Beware of Writer

Please pardon my absence. I'm in the middle of intense writing on the new short story. I think I'm rusty and in dire need of practice still, but it's coming along. Slowly. My brain's enjoying the storming, though. It's like flexing an old muscle I haven't used in a long time. I'm sure this story sucks, but yet I must continue until the end. Won't really know what I got until it's over and I can look back and see it for the whole.

Until then, I don't know when I'll post again. Or, more importantly, what I'll post about. Any suggestions?

Would anyone be totally upset if I did another Top 10 Crushes entry? I don't know if I'm outwearing my welcome with all these write-ups of beautiful women I fantasize about now that I'm single. But to be honest, it's really about all my brain is capable of outputting these days. Especially as I try to focus on real creative writing.

It's all in good fun, you know?

Made Minor Technical Changes

LOL! The title of this entry is a little inside joke for my co-workers who lurk here form time to time.

Anyway, just wanted to pop in to make quick note of a minor administrative change to the blog. It probably won't mean much to some of you, but I've gone into the HTML source and added a small little line of code that now allows all links on my blog to open up in a new window. Rather than switch pages in the same window as is the default. I don't know about you, but I hate that. Say you want to get a close look at one of my pics by clicking on it to expand the photo? Well, with the old way you've just been taken completely out of my blog post. And when you click the "back" button -- voilà! You're not taken back to the place you left off. So now you have to scroll all the way back down to resume reading.

Gone is all that.

Now when you want to click on a pic, a separate window (or tab, depending how your personal browser settings are set up) will pop up. Once you're done, just close that window and you'll still have the original page there to continue reading. This also holds true, obviously, for links to other pages I put up every now and then.

Personally, I think this is much better. And to test it out, I'm going to provide a link to a Youtube clip of one of my favorite Quickenings from a Highlander episode ever. I've figured out how to link to a specific time marker in Youtube clips, so you shouldn't have to fast-fwd through the entire episode just to get to the good part. I've already done that work for you. The one drawback, however, is that you have to put up with a brief commercial first before the clip begins. Sorry 'bout that, but these are Youtube's rules.

So, click on this link and hopefully you will not only be taken to the start of this very cool sword fight and Quickening, but it shall open in a new browser window/tab as well!

*crosses fingers*

P.S. -- I've also updated the "Now Playing" space on the right side of this blog with that new game I started over the weekend, L.A. Noire. Oh, I am having SOOOO much fun with that!

You Complete Me

Yes, that's right. YOU DO!

This is just a huge shout out/thank you to all the fabulous folks who have greatly increased my site's traffic within, literally, only the past couple of months. Not everyone is commenting in the comments sections--although those of you who do, I'm eternally grateful for--but I understand the appeal of lurkdom.

When I first started this blog back in late 2008, at best I would get 3 to 5 unique visitors every few days. Most days I would get zero. In 2010, the average was about 5 to 8 EVERY day, with sporadic spurts here and there. My Self-Guided Highlander Tours of Paris, part 1 and part 2, were the biggest generator of most of this new found traffic (for obvious reasons), while my book and movie reviews consistently garnered no attention whatsoever. Hence why I ended up dropping those. Let's face it: in the great blog-o-sphere, no one really cares what your own personal opinion on pop culture is. We all have such varying tastes, after all.

This year, however, things have changed. My unique daily visitors tripled to the double digits--mostly in the teens and twenties--at the start of 2011, thanks in large part to the addition of some very cool daily followers whom I cherish as good friends now (Yvonne, GYSC, Jen, Frisky, Watchtower, Shin Loo, Nicole, KLo, etc -- you know who you are!) In addition to my old time regulars from the early days of this blog (Tarrell, Rodney, Kim, Ian, Cindy, Sarah), you guys have made this a "happening" place to be! :)

However, nothing has prepared me for the traffic I've been getting since around late March, early April, here. I guess I have Game of Thrones to blame thank for the sudden popularity. These days, it's a regular occurrence for me to get visitor counts in the 50s and 60s range. In the past month, even up to the 80s and--YIKES!--a handful of 3-digit days every now and then! Are you kidding me? Seriously???

Anyway, you don't have to take my word for it. Here's a glimpse at the latest weekly count chart breaking down the numbers, courtesy of my stat counter site BlogPatrol.com:

And, yes, I do remember to exclude my personal IP addies from the count. I'm not completely clueless.

But pretty crazy figures, huh? I'm sure some of my more popular blog buddies snort at these numbers, but they're great to me. Especially considering where they were prior to 2011.

Needless to say, all the tireless work I've been putting into promoting the Game of Thrones show on HBO is paying off! My episode reaction posts in particular bring in the lion's share of all that traffic. I'm sorry, I meant the "Lannister's share," as we're wont to say in Westeros.

So, to all of you out there who take time off your busy lives to check in on me here at The Bimillennial Man -- thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

And now . . . let's party, PEANUTS style!





(Hey, be glad I didn't say "DIREWOLF" style!)

Out Of The Loop

I took a rather long blog vacation recently without telling anyone. Oops! Sorry about that, but sometimes you just need to step back and, you know, do other things. Things which don't require me sitting in front of a blasted monitor for hours on end. Because that can get a bit annoying after a while. And, while I'm back now and have caught up on all my favorite blogs (Jen, GYSC, Yvonne, Rodney, Frisky, Kim), I'm afraid I just don't have the energy to comment at the moment. Sorry you guys, but I'm just not in the mood. I'll be fine in a few, though, and then things will be back to normal. I promise.

