I'm Studying You

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

So yesterday was kinda nice. Took Mike to The Deli for the first time (can't take the prick anywhere...he'll still find a way to order some form of chicken fingers...at least he didn't immediately go to the bathroom- the place is too small to have a public restroom, and I'm going to offer this little tale not to embarass him, but when he was little the first thing he did in any restaurant was check out the restrooms...to this day we still can't figure out why). Every now and then when I hang out with him, he seems a little off, like something doesn't seem right. Maybe 3 out of 10 times. He doesn't say much and keeps to himself. Which isn't always bad, but the last time I saw him it was to help him move, and he seemed a lot brighter personality-wise, and you'd think he'd have more to say for not seeing each other in that long. I'm thinking maybe Noon was too early for him. All-in-all it wasn't bad; took him to the library afterwards to show him some cool shit I knew he'd enjoy online (youtube is so freaking addicting, I swear). Scroll down about 50 entries and see if you can find the "Peanut Butter Federline" (yes, that Federline) link cuz I'm too lazy to look for it today and this entry's prolly gonna be long enough. So long it might turn into 2.

Pretty much spent the rest of the day in the house afterwards. Didn't feel like going back to the library or anyplace else. OK that's a lie. I had to stop and buy smokes, because my genius brother didn't bring his ID with him (and let's not mention the fact that he still hasn't passed his road test *2 tries* and basically drove illegally until he picked me up...I swear if that fucker gets caught...) and the granny behind the counter, even though she knows I'm over 18 and have bought smokes off her before, wouldn't sell them to me cuz the little shit didn't even bring his ID. Illegal driving, no forms of ID, driving with an open bottle of Dr. Pepper...the kid's off to a fantastic start. Anyway, that wasn't the point...I was in bed super early last night, sorry baby...I know you told me to call but I think the late nights kinda caught up to me. Probably call tonite, you...

Logged on today thinking I had my usual 2-5 emails to look at, usually comments on the blog, perhaps a review if I'm lucky, or the random love note or death threat. Completely forgot that I had 2 high bids in an auction, and the one bid already paid up her reviews. So big thanks to stacylynn71 for the wonderful reviews...it's almost impossible nowadays to actually get a decent review that provides some insight and encourages dialogue between users. Maybe I'm selfish, but when I review (and I admit I need to do it more), I try to tell the person exactly what I think and provide examples of their work as to why I feel the way I do. And I'm not trying to offend anyone or discourage anyone from reviewing me, but here's been the standard review I've been getting lately (and I've scoured WritingML just to see if there isn't some kind of review form-letter thing floating around) and I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about:

"Dear So-and-so,
Wow I really liked this. It's beautiful.

signed/keep writing/your friend,
random user

PS: Can you check out some of my stuff sometime? That'd be great. Thanks!"

The postscript is longer than the review! It's like "hey, I just loaned you a quarter yesterday, but I need you to pay me back...can I get that in hundreds?" I certainly don't mind reviewing someone if they've reviewed me. But this is the exact situation I do kinda have a problem with. Again, if you're one of these people, I'm sorry...it wasn't meant to call you out. I'm just sayin'...it's just something that gets my panties a little bunched.

I'm gonna cut this entry short (ok, it's not short, but I don't want what I have let to say to get tacked on to the end of this, cuz it's kinda interesting). So get your popcorn, your favorite beverage, lock the kids up, bolt the door...here it goes...