Essay 2: What Makes a Good Blog (partito due)

Tutti-

In our quest to determine what makes a good blog, we looked at the delightful Chad Fox and discussed some of his amazing stories. More importantly, we determined that his blog is good simply because of his writing style AND that they seem to detail his surreal San Francisco existence.

Next we'll look at Daigle and his blog. To give a little background, Daigle is a friend of Chad Fox, and both live in San Francisco. In his short 23 years, Daigle has had an interesting life. However, we're not reading the fun blog, which I won't even give a link to. That one is XXX-rated. More so than any I have read thus far.

So, what is good about Daigle's blog? Well, this one is funny but perverse. This post isn't so funny, but goes to show what can happen in life. But his latest blog explains that this one blog he posts in is just for "random shit". And random it certainly is.

But, is it any good? Yes and no. Certainly the ones I pointed you to are funny and delightful or appear to be good to me. However, there are some that do nothing for me at all. For instance, this one probably would have more meaning to me if I were in the Coast Guard. I am not, so I found this post deadly dull. To be honest, I didn't even read all of it.

Why did I not find his entire blog interesting? Hmmm. Good question. Possibly because he doesn't write about things that are interesting to me. More than that, some of his posts don't use good grammar and syntax. As an English major, this tends to set my teeth on edge. When it is done right, the use of bad grammar and syntax can appear to be part of the story. Even I use this "writing tool" on occasion. However, it doesn't work with Daigle. It just comes across as uneducated, in a bad way.

SO, two things we have so far as to what makes a good blog is 1) The post needs to be interesting to the reader and 2) The grammar and syntax need to work, whether it is intentionally bad or not.

In the next post we'll look at another blog and see if we can use the above criteria to critique it. We'll also see if we can't and additionally criteria we can pull out of the next blog to add to the list.

Nothing like DULL

That's my weekend in one word, and it's been kinda nice. Especially since I've been sleeping 12 hours at a crack. That's AT a crack, not IN a crack. Though I probably wouldn't have minded that.

So, Friday, after a an extended session in the darkroom to get done (sorry Helene, blew you off for the chemicals), I came home, created some dinner, hit the couch, and didna move all night. Not until bedtime, anyway, which was about 11 or so. I watched "The Amityville Horror" with the yummy Ryan Reynolds. The movie wasn't so good (not if you've seen the original) but Ryan wasn't so bad (esp. the shirtless scenes). My friend Ron and I agree on one thing about this movie. The opportunity for shirtless scenes were far greater than what there were.

Also watched "Land of the Dead". Not quite sure how I feel about that movie. It was a real gore fest. Some scenes really had my squeamish, and I usually am not like that. Still, there was a good plot there, I just don't think Romero took it to where it needed to go. Somehow, the zombies, esp Big Daddy, were the heroes. I might watch it again to see if I can find some deeper meaning, but it will be a while. Too much gore at one time does give me nightmares.

Then comes Saturday, and 12 hours of sleep. I get up, run a few errands, pamper myself a bit (not in pampers, btw), then it was off to Ron and Tim's for pizza and a movie. We watched "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants". Hmmm, about the only interesting thing in that movie was Costas, the shirtless Greek stud. Of course, it was a teen chick-flick, so whaddya expect?

Then it was off to home and 11 hours of sleep. Would've been 12, but the time change caught me off guard.

SO, no gory details about the weekend. The only excitement I had was Thursday night, and that was because Kyle got a haircut. While I'm still adjusting to his new look, he certainly looks more mature, more masculine, and certainly more yummy. Unfortunately, I'm more sure now than ever that my barslut, er barstud, er bartender is a straightboy. DMAN! I watched him interact with all the gay bartenders and waiters and saw how, uh, squeamish (?) he got when they got a little touchy feely with him. Maybe he just needs a good man to bed him???

Well, must get moving. Have another essay to post, a house to clean, and too much laundry to do.

Buon giorno, tutti!