So, this all means no new updates on this end either. You can expect the next Game of Thrones reactions review honestly sometime between tonight and the end of the week. I have no idea. Those things actually take a lot of my time and I might not be up to it for a few days. I have seen the latest episode, however, and I do have my notes already written. It's just a matter of collating it all and acquiring the scene-specific screen caps.

My weekend was rather low-key and wonderfully stress-free. But I was a bit irked by the onslaught of all the SUPER HAPPY FUN FUN Mother's Day postings on Facebook and the blog-o-sphere fronts. I guess you can say that this is why I've been absent these past couple of days. I just couldn't take it anymore. Look, it warms my heart that so many people out there have super awesome moms that they just can't help celebrating for all the world to see. But, from my end, it was just a pretty sucky reminder of what I don't have in my life.

Now it's not like I'm hating on the holiday. After all, it's no one's fault. Not even mine. But all the hype did force me to withdraw a little over the weekend and just disconnect from all media outlets. No computer, no tv (except for pre-recorded shows on my TiVo), and no social media.

I did visit my grandma, though, and brought her a nice dinner and told her how much I loved her. Because, she really is the next best thing to a mother I have in this world. I wrote her a long note in the card I gave her, which of course made her cry. But I meant every word of it, grandma! Without you I would be nobody today.

But, yeah, Sunday was a sad somber day for me. Some years I'm okay, and then some it really hits home how alone I am. I think of the type of woman my mother was, and how she would have been my biggest fan and staunchest supporter of my writing. How she would be the one person I could always turn to and count on. That person who would fight for me--champion my cause--when no one else will give me the time of day.

But I don't have that. To be frank, quite a few other people don't have this either. And some people have it worse -- they HAVE mothers, but those women are evil skanks who only care about themselves. I don't know which is worse: to have had a wonderful mom and lose her early when you needed her most, or to have a mom who exists solely to suck all the life out of you and toss you aside when she's got all that she can get. Because I know people who have the latter, and trust me . . . they're in a far worse place than I am.

So to you who DO have mothers, and who ARE wonderful moms at that -- HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to you all. You are the lucky ones. Don't ever forget it. This day goes both ways: a celebration for those cool moms out there, and for their children lucky enough to call them mom. Please appreciate what you have.

Like Forrest Gump once said: ". . . and that's all I have to say about that."

Interwebs Meme Madness (Part 3)

I mentioned before that these were originally meant to be completed on each Sunday, according to the blog Sunday Stealing. But, since I had arrived late to the party, I ended up completing these over the course of the last several days. So pardon me for breaking all the rules like the rebel that I am.

These 100 questions were divided into 3 parts. If you would like, click on Part 1 and Part 2 to view my answers to the first 67.

And, as always, please feel free to ask me in the comments below to elaborate on any particular response. Many of my answers have stories that go along with them.

In any event . . . now on to the next batch of questions!


PART 3
 
 
68. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?
So many to choose from. But, in the end, THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE! Yes, Highlander: The Series, imo, is the finest television show ever produced. I miss it so much!


69. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH PEOPLE THAT YOU DON'T LIKE?
I'm a big believer in ignoring. No one gives the cold shoulder better than I do. No one.


70. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR?
Strawberry. Chocolate's a close runner-up, but when it's done right . . . nothing beats the strawberry. Yummmmm!


71. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR FINGERS AND TOES?
On Earth I do, but not according to my homeworld.


72. SO IS IT GOING TO BE THE STEELERS OR THE PACKERS?
Before the Super Bowl I was already rooting for the Pack. Now I'm ecstatic! I'm so very delighted they defeated the hated Steelers.


73. PLANS FOR TONIGHT?
Workout for an hour. Eat in front of the tv for another hour. Then write for the remainder of the night. The wife works the night shift today, so I'm on my own. And as you can see, I'm a paint the town red kind of guy.


74. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO LIVE WHEN YOU RETIRE?
Wherever I happen to be living anyway. By the time I retire, that may be on the moon or under the ocean. Who knows?


75. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS?
Why would I? You're all on your own, folks!


76. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO?
J.S. Bach's "Brandenburg" concertos. That's right, I took it back old school to the 20s -- the 1720s, that is!


77. LAST THING YOU DRANK?
Water. I drink over 3 liters a day. Very rarely do I drink anything else.


78. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My good friend from college, Cintra.


79. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE IN THE SEX(ES) YOU'RE ATTRACTED TO?
Eyes. It's always the eyes. Not the color or shape, but they're expressiveness.


80. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?
Write fiction to sell, and play video games.


81. FAVORITE THING TO HATE?
Any kind of ethnic pride. Black, White, Latino, etc . . . I loathe it all.


82. FAVORITE SEASON OF THE YEAR?
It used to be Fall, because up where I went to school in Vermont, Falls were real Falls--crisp and cool! Down here in NYC lately, Falls are too hot and stuffy. So now I have to say Winter is my favorite. The colder the better.


83. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TYPE OF CANDY?
Hershey bar with almonds. For some reason, every year I get a major craving for them in March when the weather transitions from Winter to Spring. Don't know why, but for about 3 weeks there I have to have a Hershey almonds bar almost every single day. Don't much care for candy the rest of the year.


