It sure has been a sweltering summer thus far. It seems like every day in July the high temperature has been well into the 90s with heat indexes past the century mark. Maybe it’s the hot sun just baking all that oil bubbling under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico. Maybe it’s all the hot air blowing down from Washington D.C. Or anger from those who think we can deport every illegal in Arizona. Or maybe Al Gore finally found a way to make global warming real by doing dirty things with massage therapists. Fuck if I know.

I do know that yesterday I began plotting what I ate in a food diary. If it sounds a little gay, it probably is. But essentially you figure out all what you ate and how good or bad you ended up on main items like calories, fat, sodium, and stuff like that. Considering I’m nearing 32 years old and don’t have any health care, I probably need to be doing some watching of what I’m eating. I’m adding a bit of exercise to the whole thing too. But don’t call it a diet program. (And don’t call it a mid-life crisis either.)

In other news: Courtney (Elf) still looks fucking hot, DJ Rick Walsh is retiring from his duties behind the turntables at Heretic on Friday, and I’m really getting back into this Magic: The Gathering hobby again. I also still RP with Stephanie, play a few video games, and am looking forward to a jam packed fall season that includes DragonCon, Alchemy, my birthday, Atlanta Gay Pride Weekend, Halloween, and writing a new novel.

I still could find time for a boyfriend though. Any takers?

Recently my mom switched us from DSL back over to cable for our internet service. I was against the idea, since to call what Charter gave us service would be a disservice to the word. Now we have them back and nothing has changed. See, the technicians that come out here say the signal is so weak that it’s prone to going out. And you can forget about splitting the coax cable to hook up something like a TV.

They claim they boosted the signal. But, of course, they really haven’t. It’s just the same revolving door of double speak.

I’m getting the same run-around with Ebay. A while back I listed something that didn’t sell. Instead of instantly refunding my 6.15 they kept it. I didn’t think too much of it at first, but as I kept getting invoices that said I had -6.15 balance, I thought, it sure would be nice to have that money back. I wrote them, they said sure, attach a PayPal account and we’ll get right on that. 30 days went by, no refund. I wrote them back saying what’s the deal yo? They said, oh so sorry, but we need a credit card number or bank account number. I said, no, you told me you need a PayPal account attached. They replied, okay sure, we’ll get right on that. 30 days went by, no refund.

Customer No Service.

I’ve added to the NAVI section a link to my new blog over on Wizards of the Coast’s website. It will be where I detail my return to playing of the game. Will it be a success or an unmitigated disaster? Who knows, but it sure will probably be fun to watch the carnage.

It’s July! JULY! You know, that month that brings America independence, fireworks, BBQ, and afternoon and evening thunderstorms. It also means we’re about 6 weeks away from BP possibly finally maybe probably not cutting off their massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Hurrah! Wait, whut?

The summertime song is allegedly destined to be “California Gurls” by Katy Perry featuring Ludacris. But you know, I’m more particular to Kat DeLuna’s “Push, Push” (featuring Akon, cause you know everything features someone.) And then there is that patently silly “Pretty Boy Swag” by Soulja Boy. Wait, he’s a pretty boy? Oh… wait.. no… he says “no homo” in the song. Psha! Like us respectful fags would accept you, assclown.

On to more important news: The economy seems to still blow for most, but thankfully my local economy is really picking up some steam. I’m trying very hard to adjust and make sure I’m putting some away now that I’m not spending so much on things like car payments and full coverage insurance. I could use some health care, god knows. And I don’t mean the kind that comes in a cocktail glass.

Pride Weekend is once again moving in Atlanta. We didn’t have it in June -again- which blows donkey balls. Last year, it was on Halloween which apparently worked out really well. I just went to the parade which was cold but nice as always. The Latinos looked like they were celebrating the hardest. The rest of us should look to that and be reminded what it’s like to have some real fire in our pride. This year Atlanta Gay Pride is on my birthday weekend, October 9th.

But before that happens, I gotta do the Alchemy thing with Kaze up in the North Georgia Mountain. It’s kind of like Burning Man, but on a smaller scale.

Also coming up is another fine edition of DragonCon. It’s Labor Day Weeekend, always, always, always. Maybe you should come and join me. It’s a lot of fun, the most accessible geek celebrities, and will make you rethink that whole “nerds don’t get laid” stuff.

Finally, I’ve been thinking a lot about Magic: The Gathering again suddenly. I bought a terrible terrible version of it on Steam the other day called Duels of the Planeswalkers. It’s also on XBOX. It’s horrid. Don’t buy it. It was a waste of money to be sure. You can’t even build your own deck? WHAT? Magic: Online is cheaper and certainly is making me think about it a bit. There’s also a new Core set coming out in two weeks. Is this something I could get into again? If it’s still played, maybe I could even make some new friends. I’d chalk this nostalgia up to the fact that I’m 31 (almost 32), but that would imply that I’ve grown up in the meantime, which we all fucking know is not true.

Anyway, that’s the update for now. Don’t forget to buy some books.

1. World Cup.  Alright, everyone’s got their vuvuzula stuff out of their system by now right?  I mean, this thing has been underway for a while and the competition is heating up.  There are bad ref calls and whatever.  What I just learned is that the United States wants to host the Cup in the future.  Why?  While the US Team is doing fine and dandy, people don’t really care.  They may pretend to care just like they pretend to like classic films like Casablanca when they haven’t ever really seen it.  I’m more than okay letting the world enjoy their World Cup without America feeling like she has to get all into it.