Memories

Don't know what brought this up, but I had a flash back to the good ol' days when I was a real party animal. Something about the weather, the feel of the night, the hungover feeling you get when you party too much the night before. Y'know, things from back in the day that always come back at the weirdest moments.

For instance, right now, I remember climbing Bong Hill in Athens. I was 6 sheets to the wing, dressed all preppy (because that's how you dressed back then), along with Paul and some other kid who I've completely forgotten. The clearest memory is standing at the top of the hill, overlooking the city at 3 in the am, the wind blowing up the hill. I felt like the God of the Night, Chaos, and Party Animals overlooking his domain.

Good times.

But that is not the memory that comes to mind. At least, not when I started his post many weeks ago. Good thing I remembered this post.

There I was, walking down Woody Hayes Blvd, minding my own business, when outta the blue comes this image of Angie, the party animalette I used to hang with (she wished I would date her, but...). There we were, in the middle of the night, at this guys house. She was trying to score some weed for us to party with, and I was already 6 sheets to the wind (as you've probably noticed, I'm always 6 sheets to the wind. 7 sheets I usually don't remember well).

Anyway, for whatever reason, I needed to completely demolish this tree. I don't recall that it had done anything bad to me, but I was just in that mood. So there I was, punching and kicking and cursing this tree, totally in my own little world when I hear this gruff voice saying, "What the hell are you doing?"

I turned around and there's this guy standing there with a shotgun pointed right at me. I think my punkass comment was, "WTF do you want?"

"I'm tired of you a$$holes destroying my mailbox!" The gun is still pointed at me, by the way.

"I ain't touching yo damn mailbox," I said. Oh, I tend to talk hick when I get overly drunk, so bear wit may. :) "Look at it!" Then I turned to walk away.

"I'm not done with you, punk!" This guy is really getting pissed.

I turned back to him, spread my arms wide, and said, "Do yo wursht."

About that time I'm surrounded by Angie, Noelle, Dan, and the dude Noelle was dating at the time (it changed weekly). "It's cool," Dan said. "No damage done. We're leaving now."

Then they bustled me into the car and we left. Boy, did I get reamed by them or what. Not because I was acting stupid, but because they couldn't get their weed.

C'est la vie!

Of course, that wasn't the only time I had a gun pointed at me, but that's a story for another day, kittens.

The Virgins Gather

Let the Gathering of the Virgins BEGIN!

Er, uh, well, maybe tomorrow. Can you tell I'm a little excited about seeing The Rocky Horror Picture Show tomorrow? "Let's do the Time Warp again!" Pretty sad that I know that song, as well as "Science Fiction, Double Feature", by heart. Well, doesn't matter. Tomorrow promises to be a rockin' good time. Still haven't decided if I want to show up as Brad, in my boxers, white t-shirt, and dorky glasses. Well, if I can find the dorky glasses. Haven't seen them in a while.

Anyone else wanna go? Looking for a Janet, Riff Raff, Dr. Frank N Furter, Magenta, and Columbia. Of course, we can't forget Rocky himself. Any of you beefy studs who are reading this wanna play Rocky? Dress in skimpy clothes, hang off my shoulder, and make me look goooood?

Probably not. Better off if I show up in costume, drag, or anything else (except normal clothes). Not quite sure if the crowd will be totally into the Rocky Horror cult phenom. Still and all, a date would be nice.

On a brighter note, Howie is BACK! FINALLY! Spoke to him a bit tonight, asked if he was in vacation, in the hospital, both? He wishes! No, he had to go to Cinncinatti (sp?) to open the new USVC there. Ended up having to fire two guys. The first was rude to the customers, the other was a complete incompetent. He said, "I so love bringing people to ruin!" Ok, Howie, come off the powertrip.

Finally heard from James. Thought maybe a pile of papers had fallen on him, giving him amnesia. NAH. He's just stressing about his job. He was down here a couple of weeks ago and I probably just missed him. He didna have my number with him so he couldn't call and set up anything. On the weird side, I think he was at Havana's the same time I was there with Danny. Figures. If I'd've seen him, I probably woulda had more fun that night. After all, James has a thing for Librans...