84. HAVE YOU EVER REALLY AND TRULY HAD A BEST FRIEND?
I've been blessed to actually have two! Two friends who have been like brothers to me, and whom I cannot place above the other. The first one I've known since the 4th grade. The second one, since just before the 9th. In some real ways, I would never have made it through life without 'em!


85. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR?
Weird. It's black in certain lighting. But in reality--particularly if I'm standing under the sun--you'll see that my hair is actually very dark brown. My father's hair was black, while my mother's was blonde. Black is always dominant!


86. EYE COLOR?
Dark brown. When I was a kid, they were more hazel. My mother's eyes were blue, so this might explain that.


87. SHOE SIZE?
For sneakers and some boots, 11.5. But for dress shoes or fancy cowboy-type boots, I'm a size 12.


88. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE?
Wendy's all the way! Although, the amount of times I eat fast food in a year can literally be counted on one hand. But, yeah, Wendy's has the best fries and nuggets!


89. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
We don't have one favorite fancy restaurant. To be honest, that's a rotating door of choices. But in terms of your typical "mall" eatery, it would have to be Applebee's. Over the years I've grown quite sick of places like Chili's or TGI Fridays, but my wife and I have many fond memories there from back in the day.


90. DO YOU LIKE SUSHI?
I can tolerate it. But, no, not really. I'm not big on any type of seafood, let alone raw.


91. WATCH TV TODAY?
Yup. I watch mostly historical or nature documentaries. Today, however, had a Pawn Stars marathon on the History Channel, so I watched a ton of that.


92. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR?
In truth, every day is the same to me. Not even my own birthday is all that special.


93. PLAY ANY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS?
When I was kid, I played the baritone horn in the school band. But I always wanted to learn the violin.


94. POLITICAL PARTY?
Democratic. My entire family is Republican, though. We're not very political-leaning, so no fights.


95. KISSES OR HUGS?
I'm assuming you mean among friends or acquaintances? I guess hugs. The only people I'm comfortable kissing at all are my wife and my grandma.


96. RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE NIGHT STANDS?
I could never do a one night stand. She could be the most gorgeous girl in the world, and that would be nice and all. But personality is what gets me really hot and bothered. Either you have one that's compatible, or you don't. The latter means no chance in hell!


97. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT?
An iPhone for my wife. Was meant to be a surprise, but she was about to go pre-order one herself. So I had to break the news to her and ruin Valentine's Day!


98. WOULD YOU EVER BE A HOUSE SPOUSE?
My wife is a Nurse Practitioner -- she makes a helluva lot more money than I do! I'm too pragmatic to not be a house spouse if one of us absolutely had to quit their job and stay home (like, say, with the kids). Male ego be damned!


99. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING?
Who Fears Death, by Nnedi Okorafor.


100. DESCRIBE YOUR LOVE LIFE:
Uh, you might not have noticed, but I'm married. So the correct response is: what is this thing you call "love life?" No, but seriously . . . in one word, it's: EXHAUSTING! :)

Interwebs Meme Madness (Part 2)

Well, like I said I would, here is Part 2 of this ongoing Q&A meme. Even though I've done a number of these over the years I've been maintaining this blog, each new one reveals more zany facts about myself to those who might be interested. I especially like being asked to elaborate upon certain answers, so please don't be shy about asking down in the comments section. I promise I'll explain whatever you want me to.

And if you have not yet read Part 1 of this particular meme, click on this link to go back and, well, do so.

Also, I'm aware that number 36 is missing. I've searched all the preceding sources of this meme for it, but no one seems to know where it is. Oh, well.

In any event . . . now on to the next batch of questions!


PART 2
 
 
34. HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF YOUR HOME COUNTRY?
Yes, many times. Favorite countries so far are: France, Turkey, Italy, and the Bahamas. Still many, many more to visit.


35. WEAKNESSES?
Kyrptonian meteor rocks.


37. FIRST JOB?
Age 14. Part of a work crew painting 4 miles of lampposts, fire hydrants, and emergency alarms along a main thoroughfare in the South Bronx. Oh, did I mention this was in baking July heat, while being pelted by all sorts of trash from tenement residents above us? Yeah. Good times!


38. EVER DONE A PRANK CALL?
Too many to count. I was a bored kid.


39. DO YOU THINK EVERYONE OUT THERE HAS A SOUL MATE?
No such thing. But I do believe that there are plenty of people out there who are very compatible with any one person at any given place or time. You may or may not find one of these matches. No invisible force guarantees that you will, however.


40. WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE [THIS MEME]?
Seeking out new life and new civilizations, boldly.


41. HAVE YOU EVER HAD SURGERY?
No thanks.


42. WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST?
My ability to express the mathematical constant of Pi to at least 50,000 fractional digits. No, wait . . . my shoulders. Women seem to like my shoulders.


43. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES?
No, never. I had enough trauma growing up wearing glasses. Thankfully, my teeth have always been perfect.


44. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY?
I'm married to her.


45. HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT AND WHAT DO YOU WANT THEIR NAMES TO BE? (OR IF YOU HAVE KIDS, TELL US ABOUT THEM.)
Pick a number from zero to zero. Their names will be: Dunno, Something, Um . . . and Lenny.


46. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
King David from the Bible. I used to think this was cool. Then I read the Bible, and realized he was a two-timing, murdering, jealous scumbag. Yikes!


47. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST TURN OFF OF THE SEX(ES) YOU'RE ATTRACTED TO?
A woman who hates children or can't get along with them. Something's wrong there.


48. WHAT IS ONE THING YOU LIKED ABOUT HIGH SCHOOL?
When I was given a piece a paper written in Latin, then told I would never have to come back.


49. WHAT KIND OF SHAMPOO DO YOU USE?
Pantene Pro V for Men. Scared yet?


50. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
I type up even grocery lists.


51. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Maple honey-glazed turkey. Although I almost never eat lunch meat.


52. ANY BAD HABITS?
These aren't the droids you're looking for . . . move along.


53. ARE YOU A JEALOUS PERSON?
It's hard to be jealous when no one's better than you.


54. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
No. Look back at number 53 -- he's a cocky sonuvabitch, ain't he?


55. DO YOU AGREE WITH FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS?
If my friend can predict the future, then hell yeah I agree with the benefit of him hooking me up with those winning lotto numbers.


56. DO LOOKS MATTER?
Only to the extent needed to determine basic hygiene and sanity of the other party. Otherwise, not very much.


57. HOW DO YOU RELEASE ANGER?
The cemeteries of the world are filled with . . . oh, video games. Yes, that.


58. WOULD YOU RATHER GAIN 58 POUNDS OR LOSE 58 POUNDS?
Gain 58 pounds. I would probably die from severe renal failure if I were to suddenly drop 58 pounds. But, OTOH, losing excess weight is extremely easy.


59. WHAT'S YOUR MAIN GOAL IN LIFE?
To crush my enemies, see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentation of their women. But I'd take a nice beach villa in southern France barring all that.


60. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD?
The power socket. Never got old. WHOOOO!


61. HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR CELL PHONE?
Not including the area code, only three. No, seriously.


62. WERE YOU A FAN OF BARNEY AS A LITTLE KID?
Barney Miller? Barney Rubble? Barney the albino serial killer, scourge of the lower East Side? If the last one, I heard he took on a secret identity as a costumed actor in a kids show during the 90s. That takes real balls, if you ask me.


63. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Pfft! Whaaaa? Me????


64. MASHED POTATOES OR MACARONI AND CHEESE?
Mac n cheese. I'm not a fan of formless, mushy foods. I should find out why one of these days . . .


65. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A LOVER?
Orifices.


66. WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES?
I have none. The name's David. Nothing more, nothing less.


67. FAVORITE SUPER POWER?
Self-regulating invincibility from all adverse aggressors. When you really think hard on it, this is the best and only super power you'll ever need.


Click here to read Part 3 of this meme.

Interwebs Meme Madness (Part 1)

A follower of The Bimillennial Man, KLo, had this questionnaire meme up on her blog yesterday. Apparently she got it from the Sunday Stealing blog, which in turn got it from somewhere else, which in turn . . . anyway, you get the idea.

Apparently this is a 3-part series, with each segment intended to be filled out every Sunday. But since I came to this late, I think I'll start the first leg now and then continue until the 3rd set is posted this coming Sunday. How's that sound to everyone?

As usual, my answers to some of these questions might surprise even those of you who know me very well. At the very least, it should be a fun exercise if you want to post your own answers up on your blog. If you do decide to do so, please let me know in my comments section below.

And now, on to the questions!



1. ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT?
On my left knee. I got it when I unfortunately mistimed a changing light at the bottom of a steep hill and flew down it at top speed on my mountain bike. A taxi cab intersected me and taught me a valuable lesson in basic Newtonian physics that day.


2. WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR ROOM
Mostly bare walls. I'm not big on hanging art.


3. DO YOU SNORE, GRIND YOUR TEETH, OR TALK IN YOUR SLEEP?
None of the above. I'm such a light sleeper that I would get no rest if I produced such unseemly noises.


4. WHAT TYPE OF MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO?
What have you got? No, seriously, I have as much loyalty to any one style of music as a wandering circus clown has to his women. Oh wait, that's a sad story . . .


5. WHAT TIME WERE YOU BORN?
7:14 am. The Hour of the Dragon in Chinese astrology.


6. WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW?
Unlimited airfare to travel anywhere in the world and as often as I want.


7. WHAT DO YOU MISS?
Olden days of yore.


8. WHAT IS YOUR MOST PRIZED POSSESSION(S)?
Nothing at the moment. Everything I own is useless junk to keep me occupied if you really think about it.


9. HOW TALL ARE YOU?
182 centimeters.


10. DO YOU GET CLAUSTROPHOBIC?
Walking through a narrow Parisian alley claustrophobic? No. Buried alive in a coffin claustrophobic? Uh, HELL YEAH!


11. DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK?
Only when the lights are off.


12. THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY?
My grandma.


13. WHAT'S YOUR WORST FEAR?
Suffocating.


14. WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOR DO YOU LIKE ON PEOPLE YOU'RE ATTRACTED TO?
Usually the darker the better. But honestly, whatever works on you. I like variety!


15. WHERE CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF PROPOSING?
Already proposed. And it was on a moonlit horse and carriage ride through New York's Central Park.


16. COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINK?
Neither. I only need the power of the sun to get me going most mornings (fusion backup cells on cloudy days).


17. FAVORITE PIZZA TOPPING?
Pepperoni. No, seriously . . . you better put some more on my slice, bucko!


18. IF YOU COULD EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Mmmmm . . . pepperoni pizza. Now I can't think of anything else, damn you!