2. Oil Spill. OMFG, is that shit still going on? You know, when I made my first Facebook post about that, it was already two weeks old. Now it’s more than two MONTHS old. Beaches are getting trashed, lives are being devastated, and it’s become quite the nightmare environmental scenario. Worse, the relief wells are still not due to be complete for over another month and you know, I am not all that confident that’ll fix things either. This situation cannot be minimized. It really is THE most important thing in America right now. It practically screams what’s wrong with our government, our industry, and our energy policy what with all the corruption and inaction across the board.

3. Afghan War. A big time general got kicked out because he said lots of negative things about those in charge in an article published in Rolling Stone. First, Rolling Stone still exists? Secondly, I want to know why we’re still in Afghanistan. It ain’t to fight Al Qeada like was originally planned. They’ve moved on to Pakistan. Is it to fight the Taliban? Is it to fight people that only fight us because we’re there fighting them fighting us? I thought I elected Obama to get us out of these wars. Wait, that brings me to…

4. President Obama. He hasn’t closed down Gitmo. He hasn’t brought home our troops. He hasn’t really done a very good job at bringing our economy back. He kept many of the Bush era policies of warrant-less wiretapping and secret prisons. He’s half-assed the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He’s half-assed nominated liberalish people to the Supreme Court. I’m going to say what many of my liberal friends won’t… he’s not been an effective leader. Yes, I know it’s only been such and such many months. Yes, I know he inherited many problems. But he’s had plenty of time to suck on his own. He completely has bungled the Oil Spill. He continues to not be a good leader in economic policies that reform the way things are done. Handing out cash isn’t a solution. His one big win of Health Care isn’t even really that impressive considering it lacks a Public Option and the implementation of the effects are all way diluted with time. He has squandered a majority in the house and senate and now with mid-term elections looming, under his leadership or lack thereof, there are overwhelming predictions that Republicans (and even more terrifying Tea Party members) are going to be roaring back. Son, I am disappoint.

5. “Later, Skater: On Tour!” Buy your copy for summer reading today. Sales haven’t been great, which is confusing me. I mean, I sold and gave away lots and lots of copies of the original “Later, Skater” The sequel is bigger and better and downloadable for instant gratification for only 5 dollars. FIVE DOLLARS! Get it today to help keep me encouraged about my writing.

So it’s June. I seem to be making less and less personal posts over here when I really ought to be doing the exact opposite. The main problem, of course, is that nothing really typically happens in my life that I feel warrants a post about. At least not about my actual life.

I don’t have much of a life. That’s the sad thing. I guess I do what most people my age do. Work. Sleep. Shit. And move on from day to day. But that’s not really a very rewarding existence is it? Of course, many people my age are married, divorced, involved in relationships, taking care of children, or whatever. I’m doing none of those things, so it’s a bit more empty.

I did pay off my car this past week. That’s kind of a big deal since it frees up a consider chunk of money I make every month. I mean, if you subtract a car payment and the cost of paying for full coverage insurance, that’s some serious chizz.

In other news: I worry about my nightclub hang out. It’s suffered from strong declines of people. More in the last month than had already declined in general since the start of The Great Depression part Deux. I still enjoy going for the most part. I mean, interactions with other people that aren’t my family and work and customers are probably a good thing for my fragile sanity. I could really use some friends outside of that place though. I only see Kaze rarely. I only see Elf rarely.

My world outside of the digital seems to get smaller and smaller. I fear it may one day disappear.

I was honored to be asked to write a quiz for AVATAR for the very awesome site How Well Do You Know.
I took my time and really tried to make it my best. Take it (along with my other three quizzes) tonight! Tell me what you think.

For some reason Shotalicious has been dealing with a hack that has affected a LOT of blogs out there, and Pixiesticks, in spite of being both hosted on the same webhost and using the same blogging application, has not. Perhaps, it’s due to the fact that this site is SO VERY UNPOPULAR. Maybe it’s just pure dumb fucking luck.

Sadly, I have to take down shotalicious until I get a better idea of what the fuck is going on and what to do about it. I can’t allow my site to be used to infect people’s computers with malware or viruses.

While shotalcious was still pretty fresh from a recent reboot, this site has legacy behind it going back far longer than it really has any good reason to. I’ll try to keep on going, with backups or what not. But I certainly am facing the reality that because of faith I put in other companies, I could end up losing everything.

Overnight a branch fell onto my car causing several dents on the roof and door. It further cracked the windshield. Unfortunately, with a 500 dollar deductible, it doesn’t look like it’s shaping up to being worth fixing these annoying but cosmetic problems. I guess Mother Nature is getting me back for allowing kidrockboyfriend to burn all that trash the other day.

The car is so very nearly paid for too. It needs to tough it out!

It’s been a very active weekend here in my life. It all started once I got off work Friday (though that was busy as hell too.) Courtney came over and we watched Zombieland. Yes, I know I haven’t been updating my MOVIESIGN! page like I wanted to. Just so much gets in the way. The movie is very very good though and I had a great time. A bit more sadness than usual after taking her home. I guess it’s just I feel like I need some closeness right now and am not getting as much as I’d like.

Saturday started early as I changed rooms with my sister and her kidrockboyfriend. It went smoothly enough, though it did take a lot of the day. Sadly my Windows XP machine died in the process. When you press the on button, it sounds almost like a car trying to start up, but never doing so. Another bad thing was that kidrockboyfriend felt he had to go all redneck and burned the bags of ancient stuff I was going to be throwing away. We’re talking childhood and teenage stuff that really ought to have been gone already. So that was pretty awful and bad environmentally.

That evening was DJ Tony Moran at Heretic. While I expected lots of my friends to go, not a single one did. Fortunately, like, a thousand other boys did so I was not alone. The place has changed so much in the last 6 months with all the remodeling. It almost looks classy. The music was good and I just danced my heart out until 4am. Yup, he went an extra illegal hour. Oooooh! I also gave my number to this Latin guy who asked for it. I’d seen him once before on a Wednesday a week ago. We’ll see.