Well, tutti, e' tardi e sono stancho. Buona notte!

Essay 2: What Makes A Good Blog

Tutti-

After reading blogs for the past few weeks, I have found that they fall into three categories: 1) So boring that I don't get through the first paragraph, 2) So entertaining that I'm an avid reader, and 3) Everyone Else. By Everyone Else, I mean that they are normal blogs, neither boring nor exciting.

But what makes a blog entertaining? What makes me keep coming back, over and over again, to read the posts of any one blogger? Most importantly, what makes the blog "good"? To investigate this phenomenon, we'll look at three separate blogs and determine what is good or bad about each one. Hopefully, together, we'll find out something useful.

Since it would be of extremely poor taste to critique my own blog, we'll go to the next best thing: Chad Fox.

What makes Chad Fox's blog so appealing to me? Because he, in some aspects, is very similar to me in his outlook on blogging. His writing style is very easy to read, it flows well from one paragraph to another. The tales that he relates are amusing and fun to read. This guy is an absolute blast.

The tales of his "utterly surreal San Francisco existence" are certainly surreal. I almost believe that he is making them up; but, on occasion, some of his escapades are alluded by other people in San Francisco. Sure, this could be one elaborate conspiracy, but I tend to doubt that. Take, for instance, his latest blog (as of 10/24/2005). The whole story is elaborate, funny, and, my GOD, why don't I live in San Francisco and hang out with such cool people. However, the story he talks about is supported by his friend Cement Brunette, and alluded to by Daigle.

The point is, his blog contains stories that are believable because of the way he tells them. Perhaps he is just making them up, but that is just the mark of a good, need I say excellent, story teller. He makes the stories believable, he makes you feel like you were there. He certainly makes me wish I was there.

Chad Fox has what I can only call an excellent blog. He manages to touch my sense of humor, my sense of the perverse, and my compassion. Because of all this, I will say that Chad's blog may be the exception to the rule. Next time we'll look at another blog and determine what is good, or not so good, about it.

The Birthday Drunk

OK, ok, I know I wasn't going to talk about my b-day, but I have to figure out what I did. For some reason I have this feeling...

Anyway, it all started out calmly with a large vanilla latte (my second for the day). That was about 6:30 or so. Kyle was there, but I was at the wrong end of the bar to keep him under my thumb. Once I was done with the latte, I started in on the evening. I had my usual Long Island and the sloppiest sandwich in the world (the Big Mama Italian sandwich). Mmmm, my mouth waters just thinking about it (sorry Kyle).

I decide to take my time and make the night last as long as possible. About 9:30 or so I have finished my 3d Tea and 2d glass of water when Tim and his roommate (hereafter known as TK) show up. Tim promptly tells Kyle it's my b-day. Then Kyle more or less backhands me, saying, "Why did you tell me it was your birthday?"

"Uh, technically, it was yesterday."

But I don't think he heard me because he bustled away to mix a drink. Little did I know that it (the drink he was mixing) was meant for me. He comes back, drops this delicious looking drink in a shot glass in front me and says, "Happy birthday" with one of his beautiful smiles. The drink smelled and tasted like a white cake with vanilla frosting! DMAN it was tasty, just like the server.

Well, 10 minutes after I down the drink (the only way to drink a drink in a shot glass) I lost track of the evening. What I mean is, things got kinda hazy and time telescoped. Seriously telescoped.

After the drink we moved to a table and I tried to just stick with the water I'd been drinking. But, somewhere along the line I musta thought another Long Island was needed because I ended up with another one. Then TK and Tim left and I moved back to the bar (after the drag show, whatever time that was) and Kyle yelled at me because I let the ice melt in the last drink. Sorry Kyle, it was either take it easy with this drink or throw up on the bar. Your choice. Shortly after that I left.

