conclusion that I could come up with in the few seconds that I had in which to defend myself. I opened up the book, saw that sentence and figured that must've been the one.
People are very strange in state govt as it is one of the bastiens of political correctness.
David: That's about what it boils down to. I actually heard about that site back in '98 or '99 when I was working a part time job in addition to my full time one. You either like it, loathe it, or wonder what the hell are people thinking when they post this stuff.
And for whats it worth, the video series "Faces of Death" (all three volumes) can be purchased there.
And yes, I do have strange tastes in websites.
Bruce: You're more than welcome for the shout out. I figured if people took the time to suggest blogs for me check out, the very least I could do would be to reciprocate.
I'm glad you like Alone With Cats - she's hilarious
ReplyDeleteNurse Myra: The first post in which she talks and gently mocks her dad is what grabbed me. I like humor blogs that poke fun at themselves and their family.
ReplyDeleteYou know, that "Celebrity Morgue" site is actually quite interesting... (although I haven't clicked on the other links yet, because I'm not sure if I WANT to experience the dark side of the internet at the moment... :))
ReplyDeleteAnd seriously?? Someone complained about a literary journal with the word "penis" in it??? Wow... sounds like someone was REALLY bored... :)
I thought my ears were burning. Glad its not an ear infection.
ReplyDeleteI have been feeling sucky lately, but you two have made my day.
I just spent the last 10 minutes going over the Badass of the Week site. Great find.
ReplyDeleteThanks for mentioning my bro! I will check out some of those blogs (not the cadaver links) and in the meantime, I think I want a t-shirt that says "Circus Penis."
ReplyDeleteLisa: Not too many people want to experience the dark side of the internet, but that portal is basically a clearinghouse for all things related to death, be it celebrities, medicine, music, art. literature, you name, there's a link for it.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, someone complained about the word "penis". I have been called to the carpet on more things related to my writing than for any other issue in my entire work career.
Alone with Cats: Thanks for stopping by for a visit. Glad we didn't singe your ears too much.
Bearman: That is one seriously cool website. One of the best suggestions I've gotten in the past couple of years.
R: Not a problem. Always willing to throw a little traffic towards blogs and websites that I like.
I like your brother's artwork. It's pretty funky.
You know, I should try googling that writer to see if he has a website or something. That story is actually part of a larger short story collection that is supposed to be published this year.
Kelly: I think that everyone has gotten a good chuckle over the phrase "circus penis".
ReplyDelete