Sunday started early as mom wanted to go to grandmothers and I was thinking since I’d lost my XP machine, maybe my uncle could help me partition my Windows 7 machine and have both operating systems on one computer. Sadly, that didn’t work out so well. Eventually I ended up with a new version of Windows 7 than the one I started with. THAT actually has been working out well. Rather than the 64bit Home Edition, I now have a 32bit Enterprise Edition. It seems to be running my programs that I’d been having a lot of problems with better. But that whole process to get things back to comfortability took until 3am this morning.

Of course, severe thunderstorms came down at 6am this morning, so it’s not like I got much sleep. And there was the truck I had to unload at work at 9am this morning.

So it’s really just been a non-stop kind of thing. I think now that I got most everything situated now, I can go to sleep. Zzzzzzz.

I haven’t written much about my sister and her KidRockBoyfriend (the nickname Elf gave her redneck boyfriend). There really hasn’t been much to tell lately. They haven’t been too terribly annoying, just more of the constant drumming of annoyance.

Previously, I resisted the idea of changing rooms because I wanted to prove my dominance in the household by continuing to hold the master bedroom. But today, I decided to change my mind. Thankfully, since it’s ME who made the choice, I should still remain viewed as strong.

The benefits of moving into the smaller room is that I can finally get a fire under my ass to destroy so much of what I’ve been holding on to that I shouldn’t be. No, a thirty-one year old shouldn’t have all this stuff from his high school years. Okay, I can keep some things. But let’s keep it to a minimumuimum, okay?

I’ll also be moving onto the west facing room. That means the sun will set out my window, not rise. Not a bad idea for a non-morning person like myself who has a comforter hanging over his window currently to block out the sun. (I sparkle in the sunlight, honest!)

I’ll not be above the now screened in front porch which my sister and KidRockBoyfriend spend most of their time. Not having that ruckus directly under me should help a little in the general drumming of annoyance I mentioned earlier.

So, that’s what’s going on in my personal life. Hey you asked! The condition I put on my move across the hall is that they have to get the internets connection all set up over there, they have to dispose of whatever huge ass trash bags I come up with, and no comments if/when they find porn. (I’m lonely you know.)

With “Later, Skater: On Tour” being released next Tuesday, April 20th, 2010, I expected people to be excited. After all, it has been two years since the original was put out there and gobbled up by fans. What? Don’t think I have fans? Well, actually, neither did I. I thought I had some people who graciously bought my novels and enjoyed them on a certain level.

But fans?

Apparently they’re fanatic enough to create me some “Later, Skater” fan art. Take a look at what Perth did. Knocked me right out of my computer chair it did. Totally unexpected! But, hey, look how awesome it is. The artist got everything right. The 8-bit Blue Ghost t-shirt. Skittles’ kool-aid inspired hair. And I can almost hear Jackie in the distance calling out for a “HAND CHECK!”

I’m gleeful to be sure to know that perhaps, just perhaps, I have arrived.

“Later, Skater: On Tour” is coming at you Tuesday, April 20th, 2010. You’ll be able to order copies of the novel for 13 dollars plus shipping, OR you can get some immediate release the day it comes out by downloading it for 5 dollars.

Need something now? Like now? “Later, Skater” is currently FREE. That’s right. It’s free for the taking. Just go to lulu.com and get your download copy. (Physical copies are on sale as are ones of “Freakshow” for 10 dollars.) This promotion ends when April does, so get some today.

Free and Healing for One Year, 17 Hours and 7 Minutes, while extending my life expectancy 25 Days and 9 Hours, by avoiding the use of 7314 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $1,518.48.

I dunno about you, but I love reward programs. But I only like the ones that actually reward me. Sometimes my CVS card gives me a few dollars free here and there which I spent to buy candy while fawning over this hot straight guy named Juan on Friday and Saturday nights. Oh man does his long hair and brilliant smile make me want to bitch slap his girlfriend and steal him for my very own.

But I’m getting off topic here.

Here are a few rewards programs I’ve been using online for quite sometime and how rewarding they actually are.

1. Swagbucks.com.

Recently this site changed their denominations for their Swagbucks, which is essentially a point system used to get things. There is more than a little work you have to do in order to get rewarded, but I find it fun. It takes me about a month to get enough Swagbucks to exchange for a 5 dollar gift card for Amazon.com. In the past, I’ve even traded them in for 5 dollars deposited directly into my PayPal account.

Of course, this is without me doing any of the real big ways of getting Swagbucks. I only check out their blog and facebook and use their toolbar search engine. You could find it more rewarding than I do. Still, I give Swagbucks my seal of approval for being a legitimate program that actually works.

2. Opinion Square.

Honestly, I don’t really like taking surveys like I used to. But I don’t mind the ones I get sent to my email from this rewards program. See, if you don’t qualify for what they’re looking for, instead of getting jack squat like you do at most places, you get a token for their instant win game. Even better, you cannot lose when you play that instant win game. You’ll at least get 25 points closer to whatever you’re shopping for in their rewards catalog.

This program takes kind of a long time for me to be rewarded. But when I do finally reach my goal of 2 AMC Gold Movie Tickets (allowing me to see any movie regardless of when it was released) I certainly am happy. Besides, it doesn’t take much of my time at all, unless I DO qualify for a survey. And those get me closer to the reward faster. My opinion is that Opinion Square is a legitimate program that actually works.

3. MyPoints

This is the rewards program I’ve been a part of since 2000, but sadly it’s becoming one of the slowest to cash out lately. Essentially, I allow myself
to get spam emails sent to me. I click on them. I get points. I’d get more points if I actually have a use for and buy whatever the spam email is selling, but that doesn’t happen very often. I’d also get more points if I shopped online via the MyPoints store. But that doesn’t happen very often either.