19. FAVORITE COLOR OF ALL TIME?
Peppero--oh, oops! Sorry. Blue. I meant to say, blue. Wrote a poem about it once. Ah, my "Ode to Blue" . . .


20. HAVE YOU EVER EATEN A GOLDFISH?
Hell no! I have a difficult time killing anything not meant to further my survival.


21. WHAT WAS THE FIRST MEANINGFUL GIFT YOU'VE EVER RECEIVED?
My Spider-Man watch on my 7th birthday. We couldn't afford much, and mom went all out on that.


22. DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH?
I'm married. So my answer better be my wife -- which it is! (okay, honey?)


23. ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED?
No. But my wife is. *wink, wink*


24. FAVORITE CLOTHING BRAND?
I'm a man. The brand that's called "just jeans and shirts," moron.


25. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE FEMALE/MALE CELEBRITY?
Emmanuelle Chriqui. Classiness personified!


26. DO YOU HAVE A PET RIGHT NOW?
No. I like to travel a lot. Pets just get in the way of all that.


27. WHAT KIND IS IT?
Used to have a cat growing up. Best cat ever! (R.I.P, Tiger)


28. WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING?
Yes. Better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all. Or something like that.


30. SAY A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED?
A number from one to a hundred. (C'mon, you had to know I would)


31. BLONDES OR BRUNETTES?
I lean more toward the darker hues, but neither is a deal maker or breaker when it comes down to it. More important things to look for.


32. FAVORITE QUOTE?
"I am not young enough to know everything." -- Oscar Wilde

33. FAVORITE PLACE?
Paris, France. Cannot get enough of that city.



And there you have it. As usual, if anybody would like elaboration on any of the answers above, just ask me in the comments section and I'll try my best to accommodate.

Click here to read Part 2 of this meme.

Various And Sundry -- End Of January Edition

I've been too busy to blog lately, for various reasons of which I'll mention just below. It's not that I've run out of things to discuss here (that would NEVER happen), but that I never seem to have enough time in the day to do all the things I need to do. So, unfortunately, this means the blog has to suffer, as it is of a lesser degree of urgency than my other real-life duties. However, I'd like to just quickly go over the most recent things happening in my temporal-starved existence. A sort of what's-what in the world of David J. Batista as of late.

First off, it seems I forgot to announce this a while back, but . . . my brother Jose (Joseph) is getting married later this year! He's younger than me by about 14 months and will be marrying his girlfriend, Catherine, of 7 years. They currently live in Houston, Texas and so this is where the ceremony will take place. This means that I'll be in the Houston area sometime around Veteran's Day this year. If any of my readers live at or near this fine city, let me know what's good in the hood over there. Particularly in terms of Mexicana or Tex-Mex eateries. Mmmm, yum! I haven't yet finalized our exact travel plans, but getting a head start on good places to eat is never a bad thing.

Following the news of this impromptu visit to the southwestern corner of this fair nation of ours, I spoke to my best friend, Tarrell, about perhaps making a road trip out of the event. Not to Houston, of course. That would be a bit much. But, rather, for after the wedding. We're thinking of making the drive to Las Vegas from there, stopping at the Grand Canyon and other attractions along the way. And after Vegas, perhaps we'll continue the drive west and hit up Tarrell's peeps in the San Bernardino/Riverside area of SoCal. It's been a while since I've been there, and wouldn't mind going back and reconnecting with these same peeps who have become my friends as well. While we're there, we may or may not relive our infamous June 2001 trip across the border to Tijuana, Mexico. Oh, did I not tell that one? Oops, my bad. Guess that's going to have to be the subject of a future blog update.

Tarrell and I might also use the opportunity to fulfill a long dreamed-of goal of ours, which is: to leap from an airplane at dizzying heights whilst nothing to keep us afloat but our bodies' own aerodynamics, the buffeting winds of the SoCal flats . . . and of course, a sturdy RELIABLE parachute strapped to our backs! Yes, we might be just a little bit insane, but those of you who know of my regularly frequent flight dreams also know that this is a big deal for me. Lisa is presently veto'ing this crazy plan of ours, though. Still, I have some time to work on her. She won't be joining us on this trip, but rightfully also doesn't have a desire to become a widow anytime soon, either. That's very reasonable of her.

Of course, more than likely none of this will come to past. It sounds like it might be costly, as well as too time-consuming to do all that we plan to do. But we're damn sure going to try and make it work, I tell ya!

On the writing front, I've been surprisingly unproductive. Oh, that's not exactly true. I've been productive, just not to a satisfying end. As you may recall, I took a brief break from novel writing to focus on some short stories. Problem is, the first of these planned stories was supposed to be a rewrite of an older unpublished work. But I've been wrestling with this rewrite for the past 6 weeks now! Och! Too long, too long. I did rewrite it once, but ended up scrapping that version into the trash. Presently I'm outlining the new draft, and I think I've finally ironed out the issues that had doomed the previous write. Hopefully I can start this 3rd attempt by the weekend and be done before the end of next week. If so, look for me to resume work on the novel right away. It's been too long cooling on its heels, so the other 2 short stories I've been cooking up will just have to wait some more.