It is the 10 pm to 1:30 am time frame that has me worried most. While I don't remember doing anything wrong, or stupid, or foolish, or embarrasing, something happened that I'm not remember. Not fully, anyway. I guess it call comes down to when TK and Tim left, around 11 or 11:30. Tim said something like, "I hope he calls you."

Huh? He who? DMAN!!! Who the hell was I hitting on?

Well, tutti, if you were there, and you saw me, please tell me what the hell I was doing!!! AAARRRGGGHHH!

So far behind

Yeah, that about covers it. This whole week has been one hectic pain in the arse. To top it off, I have to go dogsit at a place that doesn't have internet access. So, I thought I'd at least put down a few things before I disappear.

Hmmm, my birthday went by so boringly unspectacular that I wonder if it really happened. Yeah, it did. It had to have, otherwise I was hungover on Friday for no good reason. I won't go into the gory details. Let's just say I have this feeling I did something that I'm either going to regret later, or be totally embarrased about. I just don't remember! Sometime between 11 and 1:30 am I just know I did/said something. DMAN! I hate fuzzy memories. Well, not really. Memories that give me the warm fuzzies are ok, but my memories from that night reflect the weather: cold, wet, and sloppy.

C'est la vie! Time moves on. Guess I'll have to ask either Kevin, if I see him, or wait 'til Thursday when I see Kyle again.

Well, poochie is probably getting frantic. Better get my caffeine fix and head out.

Ciao, tutti!

Tuesday Night Blues

Yeah for me, I created 29 prints in 5 hours with only 3 of them not turning out!!! WOOHOO! On the flip side, all the photographic chemistry has given me something of a headache, but what can ya expect?

Now I've got to go thru and touch up the prints. That kind of thing is not condusive to relieving the headache. Mebbe a little food will help.

Back in a few...

(and time passes)

Ooops, so much for Tuesday night. Well, at least I fell better. Nothing like a little chow and some sleep to make a body good.

Hmmm, not much to talk about, I guess. Don't really want to go over the sordid details of last weekend. Today is the day that I have my only midterm. Go figure it would be in Chaucer. Ugh. All the stories are blending together. Guess I'm going to need to review a little more about which pilgrim told which tale so far.

On a not so happy note:

"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me-e, happy birthday to me!"

Gods, turning 32 is a pain in the arse. Especially when I feel 52. Hmpf. If I'm going to feel this crappy, at least I should have overindulged the night before. Must be the residue of the fumes from the darkroom. Wonder how toxic those chemicals really are...

Ugh, feel like I need a hair cut. Well, that's not going to happen anytime soon.

Well, better run. If I'm going to make it to class on time I need to get ready.

Alla prossima, ragazzi!

Post, post, post

Gah! I hate the smell of chlorine bleach. Brings back bad memories of actual work... I guess that's what I get for cleaning house. Next time I'll see if I can talk Helene into cleaning for me.

What was I going to talk about? Hell if I know! I sat down with the intention of doing a kick-ass post, but as soon as the laptop fired up, all thoughts flew outta my mind.

Must be too tired. I mean, c'mon, I only traveled thru 8 counties, 4 state parks, 1 goattrail, and about 329 miles. All in one 13 hour period. THEN, when that was all done, I hit the nightlife. I didn't get home until after 1, was awake until 2 or 3, then got up after 6 hours of sleep. Felt pretty good, until now, that is.

Guess I'm going to have to put off wowing you with my awesome rhetoric and all the wild stuff I saw last night.

Scusi, tutti, ma sono stanchissimo.

Sorry, no photos yet

Well, the title pretty much covers it all. I tried to scan in an image the other day only to have the black turn gray. At first I thought it was something on the scanner plate, but it happened again after I cleaned it. SO, I took a real close look at the print itself and, when I held it at an angle, saw all these tiny little ridges of dark and light.

I took the picture in and showed Colleen. She said it was probably the dryer we use in the lab. The rollers may not be entirely smooth and are leaving the marks. She suggested re-washed the print, sqeegeing it, and then hang drying it. Um, seems like an awful lot to do for a scannable print.