Still, even at its glacial pace, I still get rewarded and it doesn’t take that much time to work their system. I usually turn in my points for Target Gift Cards, though I’ve also got ones for Chili’s or even gas cards back when it was like a million dollars per gallon. One time, I actually won one of their jackpots that they run seasonally. That was pretty cool and got me lots of free stuff. MyPoints is a classic and is a legitimate program that actually works.

4. MyCokeRewards

What can I say. I saved the easiest and best for last. While I’ve complained that they keep changing how things work over on Coke’s website, I have to tell you this program pays out the most. Yes, it can be very annoying trying to figure out what the codes are on the tops of Coke products. And yes, it’s very annoying you can only enter 120 points worth per week now. But every month, I’m earning a free silver AMC movie ticket (allowing me to see a film for free, just not on opening weekend) and a large drink.

Of course, that’s just what I’m getting. There are lots of other things on there that I’ve snagged too. A pair of Avatar limited edition 3D glasses recently were going for 40 dollars on ebay. Even though I’m not a huge fan, I’m getting Entertainment Weekly for free for a number of months. In fact, you could bury yourself in magazines pretty quickly over there. They also have Napster MP3 downloads, POGO memberships, and lots and lots of Coke printed items.

So I absolutely recommend MyCokeRewards. Especially as many Cokes this household and my grammies household go through. Maybe if you look around, you’ll see you get your 120 allotted points per week pretty easily too at this legitimate and highly rewarding program.

Guess what’s back? Back again? Shotalicious is back. Tell a friend.

The last few months have been cold and dark. Not just in the real world as I’ve mentioned, but also on the series of tubes we’ve come to affectionately call The Internet. Sure, pixiesticks.org has been here to keep you occupied with Very Serious Business like Johnny Weir, the continued attack on gay culture, and random animals found roaming around Atlanta, GA. And the site will continue to be here, just as it has been for the last NINE years.

But PIXIE has decided he really needed to bring sexy/back.

So, with the added bonus of the ease of use that WordPress brings, and the explicit desire to make it more about the delicious art rather than focus on the site as a job or something, shotalicious.org officially reopens today.

Now, it’s technically been back since March 1st. But he wanted to get a head start, kind of surreptitiously posting some things so everyone will have a little bit of stuff to enjoy on day one. So, check your old bookmarks, make sure any links you may have posted places are pointing to the right place, and most importantly make some noise. Because PIXIE is back posting shotalicious boys.

MomoCon, the downright cheap excuse for an anime convention held on the campus of Georgia Tech, is coming very soon. In fact, it’s two weeks away! Now, presale tickets for the exact cost of $0.00 have already been sold out. I say that, because, well, because the previous conventions have been so well attended (even during inclement weather) they have to put a cap on how many can come this year.

That doesn’t mean you still can’t see what all the fuss is about.

If you pony up some cash in a donation by March 7th, then you can get a pass mailed to you. Of course, those who registered for free badges (that will have to pick them up during the convention) you all should bring a few extra bucks to throw at this thing too. It ain’t a huge ass convention, so it needs all the love you can give it.

I’ll be there along with dozens of much more talented folks than I am hocking their anime wares. Come and have a great time with me trying to convert others to shotaluv March 20th and 21st.

For more information, you can visit the MomoCon website.

They say that March comes in like a lion, but goes out like a lamb. Well, this year, I’m starting March a couple of days early. Sorry, February, I already know you get the short end of the stick with that 28 days crap. Hell, you even had a movie called “Leap Year” come out and it wasn’t even a Leap Year for you.

But alas, I got bigger fish to fry.

I mean, maybe if I move the calender up a few days, the weather will cooperate. Actually, the Deep South is expecting another snow storm to come blowing through here on Tuesday. WTF!

At least the dance floors here in HOTlanta will be getting an early dose of summertime goodness with DJ Abel tonight spinning a mega party at Jungle.

And speaking of parties, pixiesticks.org is celebrating its 9th Birthday on March 11th, so you know you can expect some surprises then.

And the personal celebrations just keep on coming! March 23rd will see me having quit smoking cigarettes for 1 whole year.

So normally while March is just such a tumultuous month, not to mention those Ides of March you gotta worry about, maybe this year by kind of starting it just a hint early, we can make this one something special.

Is it just me or has this winter been especially brutal? I’m talking, of course, about North America, but you know, feel free to tell me I’m right about your neck of the woods too. A lot of the blame, at least in the media I’m seeing, is that the infamous El Nino has reared his ugly head again in the Pacific. Essentially this just disrupts natural jet stream patterns and sends weather systems all over the place where they ordinarily aren’t typically found. This lets places like Vancouver get no snow, but Pensacola enjoys the white stuff.

But you know, I don’t think it’s just the weather that is giving this winter a particularly nasty bite.

Politics are always vicious, but it seems especially contentious here in the United States with Democrats and Republicans infamously slugging it out, while meanwhile a seemingly pretty large portion of the population wants to throw them both out on a rail. Sometimes, I don’t disagree. But if that puts me in the same category as the Tea Party assclowns or big mouth Glenn Beck, I’d rather not.

And then there is the never ending cycle of the Twenty-Four Hour News Media.

They’re there to always constantly remind us that just when you thought there may be a glimmer of light at the end of this dark, dark winter, you’re wrong. Quick to rattle off facts about unemployment, terrorism, or domestic crimes, there isn’t a shred of good news to be found. And yet they are playfully ribbing on each other and the subjects at hand right before a few messages from their sponsor.