Lastly, yes . . . I know I've been talking a lot about all things Dead Space lately. Unless you're a gamer, you just don't get it. But from now on, all Dead Space 2 news will be funneled through my "Now Playing" sidebar in the right column of this blog. Check that space from time to time to read up on my progress through this harrowing, but quite action-packed, adventure on The Sprawl. I just started the game over the weekend and already I can't get enough of it. I think all you scaredy cats out there are doing yourselves a huge disservice by not playing this game and/or its predecessor. Those of you who are gamers, I mean -- and you KNOW who you are! I'm going to need to finish up Dead Space 2 before March, since a game I've been looking forward to for over a year now, Crysis 2, will be *finally* hitting shelves then. My early buzz detectors are telling me this title is going to "pwn" HARD!

And, so, that's all the news that's fit to print in my neck of the woods! Hope you all are keeping warm and safe in this, the coldest time of the year across most of the continental U.S. and Canada. I, of course, am absolutely loving all this snow we've been getting in the New York Tri-State area. I only wish we could get MORE!!!

*ducks angry snowball thrown his way*

The Return Of Blogger Comments!

And there was much rejoicing in Heaven!

Some of you have been complaining -- both in public and in private -- about my recent switch to Disqus for the comments administration on this blog. At the time I thought it would be a vast improvement over the old Blogger default format.

But now we're back to the old system! Be glad, be very glad. And, also: see what I do for my readers?

To be honest, Disqus wasn't really providing that big of an improvement to justify my using it here. It allowed me more freedom in moderating the comments, sure. But now that Blogger has updated their own commenting UI, it turns out that this wasn't as a big a deal as others had made it out to be. And so I'm done with that.

Also, the Disqus comments form was taking way too long to load up on each of my posts. That lag was unforgivable, but I should have seen it coming being that Disqus is a third-party UI that's managed offsite.

Sucks, that.

Oh well . . . from now on all my fellow web loggers on Blogger will be able to use their existing Google IDs to keep on commenting like you've always been able to do in the past. And any newcomers or non-registered visitors will still be able to comment as well.

It's a win-win situation for everybody. Really, it is.

Hooray?

With These Three Blog Entries . . .

I shall rule the world! *mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!*

Okay, not quite -- but I would like to take this opportunity to point out that my blog has been getting insane amounts of traffic over the past 6 months, and for some reason 65% of that traffic belongs to 3 of my archived threads in particular:

My Self-Guided Highlander Tours Of Paris:
Part 1: http://davidjbatista.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-self-guided-highlander-tour-of-paris.html
Part 2: http://davidjbatista.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-self-guided-highlander-tour-of-paris.html

The Top 10 Ways In Which Zombies Are Misunderstood:
http://davidjbatista.blogspot.com/2009/08/top-10-ways-in-which-zombies-are.html

I don't know why these attract the most Google searches, but apparently the people are demanding their Paris filming locations for that 90s tv show "Highlander: The Series" . . . along with a healthy dose of zombies! What the two have in common, if anything, I don't know. But this is what the masses seem to want.

And, honestly, who am I to deny them this? So to make things easier I'm linking to all 3 entries in one location!

Do with this convenience as you please -- for good or for bad.

A Note On The New Comments System

Okay, now that I've switched over to the Disqus comments system, you'll notice a few changes in the way you leave comments on this blog from now on.

Bear With Me . . .

As I mentioned earlier, I'm in the process of upgrading Blogger's commenting system to the cool and super dynamic 3rd party Disqus user interface. Apparently it's supposed to be much better and fluid than Blogger's built-in UI. Time will tell. If it works, I'll have greater control over comments as well as more moderation options and spam control.

For now, I've hit a major snag. It seems the template is installed--so you'll now be able to leave comments using the new interface--but I was unable to migrate over all my old comments. Which majorly sucks. I'll keep working on it, but for now if you've ever left a comment on my site in the past . . . they may be lost for good.

I don't think it's as dire as that, but as of right now the Disqus site is causing me grief in importing these comments. Hopefully I can update you all on some happy news in a few days if I can get it to work. And in the meantime I will also keep messing around with the look of the new interface. It's really just barebones right now, but at least it works. I hope.

Quick, somebody leave a message and let me know!

Eventually if I decide to keep this new system, I'll eliminate some redundancies like the two "Reactions" options now available at the end of each entry. I'll also do some other window dressing, too.

Be patient with me, that's all I ask.

UPDATE: Well, looks like the snag on Disqus end was really my browser's fault. For some reason the button for importing all the old comments over to the new system was not responding whenever I would click it. I even sent out an S.O.S. to the Disqus help team, before I eventually realized -- duh, just right click and manually open the link! After that, everything went smoothly, as evident by the fact that all the comments are back where they belong. Yippee!!

The (Blog) Emperor's New Clothes

Well, here's the new look! As I promised earlier today, I've gone and revamped the style and colors of The Bimillennial Man. Phew!

It took me a while to get it just the way I like, but now I'm done. Perhaps I'll do a few more tweaks behind the scenes, but this is it folks!

And before you say anything: no, I'm not changing this. If you don't like the new look, design your own blog. My favorite color happens to be blue, which would explain the overall color scheme I've chosen. I've been so sick of the previous black, white and green motif for a long time now, so I'm glad I got that changed finally.

The other change is the map theme, which goes along with the new subtitle at the top. And, of course, those of you who know me and my fondness for Highlander, you should be able to get the other half of that sentence.

Got it? Good.

Of course, I can't take all the credit. This was all made possible by way of the new "Design" feature and templates being offered by the gracious folks at Google Blogger. This particular template was designed by Josh Peterson. All I did was change up the colors to my liking.