Anyway, I rescanned the image and used one of the photo editing softwares out there and was able to make the blacks black again. Still, the actual print is better than the scanned image, but here it is:



Well, like I said, not he best. The image is now too dark. The cat is 18% grey, for those in the know, but the image doesn't portray that correctly. C'est la vie!

Even though I'm working on project 2 right now and 3 is not due for a few weeks, tomorrow is my big photoshoot day. I get to drive over most of SE Ohio, visiting places that I used to haunt before I moved to Columbus. I'll be taking 8 rolls of film, but hopefully will only use about 4. These rolls have to last to the end of the quarter. Buying the paper is already breaking my bank. I've gone thru about 130 sheets and, at $54 for a pack of 100, I'll be broke before the quarter is out.

Well, must run. I've got beaucoup errands to run today, then it's pizza and wine with one of my fag hags. She's going to update my on her gay boyfriend's "roommate". Evidentally he was very talkative the other day and she got a lot of dirt to retell. Of course, he lives in the same apartment complex as me, so I see them occasionally as I'm leaving.

Ooops, I was leaving. Ciao tutti!

Essay: What Makes a Personal Blog (partito due)

Dearest Reader-

As you know, I have been discussing what makes a personal blog. We've looked at Ron's blog, and how it dealth with any and everything in his life. He wrote about anything that interested him, from the Cleveland Indians to various movie / music stars to anything that affects him personally. We also looked at Chad Fox. Chad writes a diary type blog that details his life and the things that happen directly to him.

Today we'll look at a blog writer whose recent entries are more like a travel journal than anything else. Benjamin Nicholas writes a blog called 15 Minutes More. As a little background, Benjamin was, and maybe still is, a high priced male escort. His earliest blogs talked about the various aspects of that life. Like I said, though, his latest blogs tend to be more like travel journals. Most recently he has gone to Chicago, Athens (Greece), and New York, to just name a few places.

He also writes a lot about celebrity gossip. We get a lot of who's doing what to whom, and how often. We get the low down marriages, divorces, and impending births. He also takes digs and jabs at politicians, on occassion, for what they are doing, or not doing as the case may be.

One thing they all have in common, other than begin written by gay men in different parts of the US, is that they all incorporate pictures.

To start we'll look at Ron's blog. Ron uses pictures to help prove a point or show why he is writing about a certain subject. For instance, Ron posted a picture to help show why he thinks Kenny Chesney is gay. The last thing he did was post a blog on his top 10 celebrity crushes. He includes pictures of each of those celebrities so that we can agree with him. I personally, disagreed on one and told him so.

Chad Fox, though, is an artist. When he puts his pictures in his blog, sometimes they enhance the story he is telling while other times they provide a contrast. For instance, I have in mind a blog of his I read where he talked about running into this older tranny. He, the tranny, didn't have the money to get home. Chad agreed to give him the money if he, Chad, could take some pictures. The tranny agreed, posed for the camera, then took the money and disappeared into the crowd. Chad posted those pictures in the blog which detailed that story.

Lately, Chad did a blog which tells how he met a young man whose partner had just died of aids. The story is very sad and touching, but the pictures aren't. They are of blue skies and towering buildings. Makes you wonder how, in such a large city as San Francisco, this man had no one to turn to except a stranger on the street.

When Benjamin Nicholas went to Greece, he took pictures and posted them for us to see. When he went to Chicago he did the same.

Of course, he also adds to his blogs the pictures of the various celebrities, politicians, or nefarious criminals that he talks about. Also, to the delight of many (including me) he has his "eye candy" section. It is the pictures of numerous young men in various states of undress (with the appropriate parts fogged out).

So, what makes these personal blogs? The writers all include different stories depending upon their indiviual personalities. While they are all personal blogs, they all have different flavors. Even though they represent different (sub)genres, they fall under a broader umbrella for one more major reason. They are personal blogs because there are no commercial interests involved. There are no adverticements on the web pages to "entice" the reader to another site to view a product.

