Okay. There isn’t much new here, but there are a few things, so I suppose I should type some kind of update. It won’t be much and it won’t be interesting, though, I pretty much guarantee it.

First, I called the storage place where I’m keeping all my books and used my debit card to pay the August charges. Not anything exiting, but a major deal for me, since it keeps those books safe another 30 days.

Second, I sent an email to Accent asking for a job application, after talking to Chad about the online correspondent job yesterday. It looks like, as I’d figured, you have to go through the training and do time on the floor as a customer service rep before you can even get in line for the online correspondent, which everyone wants because it’s much better than taking calls, and which once someone gets, he never ever leaves… so if I get the job (it seems likely I will) I’ll be stuck as a customer service rep… at least until they fire me or I win the Lotto or something.

In minor but welcome good news, on the other hand, I got a free reader’s copy of S.M. Stirling’s CONQUISTADOR in the mail today, presumably from my editor at Joe Bob Briggs dot com. I’ll have to send him an email thanking him for it. Hopefully this means I’ll start getting more readers copies soon. Maybe it even means they’ve finally posted one, some, or all of the reviews I’ve already sent. Either way, free stuff is always good, especially something I was probably about to spend $25 on otherwise next time I got to a bookstore.

I haven’t made a decision about what I’m going to do about the Unemployment interview yet. My decision tree runs as, either blow it off entirely (which is simplest) and just not get any more checks, or try to find a way to get there and hope I can bullshit my way through the interview with little to no evidence of any kind of work search at all. I suppose if I have some kind of email back from Accent by then setting up an interview, it would be a big help. Maybe I’d get a few more Unemployment checks.

As I say, I really haven’t decided. If I want to go, I have to either take a cab… and I should look into that and find out how much it will cost… or ask Paul’s friend Scott, since he’s the only person we know with a vehicle who would be free at that time of the morning on a weekday. I really don’t want to ask Scott for a favor like that. I should call the cab company and find out what they’d charge me. Yeah, I should probably do that tonight, since they’re open 24 hours.

Beyond that, there isn’t much other real world news. Paul’s toothaches have been getting more frequent, more intense, and less responsive to pain killers, so I’m been nagging him to see a dentist, and he’s finally getting around to admitting that he really should. I don’t blame him for being reluctant; who the fuck wants to go to the dentist and pay someone for inflicting a lot of pain on you? But this stuff is getting bad.

Otherwise, we’ve just been playing STAR WARS. I watched Paul’s game (he’s well ahead of me) so I know the big ‘reveal’ that is the central plot point of the RPG. It’s kind of interesting; it’s helped to clarify in my mind my own character’s personality and behavior motivations for me. The game differs in details for each player because there’s a lot of stuff to do and you can ignore some of it and do things in different orders and run different central characters, but in broad outline it’s always the same, so Paul’s big revelation will, eventually, occur to my character as well. And knowing that key element of my character’s essential nature has really helped to illuminate how I should play her.

Hmmm. Other than that… my health has been okay, lately, for which I’m trying to remain appreciative, but it’s hard, remaining consciously aware of a general lack of negative stimuli. But I’ve had no migraines for a while, and no sore throats, either, and, well, yes, I am grateful to whoever or whatever is running the universe. Maybe the shift changed, or something, and whoever’s on duty now isn’t such a prick. If so, I wish whoever it is would ask for more hours.

On the email front, I’ve had a few interesting pieces. Nate sent his own Killquest team for me to run, but we aren’t playing Killquest any more. In fact, I should probably mention that the guys really don’t come over much at night any more… Pat and Kyle will sometimes stop over for a few minutes, but since everyone is playing STAR WARS on their own X-boxes, and it’s not a multiplayer game, they don’t stick around long. Scott has been coming over more recently for lengthy periods in the day, apparently because his estranged wife has moved back into their house… I don’t know details and don’t much care. But nightly game sessions seem to be cancelled for the indefinite future… a development I’m not sure how to feel about. But I think KILLQUEST is pretty much dead in the water.

I’ve also gotten some email lately from some woman named Jill, who is an SF fan and who read my article on Heinlein (I’m not sure which one) and wrote me to compliment me on it. That’s always nice. And Scott Shepherd just sent me a brief email, which reminds me I have some old email from him and a few other people to respond to… I simply forgot, what with the week without a modem. I should get on that.

Looks like my vacation is nearly over, barring winning Lotto tickets or someone out there getting really intelligent and wanting to buy one of my novels. In a way I guess it’s just as well; it’s been fun being a kid again, but I need to get a damned job and get my own place, I guess.

Although I know Paul’s house is simply going to be a hovel again two weeks after I move out, and that’s sad… but, as Merlin likes to say, it's the way of things.