Next up, I'll be looking to overhaul the comments section and maybe adding a few more cool features in honor of these new digs. Maybe.

As always, and especially before I start tampering with them, please click on the "Comments" link at the end of this entry and express your impressions, good or bad.

Change Is In The Air . . .

Made some minor adjustments to the blog recently, though I don't know if any of you noticed. Probably not, since they're mostly window-dressing type changes.

One of the more significant of these non-significant changes (heh, heh) is the addition of the "READ MORE" jumpover function, which allows me to hide large portions of text behind a convenient new page link whenever my entries take up too much bandwidth. Which, as you know, they often do because I like to ruminate at the mouth when I blog. This is very convenient for those entries where I'm embedding a lot of pics and/or videos -- such as with my most recent cruise reports. Hiding all that processing-heavy code behind a jumpover makes my main page load a lot faster now. Hallelujah! This naturally only applies to folks who arrive on my blog via the front door, and not by way of an entry-specific link since those pages are automatically expanded to their fullest.

Secondly, I got rid of my old 3rd party share buttons and replaced them with the Blogger proprietary ones which is a little more streamlined and not as buggy. Plus, that annoying pop-up window no longer shows up whenever your cursor even so much as looks in the buttons' general direction. Ugh! I hated that. The new buttons are unobtrusive and only there if you really need to share my blog with your various social media sites. Which I'm not sure many of you do that, but, hey, it's there in case you do.

I had to jump through some gnarly hoops to get these functions added to my particular blog, because my page is not the standard template at Blogger. Because of earlier modifications I had made to the site, whenever The Powers That Be decide to add some nifty new tool, I have to go into my source code and mess around with the HTML in order to implement it. And if you don't know what you're doing, you can royally screw up your site by rummaging around the source code.

Needless to say, I've learned a lot about what I can and cannot do with this blog over the past few nights. I've discovered ways to improve this page that I never knew about, let alone thought was possible.

All this is my way of prefacing the announcement that The Bimillennial Man will be getting a makeover in the next few days. At least, I hope so. It's very likely that I'll screw something up big time and will end up reverting back to this current template. If that happens, I'll ask you to forget all about this entry. If it does work, however, then the place will have a new visual look. I'm thinking of getting rid of the whole black-and-green color scheme. What do you think?

Another major improvement, if it works, is that I'll be overhauling my comments section -- eschewing the standard Blogger comments model (which, to be quite honest, totally SUCKS!) and going instead with a 3rd party offering called "Disqus" to manage all my comments. I've heard and seen some great things about this service, so hopefully I'll get it to work. If it goes through, I think you guys will really like what you see. It will require me migrating over every single comment ever made on this blog first, though. I don't want to lose those. But this makes the process a very long and mayhaps tedious one -- YIKES!

All in all, I don't anticipate any major interruptions on the main site as most of these improvements will be worked on behind the scenes. One second the place will look like it always does, and the next -- BOOM! Whole new look!

The comments migration and upgrade will probably happen at a later time, however. Can't do everything all at once, now, you know?

Anyway, wish me luck! *crosses fingers and toes*

500 Blog Entries . . . My How Time Flies!

On August 24 last year I wrote this blog entry commemorating the 1st anniversary of The Bimillennial Man, which coincidentally also happened to be my 300th entry at the time.

Well today, not even 1 year after that, I've somehow managed to reach the 500 milestone. Boy, I never would have thought it would take me less than a year to write up 200 entries. What on Earth did I find to talk about THAT many times?

But I just wanted to say: thanks for being there with me every step of the way. I mean it.

That is all for now.

Survey Says!

A co-worker of mine has created a survey for her grad school class concerning a sci-fi based parody-review website. Click on the link below and take 2 minutes to check off a variety of responses to some pretty neat questions re: your interests and online habits:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LNZJWRJ

If sci-fi gaming/comics/movies/books is not your thang, well then . . . what are you doing here on this blog again?

Seriously, though, click on the link and make me happy! :)

That is all.

The Eye Inside

Went for an eye exam. Didn't really want one, but they force me to get one each time I go in to renew my contact lens supply for the year. But this time, instead of a simple chart to read, the doctor wanted to give me the "Full Monty" of comprehensive exams.

Geez, I felt like a lab rat. What gives with all these different machines now? There was a row of them, like a gauntlet of increasingly complex torture devices lined up against the wall. It reminded me of circuit training at the gym.

The first machine tested my distance vision, whatever the hell that means. I wasn't aware there was any other type of vision for a 33 year old.

Next came one to measure the pressure inside my eyeballs. That turned out fine. After this, a fun little device that tests your peripheral vision. I had to stare into a small opening at a pattern of three red laser dots grouped together at the center of a wide circle -- not unlike the Predator targeting scope from the movies. I had to keep my eyes focused on the red dots while a white dot blinked on and off at random spots and frequency off-center of the circle. Each time I spotted a small, white pinprick flash in my periphery, I had to click a button on this device in my hand. It was strangely akin to whack-a-mole, complete with the software trying to fake you out with lengthy pauses to catch trigger-happy nimrods. Little did they know I have superior video-gaming skills, and that this was actually right down my alley!

I aced it, of course. The woman giving the test was surprised by how fast I clicked to each flash of light. She said my response time was way quicker than average.