Before Conan o’ Brian was unceremoniously kicked off his quick stint on The Tonight Show, he called us kids and told us to not be cynical. He said that it doesn’t help anything. It was easy for him to say considering while he did just lose his life long dream in the hosting gig, he did get paid a shit ton of money to go away. But that’s just me being cynical.

And just like this winter, I think we’re sooo tired of being cynical. We need to find ways to free ourselves from the constant drumbeat of desolation pounded out not just by politics and the media, but by the actual environment around us. Yes, it’s really hard when it’s 23 degrees and you can’t feel your left testicle, but you know, even when here locally I had about two days of near 60 degree weather, I missed my opportunity to briefly change things up a bit.

Maybe you did too.

Spring will come, so at least the weather will change. But don’t count on the rest of the stuff doing it, unless you demand it. Not only from THEM but from yourself. I haven’t really been hibernating, but I certainly haven’t been out in the world behaving like the person I really am. Merely a dark winter’s shadow. Let’s see if that can’t be altered.

This week, I get my paycheck and some tax credits from the government. I’ll pay one bill like normal, but what I may be able to do is completely finish paying off my 2005 Ford Focus. As things stand, it has 3 more payments to go, so I could just let it ride. But, I think it’d be much cooler to do it sooner and get it over and done with.

For the first time in about 8 years, provided nothing goes wrong (so I’m knocking on my fake wood desk here) I’ll have a paid for car. And that just makes all sorts of other dominoes fall. I can lower the coverage on the car from full to something more suitable. That will lower those monthly payments. With this extra cash flow, I can seriously attack debts. I can look into getting health care. (Since it’s painfully obvious that our democratic Senators aren’t interested.)

I am very excited, but also very hopeful that this all works to fruition. It will be absolutely amazing that during this down economy, I may be better off than I’ve been in several years. (While everyone else was seeming to do gangbusters.)

Not necessarily money related, work is certainly underway in the editing of “Later, Skater: On Tour.” I’ve worked my way up to this really great scene where [blank] gets to [blank] and due to the fall out of that, [blanks] [blank] which I think is really powerful. These characters developed quite a lot over the entries of the first book. But in giving them a sequel, they practically jump out at you, evolved and matured even more. I can’t wait to share it with you.

I’m looking to try and stay on the April release just like the last two, and of course I’ll continue to try and tempt you leaking more details as I keep editing.

So today I worked a bit more on the site. I decided to move up the tag-board as I really think it needs to be something you see right away.

I also gave each of the sections over on the right headline labels. Kind of making it more uniform and looking pretty good.

Added a way for you to go back and more easily find posts that were tagged using the Category section (which is underneath the Archives section, both of these are below the NAVI now.)

Re-added the Other Important Links section at the very bottom.

I still want to try to do something with the space at the very top of the page, both in that box that includes the search area and where it says pixiesticks.org. Changing the banner has always been something I’ve enjoyed doing, so I want to figure out how I can continue doing that.

All in all, I’m pleased with how easily this transition occurred. The fact that I was able to import 4,900 posts and half as many comments from Blogger is nothing short of amazing. The fact that for the first time in 9 years this blog has a new layout is equally so. And, I continue to reiterate that not being a part of the Google-monster is really satisfying.

I’m actually thinking now this is could be one of the best things that happened to the site. Hopefully you will too.

Major major work going on right now at pixiesticks.org trying to get past the FTP issue. Please excuse our mess. (And bring Kleenex.)

UPDATE: I got some progress done since the major overhaul earlier today.

I removed a lot of the extra stuff this new template has that I didn’t think we really needed.

I got to import what formerly was the left hand side Navi-Bar. We’ll have to just get used to it being on the right hand side now. Everything over there should be the way it normally is (more or less.) I still have a few more odds-n-ends over there to fix.

When I imported the many many years of posts, I knew that quite a few would not format correctly. I’m going to just be okay with that. Not everything in this world is backwards compatible. We’ll just have to enjoy the fact that going forward, I can hopefully keep everything looking neat and tidy.

The commenting system should be working correctly. It still requires my approval, but that’s the way it was before, so no big deal there. And of course, there is still the Tag-Board if you don’t feel like posting any comments on a particular post. (I would encourage it though as what is said on the Tag-Board is temporary, but comments are forever.

Generally speaking, I think things are going as well as they could be. I don’t know how to make it so that if you are using a bigger screen or anything to change for you. I hope the font sizes are big enough and the colors aren’t too screwy. Those are more things I’m having trouble figuring out how to edit in the CS Style Sheets. But I think I’ve made some good progress since starting this project overnight.

Eventually, once I feel that things ARE running smoothly, I’m going to fix the old blog.html page so that it does a faster redirect. I’ll also fix the main index page. I’ll go around and fix other pages too. The main thing was to get the blog imported, functioning, and reasonably looking decent.

PLEASE let me know what you think, or if you encounter something that’s either broken or just not looking right. If I can fix it, I will. If I can’t, I’ll raise my fist and curse at it angrily and then probably let it go. But I’m gonna need your help on this.

While I’m not completely freaking out about it just yet, I certainly am NOT looking forward to implementing any solutions I may find in keeping this website going the way it has for almost 9 years.

My webmastering skills aren’t that great, so I’m not sure exactly what I will do, but I know that I want to keep doing this.

Pixiesticks.org has survived being removed from the internets twice, so I’m sure we will survive this too. But Google sure isn’t making it easy. (They’re complaining about resources? They’re fucking Google, how many more resources do they want?)

Alright, editing is underway! Yes, I finally said, fuck it, I have to dive back in. I have to see if what I wrote back in November as a sequel to my best selling novel “Later, Skater” is worth a damn.