RULES OF THE ROAD

In one of his many invaluable essays on life in Hollywood, Mark Evanier described his first meeting with legendary TV comic and icon Milton Berle. Upon being introduced to Uncle Miltie and shaking hands with him, Mark, who is a pretty witty guy, blurted out without even thinking about it, “Wow, I didn’t recognize you in men’s clothing”. According to Mark, this soured Uncle Miltie on him from that point forward, because Mark had broken Rule Number One When Hanging With Milton Berle, namely, Never Be Funnier Than Milton Berle.

I’m reminded of that anecdote now.

Recent experiences at Electrolite being pretty much entirely similar if not completely identical to my previous experiences at Uppity-Negro.com and TampaTantrum.com, I thought I’d take the time to extrapolate whatever wisdom there is to find in the whole mess. Here’s The Deal, as far as I can see:

If you want to make friends and influence people when you head out onto the blogging trail, at least, as regards your posting comments on other people’s blogs, you MUST NOT:

Rule E comes mostly out of my experiences with Aaron Hawkin’s Uppity-Negro blog. He gets a lot of female posters and like any of us male geeks would be in that admirable position, he is thoroughly whipped by them. If a new reader comes along and does anything whatsoever to offend the babes on Aaron’s blog, that new reader can expect a cold shoulder from Aaron roughly the size of the Greenland glacier. I don’t really blame Aaron for this; for a male geek, positive female attention is a jewel beyond price, and if I ever had any women posting to my blog who weren’t related to me by marriage, I’d most likely dance and sing like a puppet on a string when they cracked the lash, too.

I should add to this that I’ve learned, from Electrolite, that one Must Not Be Whimsical, Oblique, or Overly Geeky When Posting To A Big Important Political Marketplace of Ideas Type Blog, because those guys just have no time for Theodore Marley Brooks or Cornelus van Lunt references, regardless of how amusing or entertaining you and some others may find them.

Now, I am posting this to point out that while these may be the universal Rules of the Road on other blogs (and as far as I can see, they are, indeed, pretty much universal) you can ignore them here. I don’t care if you:

Oh, and I like geeky references and would just adore whimsical, cleverly elliptical posts to my comment threads, although I suspect I’d get annoyed if someone started posting a whole lot of Harry Potter-speak here, just for one example.

If there is a universal rule on this blog, it is quite simply, Do Not Be A Bigger Asshole Than The Blogger. In fact, if you can avoid it (and most of my small number of regular posters avoid it with style and panache) Don’t Be An Asshole At All. I am quite a big enough asshole myself to supply all the assholiness necessary for any blog, and I will continue to keep this blog well furnished with stupid remarks, doltish mistakes, whiney rationalizations, and defensive recriminations by the ton lot, there can be no doubt. You need bring none of your own asshole nature with you, I have plenty and am always willing to share.

THE INEVITABLE DISCLAIMER

By generally accepted social standards, I'm not a likable guy. I'm not saying that to get cheap reassurances. It's simply the truth. I regard many social conventions in radically different ways than most people do, I have many many controversial opinions, and I tend to state them pretty forthrightly. This is not a formula for popularity in any social continuum I've ever experienced.

In my prior blogs, I took the fairly standard attitude: if you don't like my opinions or my blog, don't read the fucking thing.

Having given that some more thought, though, I'm not going to say that this time around, because I've realized that what this is basically saying is, 'if you don't like what I have to say, tough, I don't want to hear it, don't even bother to tell me, just go away'.

And that's actually a pretty worthless attitude. It's basically saying, 'I don't want to hear anything except unconditional agreement and approval'. And that's nonsense. This is still a free country... for a little while longer, anyway... and if you really feel you just gotta send me a flame, or post one on my comment threads (assuming they actually work, which I cannot in any way guarantee) then by all means, knock yourself out.

Unless your flame is exceptionally cogent, witty, or stylish, though, I will most likely ignore it. You do have a right to say anything you want (although I'm not sure that's a right when you're doing it in my comment threads, but hey, you can certainly send all the emails you want). However, I have an equal right not to read anything I don't feel like reading... and I'm really quick with the delete key... as various angry folks have found in the past, when they decided they just had to do their absolute level best to make me as miserable as possible.

So, if you don't like my opinions, feel free to say so. However, if I find absolutely nothing worthwhile in your commentary, I will almost certainly not respond to it in any way.

Stupidity, ignorance, intolerance... these things are only worth my time and attention if they're entertaining. So unless you can be stupid, ignorant, and/or intolerant with enough wit, style, and/or panache to amuse me... try to be smart, informed, and broad minded when you write me.