Time to Reset

OK, now that I've reset, I think I'll be feeling better. Now, if I could only reset my life a little...

You know, now that I say that I recall a moment, when I was very young, when I thought I had reset the day. It was weird. I had lived about 1/2 the day, decided I wanted to start over because... Well, I don't remember why exactly. Then I closed my eyes real tight and woke up again that morning. And the promptly lived the same day over again, with no change.

Guess I was too young to make any changes in a life I've already lived. I think I was only 4 at the time.

I think I did it once more after that, when I was 13 or so, but that one is harder to remember. I do remember I wanted to start over and did, but it was several days. But, the details of the days were not consistent with the first set of days I had lived, so I think that must've been a dream. Not sure if it was the first set that was the dream or the second set.

Makes a good story, don't it. Well, it probably was or is a story somewhere, but when I was 4 I wasn'told enough to read books of that level. When I was 13? Who knows. I had just started reading so I "might" have read something like it. Still, that was 23 years ago.

If I could turn back time, reset my life to a previous point with full knowledge of what was going on, would I? Hell yeah! Think of all the fun I could have. Think of all the problems I could avoid! Who knows, if the math on the first one was right, (4*3+1=13), then the next time would be when I'm 40 (13*3*1=40). Or would it be +2, since it's the second time around?

Oh, well. Probably won't have the strength to do it when it comes around again. If wishes were fishes...

Well, now that I'm alert, I must go. Too much to do and not enough of me to do it.

Not AGAIN!

Ugh, I think it's going to be another one of those days. I got to bed at midnight (after a full and active day) and fell asleep fairly quickly, but... Yeah, but. I woke up at 3 in the AM and was wide awake after that. So, at 6 I decide to just get up and get it over with. Got showered, shaved, and all prettied up for the day only to get so tired that I want to go back to sleep.

Feh. I think I'm going to do that. As sluggish as I am now, it's probably not safe to drive.

Well, ragazzi, I guess it's good night, again. Or, rather, good morning and hope to see some of you later today!

Tagged for memes

DMAN DMAN DMAN

Thought I'd check up on the blogs I'm doing for my essay and at the end of the latest one by Chad Fox, he says, "Now, I'm not going to tag anyone in particular for this, but if you are reading this AND you have a blog, consider yourself tagged."

SHIT!

The last one is a little involved, but worth it. SO, me being the great guy that I think I am, here they are:

Ten songs that define me. Ok, this one is tough since they cross many genres. Go ahead, laugh:
1) Midnight Train to Georgia
2) Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves
3) 18 and Life (Skid Row)
4) Toy Soldiers (Martika)
5) Don't Cry for me Argentina (the original version)
6) Memories (from Cats)
7) Send in the Clowns (by Babs)
8) The Rose (by Bette)
9) Fancy (Reba McIntire, for those who don't know)
10) Cherish (The Association)

Ten songs that I'm currently digging. This one is much easier. Now, where is my iPod?
1) Holiday
2) Mr. Brightside
3) Behind those Hazel Eyes
4) Dark Lady
5) Foxtrot Unicorn Charlie Kilo
6) Lose Control
7) Cool
8) Growltiger's Last Stand (from Cats)
9) Helena
10) Ball and Chain

SEVEN Things:

7 things I plan to do before I die:
1) Travel Europe
2) Meet at least 1 famous actor (maybe even an actress)
3) Learn to sing
4) Finish and get published one book
5) Get some "artsy" photographs
6) Get some "artsy" photographs into a gallery
7) Reconcile myself to my brother

7 things I can do:
1) Bar hop with the best
2) Write kick-ass stories
3) Successfully hit on lesbians
4) Write very bad love poetry
5) I'm a good listener
6) Take very good pictures (just don't post them, yet)
7) Change the oil in my truck

7 things I cannot do:
1) Play the piano
2) Act
3) Pick up guys (just dirty old men, street/bar trash, and boys too young to drink)
4) Advanced calculus
5) Juggle
6) Talk civilly to my brother
7) Kiss the moon

