Life in a Day is going to Kill Me

Oh, my.

I've just received an interesting task. I am to watch a movie, then write a blog post on it.

For pay.

Twenty Three Hundred

Oh, my. Only one more post left.

so, how'd I do? Well, I discovered that my penchant for following multiple thoughts served me well in this experiment. If I had written down each one as a reminder and posted one each day, I could have easily filled a month or even more. All I have to do is think "what if...?" and bam! There's a post.

So what were some of those thoughts that crossed my mind? Well:

• What if I had sex with those co-workers whom I thought were attractive? What would we do? What would we say? And would I submit it to Penthouse?
• Why do I like Mazda cars so much?
• Superman is such a wuss. Here's why....
• Why normally smart gamers get stupid over 3.x versus 4E.
• G. should/shouldn't be a writer. (Here's why....)

Twenty Two

I could easily be dead now.

Unlike The Spouse and G., I was definitely not relationship-inclined. I would have enjoyed the so-called "sexual revolution", indulging in all those multiple partners, unsafe sex, and other lifestyles that I read about in history books and anti-sex rhetoric.

But I was born 10-20 years too late. Using condoms, "safe sex", monogamy, etc., are as part of my psyche as putting on a seat belt. (Remember when those were optional? I sure don't.) And while I have visited bathhouse and even sex clubs, I did so either between seeking my next relationship or in my relationship. (My spouse knows me too well, damn it.)

Yet I sometimes still dream of that bygone era. And dreaming, in the form of fantasy, is safe sex.

Nineteenth Hour

Would you show your sex life on-line?

A while back, G.'s former roommate R. mentioned in passing a website called xtube. Curious, I visited the site a few days later.

Oh, my.

Bluntly, xtube is the adult version of Youtube. At the site, you upload images and videos of yourself in action where folks can not only view, but comment as well. I spent a few minutes previewing the site before returning to e-mail.


--
Carpe Diem (seize the day)

Fourteenth Hour

"It's your blog".

That's what G. said when I asked him a few minutes ago if it was time for another blog. The sharp response provoke the following topic.

Does one write posts for an audience or oneself? That's an extremely common question many bloggers ask themselves and even their readers. Who (or is it whom?) is one writing for? Since I write blog posts for pay, I'm in an interesting position to see both sides of the question.

And my opinion? It's both, naturally. I consider blog posts similar to short stories, novels, comic books, and any other auditory/visual medium (e.g., paper, webpage, podcasts, etc.) where an author tells/writes their thoughts so others can experience it. Posts, on the one hand, can be read by almost anyone depending on the permissions given (or how skilled is the hacker). If the blogger truly wanted to keep things for themselves, they wouldn't be publishing their posts.

On the other hand, bloggers need a source to tap for their topic and that's themselves. Yes, one can give a blogger a subject matter to write about, but their viewpoint, writing style, etc., is theirs -- and theirs alone. The blogger decides how much of themselves they're willing to bare not only to their readers, but themselves as well. As G. above recently said, he hates re-reading his reviews, something he shares with all writers. That's understandable, for every time one writes their thoughts down, they give something of their thoughts and hearts, which is not always pleasant to look in the stark light of reality.


--
Carpe Diem (seize the day)

Outside Looking In

Last night I joined friends C., G, and R. (not The Spouse) at a local restaurant.

A little background here. C. and G. have been meeting almost regularly once a week at said restaurant. Both used to do volunteer duty at this center. We'd meet at the center, then move over to the restaurant where we'd chat over the latest dramas, movies, and books. At one point, we actually formed an impromptu reading group, selecting a book a month to read and discuss the next month. That has fallen by the wayside as new interests have taken their place.

R.'s is G.'s old roommate and currently lives in his old digs after G. moved out. All three maintain contact with each other, especially C. and G., who used to regularly attend the Happiest Place on Earth for Years.

That bond really hit me last night at the restaurant. There they chatted about people and events I had never heard of or attended. Later, G. teased R. about his alleycat ways with a casualness that was almost shocking (especially from G., whom I remember was the most uptight of the three. People change.) I was never excluded from the conversation, but I definitely felt like a fourth wheel.

It's my own fault, really. C. and G. have been more than generous in inviting me and The Spouse to many of their events and outings. We share plenty of the same interests to do so. But life, in the form of vacations, fatigue, other events, or just play bad timing, have made such rendezvous few and far between. Finally, The Spouse and I are quite insular with our free time to the point even our families barely see us.

Is it time to change the dynamics of my relationship with C., G., and R.?
--
Carpe Diem (seize the day)