by A.J. Wood

Blogger Life Cycle

Gee, if I knew the secret to receiving comments was simply stating I have nothing to write about I would have started that trend much sooner.

“chuckle”

Survived the weekend even if I feel like complete horse-pucky today. My allergies are attempting a violent takeover and the smattering cocktail of Aleve, Allegra 180, Claritin & Singulair I took this morning has only made me slightly schizophrenic. Saw Troy Saturday night, have a review coming on that one. Worked the 2Bones photo shoot Sunday. I ended up taking some photos (unexpectedly) and overall I was not happy with my set. I’ll probably post a handful of photos a little later this week when I have time to edit them.

Read through my previous entry’s comments and I agree with Ryan that the blog fad is fading and the content is stale. Frankly, there’s a reason writers and artisans get paid (or should get paid) to do what they do – that shit ain’t easy. I wish I had something entertaining to say each and every day, my ego would certainly appreciate the audience. (There I said it) But a blog is like most of my relationships.

You put on your best face for as long as you can. You tell your best jokes, rehash your best stories, spend six months overflowing in lust-driven-creative-juices. Then one day, you take a break and get back to your routine. And let’s face it, your routine just ain’t all that interesting. Super you might be amazing, but nobody has the stamina to be happy-go-lucky 24×7.

So you move from being that newbie blogger so eager to join in cyber-comradre, to a blogger stalker fan who posts frequently but comments more, to the jaded-semi-retired blogger who after your one year anniversary decides that blogger flame wars aren’t any fun unless you started them and nobody knows the real you. Some folks just up and quit leaving a trail of dead blogs like washed out dot com sites in 2000. Others throw out a lifeline and ask the community “I&#8217m going to leave now, should I blog or not?”

I hope I fall into another category, those that are retooling their site with a new direction in mind. I will always aspired to write as well as Ryan, be as funny as Rob and somehow manage blogger fame like Tony Pierce or Mr. Perry.

And hopefully that’s enough to keep people interested.

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 by A.J. Wood

Help With Multiple Sclerosis

Good afternoon dear readers. I am going to ask for your help today. This won’t be like last time where I pimped some DVDs on you, no today is a little more serious.

Multiple Sclerosis was something I was completely ignorant about until a few months ago. Sure I saw the telethons and I even made my donation to the cause, but now it has made a personal impact on my life. Don’t worry I’m not asking you for money. Let me also clarify that I do not actually have MS myself.

What I’m asking for is your help to reach 100,000 signatures on a petition that will allow for a clinical trial on Low Dose Naltrexone here in the US. This drug (taken in pill form) is cheaper ($30 vs. $1100 montly) and less painful than daily injections. Current MS treatments feel almost as bad as MS attacks themselves.

Help me spread the word and ask your friends and family to sign the petition. Here is the direct URL that you can copy to an e-mail message:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/110785607

Thank you.

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 by A.J. Wood

This isn’t your father’s prom date…

Today’s current event isn’t all that current, but it was brought to my attention as I listened to The Morning Edge on the drive to work this morning. In February a 12yr old girl was beaten into a coma simply for being kissed by a boy at someone else’s birthday party. The news story quotes the mother as having told her daughter to “handle her business” at which point the violence ensued. Teenagers & adults at the party kicked the girl into unconsciousness (what kind of chaperones were they?).

Girl violence is nothing new, but I must admit I’m not sure if I find it all that appealing. Don’t get me wrong, I have an appreciation for strong, fiercely independent females (just ask Michelle). I enjoy Alias and thought Buffy was a kickass heroine, but is aggressive behavior something we should encourage from women?

Maybe I should organize my thoughts better before I continue. I know I’m generalizing quite a bit, but girls historically are known for their psychological methods of dealing angst & woe. Girls quite frankly can be mean and while guys can attempt to be mean, we are clumsy amateurs when compared to the deft skill women have developed. An art form not unlike the “Five Finger Exploding Heart Technique” there is a reason why hell hath no fury like the wrath of a woman scorned.

I hate to resort to the “back in my day” scenario, but girl fights were always more vicious than guy fights growing up. Most guy fights were about immediate pain and a quick display of macho-chest-beating. Girl fights in contrast were about complete & total annihilation. It wasn’t a good girl fight unless somebody had a fistful of clumped hair and an eye gouged out. Of course, nobody brought a handgun to a knife fight back then either.

Not sure what happened to my point, but I guess I never expected a movie like Mean Girls to be considered educational material.

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 by A.J. Wood

Sunday Update

Hello citizens.

There comes a moment when you realize that maybe you bit off more than you can chew. For me, NOW is that moment.

Stopped time and saw three movies over the weekend. 13 Going On 30 is cute, a knockoff on Big, but cute. Man On Fire is definitely a must see with another fine performance by Denzel Washington and great chemistry with up & coming Dakota Fanning. The Punisher was much better than the reviews gave it credit for. I would see it if high action violence is your thing. It had it’s humorous moments and Tom Jane reminds me a lot of Christopher Lambert.

With the week kicking into overdrive I will spend my time attempting to finish 12 projects for school, set up a video contract with a local comedy club, press an order for 100 DVDs (thank you!), complete two website projects all while satisfying the needs of my lovely fiance. Look up “stress” in the dictionary and you’ll probably see a picture of my battered, bloody, smiling corpse next to it.

And somehow I manage to feel unnerved at the idea that I have not been updating the website lately. Now I know I need that drink.

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 by A.J. Wood

Moron of the week

Here’s a late night post because Lord only knows how busy I’ll be tomorrow. Before I recant today’s events a small round of applause as I managed to get all the old entries reloaded. There’s still a bit of reformatting & relinking that needs to be done (a new MT database means all the individual entries have new names), but I’m crossing my fingers in hopes that this is THE LAST TIME I’ll have to reload the database. I’m thinkin’ of adding a new category or at least trying to better arrange existing categories. I’ll leave it to you to decide who was the bigger moron today:

Moron #1 – If there’s one thing Azarok fans know it’s that yours truly ABSOLUTELY cannot tolerate animal abuse. Rest assured if I ever visit the Nashville and stumble upon Chad Crawford I’ll be sure to drop kick his ass. Apparently Chad and his friends thought it would be entertaining to punt somebody’s pet terrier. Way to go Chad, killin’ small animals is the true test of manhood. Schmuck.

Moron #2 – OK, maybe this is my pet peeve, but what is up with people in Dallas talkin’ on their cell phones while they take a crap? This morning I walked into the restroom to wash my hands after scarfing a breakfast croissant and some yummy cini-minis and there’s a guy in full conversation while squeezin’ out some raisinets. Every few seconds he would pause and make a muffled grunt. Not one to pass up an opportunity I stepped into the next stall and flushed the toilet. The guy then tried to cover up for the noise and muttered something about being in a public place. That’s when I banged on his door and said “Hey buddy, you finished yet? The other toilet is backed up.” Heh heh, I’m such a stinker.

UPDATE 11:47PM – After months trying to make it as a dancer in LA you get a call to sub for a friend on the Tonight Show. William Hung needs someone to shake a little tail feather with him. What do you do? What. Do. You. Do? That guy either exudes an extreme amount of confidence or is the textbook example of “Ignorance is Bliss”.

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