Thanks Asteroids, Galaga, and Missile Command! 50 billion quarters and most of my 80s childhood wasted at the arcades has finally paid off!

After all this, I still had one more machine to submit my precious eyeballs to: a high-tech retina mapping imager. I don't know what's the official word for it, but this is a big round machine that needs its own separate room. Yet in operation it's quite simple. You stare into yet another small round hole while a big, bright green rotating laser flashes you from right to left and takes a digital image of the back of your eye. This is to make sure your retinas are healthy and not in danger of becoming detached. Because, if you lose a retina . . . that's it. You're blind, bucko!

Anyway, no bad news to report. Everything checked out fine. After all this, I then had to see the actual doctor. This is where I did the standard eye chart and stare into the impossibly bright light while being told not to blink routine. You would think a place concerned with the health of your eyes would try to not blind its patients with so many bright lights at once, right? You would think, but you'd be wrong.

The doc, a short young Asian dude (who mumbled and was a bit rude) then informed me that he would dilate my eyes.

Why ever would you want to do that? I asked.

To check the inside of your eyes, he said.

But isn't this what that Death Star optical blaster machine did? The one I *just* came from and which left me blinking green for 5 minutes?

Apparently, that machine really is just for retinas. But the doc needed to peer behind my pupils to check for cornea health and all that jazz. I still didn't understand why they couldn't have the machine see this, but went along with it anyway.

So, for 30 minutes I had to sit and wait for the special yellow-acid eye drops from hell to numb my eyes to the point my pupils simply gave up and spread wide. 30 minutes of me wondering why the fuck the lights all around me are suddenly HURTING like stabbing needles inside my brain. Seriously, I had a major headache by minute 15 and eventually had to pull out my own shades to protect myself.

Wait, wasn't he supposed to warn me about this? Not just tell me to wander around the streets outside and come back a half hour later? Also, I thought you're supposed to get special shades to protect your eyes when you go in for these tests? Why was I relying on my own resources in this moment?

Like I said, this doc was clueless. It made me pretty pissed. When I came back in, he saw me with my shades on and said: Oh, good idea. Everyone should wear shades more often.

Oh, no shit doc? Like how about when their pupils are the size of fucking SAUCER PLATES? I would think especially then, right?

Anyway, he then proceeded to shine more bright lights into my eyes. And this time I was seeing bright splotches for what felt like forever. Ow! But he said everything looked good, and that my pupils would return to normal after a couple of hours.

That's it? I was subjected to this much pain and assholery just for a 1-minute evaluation? And they wonder why I always turned this procedure down in the past. I knew it would be a big pain in my ass -- and I was right!

Anyway, I got my contact lenses renewed and am done with this place for at least another year.

How was your day?

Question For The Day

Why is it that when a woman says: "I hate men!" we think she's had too many bad dating experiences, but when a grown man says: "I hate women," it's because he hasn't dated enough?

Discuss amongst yourselves . . .

Of Charts And Numbers

Ever since starting a blog here on Blogger, I've been scratching my head trying to figure out how to determine the number of people who actually visit (but don't leave comments). There is no inherent function in Blogger itself to help with this, but I knew of third-party applications that would help. Problem is, most of them came with a price.

But lo and behold, I actually found an off-site service that will do all the dirty work for me. And all for free! Which, let's be honest here, is the preferred way to go about things when you're a hungry, unpublished writer trying to get OUT THERE in the world.

Anyway, for those who might be interested, check out BlogPatrol.com and get your own free blog counter service. You can add a counter widget on your blog too, in either visible or "stealth" modes. I'm using a stealth one myself at the moment, which means that only I can see the number of visitors that come to my site. Right now my daily count is a miserable average of around 6-7 unique IP addresses per day.

Dang, what must I do to whore myself out to more readers? Hmmm . . .

In all honesty, I'm sure these numbers will slowly increase with the more content I add to the blog. I'm slowly reaching the 300 post mark since starting the Bimillennial Man less than a year ago, so I still have a lot of growing to do. Although, looking at the detailed breakdown that BlogPatrol provides in the form of useful, cool-looking charts, certain topics are getting way more searches than I would have thought. Pretty much all my Paris articles are getting top billing.

I've provided below just a small snapshot of all the charts and numbers BlogPatrol collates for me to browse through at my leisure. For someone as obsessed with numbers and micro-management of statistics like me, this is like an OCD's nirvana!

See if this is the right service for you:

DAILY VISITORS


SEARCH ENGINES AND KEYWORDS


PIE CHARTS


There's also a breakdown of visitor's IP addresses, the browsers they use, monitor resolutions, and countries of origin. Aside from knowing who to ban should it come down to it, at the present I can't find much use for some of this info. But I'm glad to have the option anyway!

Random Greatest-Rock'n'Roll-Band-Of-All-Time Sighting!

Lookie what I spied whilst browsing through the local Hallmark card and gift shop down the block -- Queen-themed greeting cards! *gasp* How f'n AWESOME is that?

I've seen musical cards before, and I *think* I've heard somewhere the concept of using licensed music recently. But Queen? Gargghhh! I almost bought the whole lot of them just for the cool factor alone! Had a good selection of songs, too: "You're My Best Friend," "We Are The Champions," "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," "Another One Bites The Dust," and "(I Want To) Break Free" to name a few. Rock on, rock on!

Anyway, I was in there picking out a card for our upcoming wedding anniversary this week. 4 years, huh? My how time flies!