And wow, I got through the first sex scene and was reminded very strongly why I love to write. What? Is that shallow? Heck no! Kalki and Skittles are very darling characters who are about to gain a whole new layer of dimensions as they journey forward in their sequel.

So what inspires me? You do, of course. You freaky ass homosexuals out there that I love so dearly. I don’t think I say this enough… I’m proud of each and every one of you that not only don’t let your sexual identity define you, but also don’t let others let your sexual identity define your place either.

And then there is music.

On the left hand side, below the Tag-Board you’ll find that GrooveShark widget again. This time, I’ve loaded it up with songs that I would put currently on the “Later Skater: On Tour” soundtrack if I could afford the rights to such a thing. Enjoy and know that I am back on top of this beast, ready to ride it until it’s released.

So, here’s the skinny, I haven’t even started editing “Later, Skater: On Tour.” Normally, I’d already be into the process preparing the novel for the April release, but I haven’t even started. Part of this is because I wrote longer than I normally do, so I thought I’d take a little longer break.

But that should have ended like two weeks ago.

And then there is that whole, “I’ll killed shotalicious” thing which kind of messed everyone up, including me. It was a choice I wanted to make, but I didn’t really think of the consequences of the fact that by killing that site, I was effectively killing a lot of the audience for my novels. I have this worry that now, no one will buy the new book whenever it does come out.

Some of you have followed me back here, and I totally appreciate that. But I’ll be honest, I really could use a kick in the ass to get me started on the editing process. So, if you got a cattle prod hiding somewhere, lemme have it.

This is a reminder that you need to pre-register this year to go to MomoCon over at Georgia Tech this March 20th and 21st. Registration is still free, though there are benefits to forking over some bucks.

If you’re local and you’re attending, shoot me an email or something. I’d love to get together and meet some of you loverlies.

If you are anything like me, you’re all about some Taco Bell. Where else can you really pig out for less than 5 bucks? It’s also a great option when Courtney (Elf) comes over because she’s not so into eating the flesh of animals. Personally, I’d just rather her eat me, but that’s beside the point.

Well, none of us really ever thought eating at Taco Bell was ever very healthy right?

Now they got this Drive Thru Diet, which they claim is NOT really a weight loss program. Um… DURR!! But what it really got me wondering, just how bad IS what I eat at Taco Bell.

Turns out, it really isn’t the fat nor the calories that will kill me there. (Unlike McDonalds or whatever when I have big beef filled meals.) At Taco Bell, I typically have nachos and cheese and a volcano burrito.

What does that get me? SODIUM!

Together my meal has:

1130 Calories. Not too bad. I mean if you’re going by that 2,500ish number per day.
63 grams of fat. Quite high. In fact, this one meal is over what I should have a day.
2520 grams of sodium. Oh boy is that a doozy of a number! The recommendation is 1500 per day and I’m well above that just with one meal.

So what *could* I eat at Taco Bell and swing under the recommendations?

The answer really is pretty much nothing. While the Frisco menu does have lower content in fat and calories. You’re still going to get screwed in the sodium catagory.

But is sodium really that bad? I rather like having deer come up to me and giving me a little lick lick.

Here to explain sodium is Mike and the Bots. Afterward, go play around with the Taco Bell nutrition calculator and see just how unhealthy you’re eating. (But goddamn does it taste so good.)

For the last several months, my sister and her boyfriend (whom I dubbed KidRockBoyfriend) have been living here and making my life miserable. It comes and goes in waves really, but the general concept is that once again, there is no peace at home.

It reminds me strongly of when I lived with my own boyfriend Ashley and his plethera of people he rented rooms to. While it may not be that bad since there are only two people (and dogs) rather than 5 people (and dogs), it’s still fucking bullshit.

I’m accused of stealing food items. I don’t.
I’m bitched at for existing. So sorry I’m in their way. I was here first, and oh, they’ve already made me retreat to the smallest footprint possible here.

Worse, I get no reprieve from our actual authority figure, mom.

Is this my fucking punishment for being a failure in life and not doing well enough to live alone?

God, I hate this.

Recorded January 16th, 2010

01. Into the Night — Cyndi Lauper

02. Say it Right — Nelly Furtado

03. Let it Rock — Kevin Rudolf

04. Sweet Dream — Beyonce

05. The Launch 09 — DJ Jean

06. I Got A Feeling — Black Eyed Peas

07. Million Dollar Bill — Whitney Houston

08. Two Are Better Than One — Boys Likes Girls

09. Love Game — Lady Gaga

10. Sweetest Girl — Wyclef Jean

11. Appreciate Me — Amuka

12. I’m A Fire — Donna Summer

13. The Bomb — Bucketheads

14. Sexy Bitch — David Guetta

15. Kristine W Megamix — Kristine W

In a recent email I wrote to a long lost friend. Actually, he’s not long nor lost. Well, he may be long — I never got to check and ew — but he’s certainly not lost. He moved to Maine, you see. Anyway, where was I? Oh shit, still the beginning? Well then, lemme start over.

I wonder if I’m like a circling airliner, just waiting for my runway. Ugh, metaphors? Come on, Jonathan, you’re a talented writer but that talent comes from NOT doing stupid shit like using terrible metaphors. Start over again!

Fine, fine!

I am thirty-one years old. I live south of Atlanta, GA with my mother, my sister, and her boyfriend whom I dubbed Kid Rock Boyfriend. I don’t know what the deal is, but I think I’m waiting for something.

I have a job that I like most days that I go. I think to myself, honestly, isn’t that more than I can say for many people out there? Often, I’ll make more than 15 dollars an hour, and yet just as often, I will mishandle the money so poorly, I’ll barely make it from month-to-month with my simple but very real bills.