7 things that attract me to the same or opposite sex:
1) Smile
2) Dark hair/eyes
3) Pale skin
4) Humor
5) Street smarts
6) Laughter
7) Gets my jokes

7 things that I say most often:
1) WHAT THE FUCK!
2) Son of a bitch
3) Gotta tinkle
4) Hang on to your diapers, babies, we're going in
5) Fuckin' A
6) Shit
7) Ciao, tutti

7 celebrity crushes:
1) Freddie Prinz Jr.
2) Casper Van Dien
3) Charlie Sheen
4) Brandon Flowers
5) Jake Gyllenhaal
6) Catherine Zeta Jones
7) Patrick Dempsey

Ok, now that I've bared my soul (so to speak) let the digs and jabs begin! Let the heckling commence. Oh, and if you read this and have your own blog, let you suffer also! Just like the delectible (sp?) Chad Fox did, post your own and let me know.

Ciao, tutti!

Aargh, the pain!

OK, for anyone following my other blog, Wednesday was a very bad day for me. I woke up feeling crappy anyway, but as the day wore on the muscles in my back started spasming and tightening to the point that it hurt to sit, to stand, to walk, to turn my head... I think you get the picture. So I went home early, dug in to my medicine cabinet, and found the purty drugs I took last time this happened.

After a while, life was GOOD. I was watching the tele while floating on narctics, muscle relaxers, and anit-inflammatories. I got up to go to the kitchen to get a drink of water and promptly slammed my foot into the doorframe. OWWWIEEEEE! When I say slammed, I mean SLAMMED. I hit hard enough that I broke one toe and severely bruised the bone just behind the joint. Unfortunately, there was nothing the doctor could do. He wanted me to wear a surgical shoe for a few weeks, but, come on. I may not have that much fashion sense, but I'm certainly not going to wear a shoe that will make me look dorkier than I already am.

ANYWAY, I didn't let that slow me down. After being in the photo lab all day Thursday, I head for my favorite watering hole. Once there, I grab a spot at the bar and begin to work on Kyle, one of my favorite bartenders, according to David's Rule #1: Hot bartenders (male or female) are there to be flirted with and ogled at. After all, you can't do anything else to 'em, er, with them. And, considering I was feeling pretty flirty that night, I had a real good time. At least, I must've had a good time according to the voice memo I found on my mobile (it's not worth repeating, don't want to scare anyone).

I also learned that enough Long Islands will kill almost any pain.

Friday comes around and I'm supposed to go clubbing with my friend Helene. But NOOOO, she's sick. She dudn't want to go anywhere. Um, hello! I have a broken foot and I'm still going dancing. Severity of the situation: slight head cold or broken bone? Hmmm, I think I get to win on the whining front. So that put me in a right rotten mood, so, since I was all dressed up with no place to go, I decided to go out anyway. I totally ignored David's Rule #2: Never drink when you're in a violent bad mood. To make a long story short, I now have David's Rule #3: Never go out drinking alone. You'll end up either picking up bar/street trash, or you'll become bar/street trash. I won't go in to the gory details (on this blog, anyway).

Now we are at Saturday and, after Friday night, I decide I have to get outta the city and back to my roots. I gather up my photog equipment and head down to Hocking Hills. I took some excedrin and popped some anti-inflammatories. It's probably the only reason I was able to hike around all day getting pictures. Unfortunately, a lot of the pics came out blurry. Since the light level was soooo low I had to use a slow shutter speed. Therefore, any shaking from my hand would be picked up by the camera, resulting in a blurry pic. DMAN! About 1/2 of them are blurry. Still, I do have a lot of good pics for class.

Once I get back to the city, I head to the USVC for dinner, drinks, and to watch the Buckeye's lose. Following Rule #1 (above) I flirted heavily with my other favorite bartender, Howie. When he was too busy to be ogled at, I chatted up the lesbian couple sitting next to me. I finally went home and crashed. I woke up at about 3:30 or 4:30 (not sure which) to find the TV going full blast. The movie "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" was playing, which was just WEIRD. I had read about it on this other student's blog. OK, that's just too weird.

Finally, we make it to Sunday. Nothing much happening now. Catching up on work and browsing the web. I downloaded this cute photo:



Since the grays were too uniform, to tried my hand at adjusting the photo manutally. I added more contrast and changed the lighting a little to get this:



Yeah, I know, you can't see the face as well, probably why it was so light originally. However, the second photograph has much more detail. Guess all the photog classes are paying off after all! Just wish the resolution were a little better, but I don't have the original to play around with. Oh, and if you know who this guy is, tell him he's a great subject.

Well, now that I have this photo thing down pat, so to speak, it'll be easier to post some of my favorite pictures that I have done recently.

Ciao, tutti!

Blah

Short sweet and to the point. I feel like crap. Either I'm staying up too late or I'm being WAY too active. Something has got to give, and I think it's the body. Guess there is no working out today.

Took a bunch of pics yesterday and then went to OSU to process them. Get there and can't find the little metal spools that I need to wrap the film on. I figure I must've taken them out and forgot to put them back in my locker. SO, I manage to find some spare spools, but they must've been bad because I ruined the majority of the film! DMAN DMAN DMAN!!!

At least it will be easy to redo the ones that need redone. GRRRR.

Well, I'm running behind on everything and gotta get outta here.

Alla prossima!

Essay: What Makes a Personal Blog (partito uno)

Gentle reader,

Since you are reading this you obviously know what blogs are. If you don't, go find out and then come back and finish this. Blogs, like people, come in many shapes and sizes. Some are like diaries, some are travel journals, others are informative, and a lot are just wonderful fun to read. But the personal blog has the ability to encompass them all.

Why do I say that? Because a personal blog is all about the writer: their likes, dislikes, interests, affairs, etc. For instance, I love hiking, photography, writing sappy love sonnets, writing short stories, dancing, drinking, travel (even though I don't travel much anymore), and a lot of other things besides. My personal blog can encompass each and every one of these subjects, or I can create a whole new blog on just photography, sonnets, or whatever I want.

Personal blogs, however, may be more prevalent than any other type. I say "may" because I don't know for sure, I'm just guessing. That makes it more important to look at what people do in a personal blog than to figure out what a company does in a blog or what a single type of blog (for instance a travel blog) is like.

An example would be what a friend of mine does. Ron updates his blog infrequently, but each post tends to be different. On one post he might talk about his (not so) recent foot surgery and his recovery, another may deal with his favorite celebrities and what they are doing, and yet another may be a rant against the Cleveland Indians blowing yet another game! With Ron you never know what he is going to post, but it is always interesting to see how his mind works.

Not all personal blogs are as chaotic as Ron's. For instance, my personal blog tends to stick to the details of what I do from day to day, week to week. While my blog may cover many subjects, the basic theme is that of a diary. Whatever I talk about usually is something I did or experienced first hand. For instance, if I hear about something my friend Helene did while she was in Toledo and it may be interesting, I probably will not put it in my blog. However, if we're together and talk about the guys, gals, and various creatures of the night we encounter as go gay bar hopping will most likely be in my blog, simply because I am there.

A blog similar to mine is done by this really cool guy named Chad Fox. He lives out in San Francisco and his blog details his adventures in that city. Nothing is sacrosant with him. He even talks about how he had this conversation with his mother when he found out she was reading it. Guess there are just somethings a mother is NEVER supposed to know. But then, why would someone put it out on the net and tell your parents not to read it. That's just an invitation to disaster.

Still, his blog is the best written and most hilarious piece of work I've come across in a long time. Definitely worth reading if you have the time. My recommendation is to start at the very beginning and work your way up to the present.

But I digress... His blog, like mine, is in a diary format. The events he relates have happened to him or are important to him in some way. Assuming, of course, that he isn't a good short fiction writer and is making everything up!

Next time I will look at another blog and also delve more in to what Chad and Ron are doing with their blogs.