There are a few people I have keyed into my phone that I consider my friends. Sometimes I can’t get a hold of them, and I don’t ever see them as often as I want to. Some because they don’t live here and exist only on the internets, some because they have busy lives and I don’t think they’re waiting for anything like I am.

I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t even have prospects for boyfriends, though you may find me occasionally making out with someone when I got to the bar or nightclub. I’m not exactly sure why that is, but then again, I do live with my mom, my sister, and her Kid Rock Boyfriend. I think more importantly though, I have an aura about me that is warding people away most of the time.

I used to run a website for one of my interests. I closed it when I felt like it was taking up too much of my time without really being all that rewarding. The anime characters used to turn me on, but I stopped really seeing them in that way after a while. Unfortunately, because I closed the site down, I lost pretty much all of my online popularity.

It will absolutely make sales of my upcoming fourth novel decline. I kind of took that into consideration when I pulled the plug, but also kind of ignored it to my own chagrin. Part of me thought that it didn’t really matter. I always said, if I sold one copy that’s all that matters. I’ve also said that if only one person came to pixiesticks.org, it’d be worth it.

I lie to myself, but never to others.

I think I’m waiting on something, but I don’t know what it could be. It’s not like I don’t try and alter the above to make for a more rewarding experience on the planet. I’m about to start editing that upcoming novel. I have new hobbies I find a lot of interest in. I try to approach people and try to make their lives more interesting either as a friend or French Kissing partner. I want my home life situation to be as painless as possible since I still have to stay here, and the same goes for my work.

So… really… what is it?
I don’t know.
Maybe part of it is just this. Putting down what is going on in my life into words and posting them onto pixiesticks. I only post personal posts when something I consider interesting is happening in my life.

But that wasn’t always the case. I was younger… I wrote more about feelings, dreams, desires. Older now, I still have feelings, dreams, desires, but I have to say, it seems they are dull and not colored so brilliantly with idealism. I seem to save that for my novels, as someone critically said about “Freakshow” once.

I am waiting for something. But it’s not a passive form of waiting. It’s not like I am sitting here, watching the calender change. It’s an active form of waiting, if there is such a thing. It’s like I’m trying to hold my ground and maybe even occasionally darting a hand out to claw forward, all while waiting and trying and hoping that things will get better for me.

For those of you who have already raped Hulu for all of its delicious bounty, perhaps this won’t be news to you. But for the rest of us, they now have episodes of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

That was penultimate to pretty much crafting me to the person I am, so as far as one entertainment medium can influence a person I should say.

Watch.
Laugh.
Enjoy.

As you can see, we’re back to having new buttons and banners around here. Sorry to say I won’t be bringing back the snowfall. LOL. That kind of got out of hand in the past, and I don’t see a reason to really annoy people with it again this year.

I did bring back the shota button, but as you’ll quickly notice, it does not lead to shotalicious.org. That site is dead, people. I killed it. It was so much work. So much hard hard work and while I loved doing it for you wonderful people, I just couldn’t enjoy it myself anymore. Okay? I know it’s hard to let it go, but you got to start the process.

Or you could just go to the site I link and enjoy whatever they got there.

I got my permanent crowns and bridge today finally. It’s been a long painful and expensive process to be sure. And my mouth does indeed hurt yet again. After a couple of days it should start to get better, but my mom tells horror stories of her having issues with hers for years.

Did she just get a suck ass dentist or is that my fate as well?

Was all of this worth it? Maybe I should have just kept the hillbilly thing going. It wasn’t like you could tell I had one missing.

And why isn’t dental care mentioned in part of the health care debate? (Not that it or any other plan that may or may not be better pass anyway.)

Remember this?

Raver J apparently didn’t either. He reappeared last night and tried to glom on me back in the leather shop at Heretic. I pushed him away asking him what he was doing. I reminded him that we aren’t friends anymore.

He looked as dumb as a brick while asking why not?

I told him because he was an asshole to me a few months ago. And he was. He said the catch all word “whatever” but I pressed on. I told him exactly specifically why he was an asshole.

Indignant he started to back off, but then said the most profoundly stupid thing I may have ever heard at Heretic. “Like you ever even had a chance with me.”

Let… that… sink… in…

That’s the type of thing you can get away with saying BEFORE you’ve had sex multiple times and a limited, but still occurring relationship with.

And you certainly can’t say it when you’re one of the biggest sluts in the city.

Now I’m not calling him that to be vindictive or try to do a little post-friendship character assassination. I’m only calling him what he and just about everyone who’s ever encountered him has called him. He takes pride in being a slut.

And, you know, that’s awesome. I like sluts. But I don’t like asshole sluts who treat me like shit and aren’t really my friend.

So, of course, as he’s retreating I shout after him, “I’ve already had you. Many times!” Which kind of caused a bit of a ruckus in the sparsely populated shop. I’m not the type for drama. It’s very rare you’ll see me involved in it. But I have to say, it was at least well deserved.

Love love love Windows 7 over all. Yeah, it’s taking some getting used to. I mean you have to change some of your habits and make new ones using the features now at your fingertips. (For instance, that “show desktop” square sure is a long ways away on this big long new flat screen.)

There are more than a few of my, let’s call them Legacy Programs, that are unable to even install on this machine. I don’t know if there is some sort of trick to get them to work or not.

This means I’m losing some of the most basic, yet very functional programs I like to use. AOL Press and Paint Shop Pro 3 to name a couple.

I think instead of ditching my old machine, I should keep it and use it for some little work I need to go back and do from time to time. I mean, just look at that gawd awful banner I made for the NaNoWriMo book sale? Yeah, I don’t know how many 3 dollar downloads something that ugly will inspire.

Maybe out of sheer pity of it’s hideousness, perhaps.

Otherwise, it’s been a mighty good 24 hours or so with the new machine. Got MANY day to day things that I love my computer for up and running in no time flat. It’s good to see a blazing speed again. It really is. And there’s nothing wrong with a flashy new operating system either. Hell, I even made some spreadsheets to help work on those finances I’ve kind of side stepped in order to get this machine.

Of course, NaNoWriMo is just mere days away and you better believe I have THAT file created and ready to go.

Pixie got a new computer tonight. Yeah, it’s pretty effing exciting considering the other one is like five years old. So, um, I’ll be working on getting things moved over from one computer to the other.

Here’s the specs:

20 inch flat screen monitor (Mine was 17 and more liek FAT screen)
2.3GHz AMD Sempron
2GB DDR2 RAM
250GB hard drive
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE video card. (Hurrah, no more integrated!)

Anyway, I gotta go continue getting it up to my high standards of usability and I probably need to learn more about Windows 7. Still, SO EXCITED!!!

So I got the extraction today. Oh thinks suck pretty bad right now, but I’m sure it’ll get better from here on now out. Gauze in the hole, using only the ibuprofen right now but may add the Vicodin later depending on how things go.

It really is yet another example of how I kind of am wishy washy about a major decision but once I decide something, I do it all in a big hurry. Two days of this (plus Saturday kinda) it’s quite a bit. At least I think so.

I’m supposed to work tomorrow and truck on Friday but they are not recommending either. We’ll see. I kind of just wanna say fuck it and just return as scheduled on Monday feeling, like, good, you know?

UPDATE: Work actually called me and it’s been settled. I’m coming back fresh on Monday.

UPDATE 2: Well while I didn’t immediately crash right away, I certainly finally did around 3am last night. Sleeping until just now at nearly 2:30pm. I took some meds at like 8am during a break time of waking up so I’m pretty sure they’re gone now and I don’t currently feel any real hard pain. I think the most interesting feeling is the missing-ness of the tooth. Ha! Ha! It’s gonna be a weird few weeks until it gets all put together.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment to, as far as I know at the moment, get the broken tooth removed, do a root canal on the one next door, and get a bridge. I think there is more involved, but that’s the general idea as I understand it anyway.

I know I’m probably in for a lot of pain, but to tell you the honest truth, I’m already in quite a bit of it. And I don’t mean actual physical pain. I mean, that I just feel so miserable about this and how it’s making everything else worse.

My mother’s stepped in and has worked out a loan for me that will cover the cost of these procedures. There’s even a bit more left over for me to pay off some more expensive debt that I have floating around, kind of consolidating it into one place at a lower fixed rate. It’s probably a very good thing, but of course I still feel so terrible about it all.

Worse, I’m losing hours this week because of it. I really have to get this all to work together. I need to get things moving in a positive direction, because this shit is seriously not working out so well right now.

EDIT: Turns out, it’ll be two days of fun. Tomorrow -AND- Wednesday.

Last night on the way back from a rather unfun night at Heretic, part of a tooth that had been bothering me for much of this year broke off. Sadly I wasn’t inside a restaurant at the time so I could sue someone.

I’m going to the dentist today armed with my grammie’s credit card because I obviously cannot afford pretty much anything the dentist will have to say. This is why nothing has been done up until this point already.

Like health care, dentistry is something that is pretty unaffordable even with insurance (which I also don’t have.)

I was so upset about it last night I cried. And to be truthful, I don’t feel much better about it today.

It was an abbreviated trip to Alchemy (Miniature regional Burning Man) this year, but considering it may not have even happened, I suppose it was worth the effort. See, I was sick (again) and my friend DJ Kaze wasn’t too keen on getting sick himself. So I went to the doctor to check out my symptoms and sure enough I was not contagious. I didn’t have strep either. Which is good since I was totally making out with Miley Cyrus the week before and was worried about that.

Unfortunately that meant we went up to the event on Saturday, set up tent, nearly missed the dang burn itself, drank and danced and found ourselves amongst like-minded crazies until nearly dawn, slept, then took down the tent to come home on Sunday. Everything was at such a frenzied pace that you really didn’t have much time to simply enjoy what was happening around you.

It isn’t the way I recommend attending a burn. In fact, next year, I suggested why not — if everyone is healthy, of course — let’s go up on Thursday. Get some real time with the site, its denizens, and make it a Big Huge Deal. Because it is a big huge deal.

The lessons I think I took away from Alchemy is that my life is already in progress and I need to kind of show up for it. I turn 31 years old tomorrow. Let me repeat that so it can sink in… THIRTY ONE YEARS OLD TOMORROW. I know I don’t look it. Thanks!! Sometimes I don’t feel it. But regardless of these facts, it is my actual age.

I really enjoy many things I got going on in my life:

Work often sucks, but overall is still good for me most of the time.

My websites are stellar. Pixiesticks is kind of in transition into becoming my home base for my writing while Shotalicious is finding nearly a million page views a month.

I could really stand to open myself up to more friendships though. I cannot get complacent in the idea of shutting myself out. I don’t know why I started to do that, but I need to get out of that. This needs to happen with immediacy.

And there is a lack of love. I don’t even have anyone on my prospects list. And I have a feeling no one out there is wanting me either. This really should be different. I am needful of love and affection just as much as I am needful of expressing it to others.

So while there is plenty to be proud of — I’m still not smoking. 200 Days Today! — I really could stand to make some changes in some of the most fundamental parts of my life to keep myself going forward. The romantic stuff may not be new, the friend stuff actually kind of is. Unless I plan on being some sort of sequestered old man writing teenage boy sex novels on Key West with hundreds of cats while drinking gin until I kill myself, I really ought to fix things now.