Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a curse. 

It's funny, i was just writing a quick note in here to get some feedback from ya'll about my other blog, and i was just saying how nice it was that my new blog doesn't disappear my entry before i can post it, and KA-Blam! My entry disappeared.

Let's see... what clever once in a lifetime words did i string together to make that post? I don't know. The gist - i like the new blog, but i can't tell if anyone else does. I know i should give it time, but i'm impatient. I probably would be getting more feedback if i didn't post the wrong url every time i send it out on a list for people to check out (and then i re-post the right url, or another wrong url, as the case may be...)

Anyway, any of my readers here - what do you think of the new blog? Read it? DOn't read it? Too much hassle to go one more place on the net when you're already here and you only read blogs cause your bored? Talk to me.

Sam

Okay. I have begun my new blog.

http://chronotoxicity.blogspot.com/

It's called Lost and Found Movies. Come visit. If you want to view other blogs of mine, you can view my profile, but so far there isn't much to see there. I'll post things here from time to time, and it's not like I'm leaving MySpace. I just need a better place to blog'sall.

Sam

Five seconds later, I have my first answer - the place I'd like to start blogging is called "Blogger.com" and you don't need to be logged in to read the blogs, but you do have to have an account to post a response. It's free, and you can set up really fast, and it's really easy to start your own blog there. The site is at http://www.blogger.com/start I have a few blogs set up for experimental purposes, but I'm not entirely ready to reveal their names, yet. Feel free to try and locate them, if you'd like.
sam

Hi there all,
I've been having trouble posting blogs here from time to time, and I'm considering starting a blog elsewhere to discuss all kinds of things (movies, anime, books, television, music, and the like). It's going to depend on how easy it is for other people to respond to me, i think. My 38 posts here have had 602 views, which i think is pretty good, all things considered, but I think there are other programs out there that could allow me to do more and be more dynamic with how i arrange things, etc. Anyway, if you prefer myspace blogs to all others, and would never step outside of your comfort zone to check one out, let me know. I'll let you all know soon enough where I've moved to.
sam

Well, I was moving a bookcase from the bedroom to the living room, and so I had to take all the books off the shelves, etc.  In the course of this adventure, i came across quite a few items I hadn't seen in a while, as you might imagine (this is one of five or six bookcases in my house, not to mention the ten or so boxes of books i have no room for yet).  Among the memories were a few real treasures i had nearly forgotten about, and are so little and thin as to escape detection even when i know i own them, and might be looking for them (which happened just now when i was looking for them so i could blog about them).  Three of these items are:

The Art Of Kissing, by Hugh Morris
I think i got this as a gift from a girlfriend back in college (so, 10-11 years ago).  It's a finny little pamphlet written in 1936, and reprinted mostly for fun.  It talks a lot about the proper ways to court a lady, as well as differnt popular types of kissing, such as the scandalous "French Kiss," the "Vacuum Kiss," the "Spiritual Kiss," the "Pain Kiss," and of course, "Electric Kissing Parties."

Hobo Dog, by Thatcher Hurd
This little thing is a childrens book from 1980, but published in such a flimsy little format i have to believe that the publisher was hoping it wouldn't last very long.  It tells the story of the hobo dog, who rides the rails.  Everyone hates him until he saves his train from an evil train-robbing cat.  Then he's okay.

Beat Zen, Square Zen, and Zen, by Alan Watts
This one's actually in line with a lot of other stuff I've reviewed on this site - it's about Zen, and it's by an old beatnik.  Unfortunately, I haven't read it yet, so I can't tell you much about it, except what you could already glean from the title yourself.  So, except to tell you that this thing exists, there is no other purpose for me mentioning it.  It was given to me by a very dear friend (also back in college).

There were many other discoveries today as well, but they'll have to wait for another day.  I did move a whole row of books to the living room which i realized I'll probably have to move to a safer location when my parents come to visit... stuff like "the encyclopedia of witchcraft," and such.

Definition, by Ariel Schrag

So I've read something which at the moment I don't feel qualified to review properly.  However, I will give you some of the low-down on it to see if it piques your interest, and then if you read it, or if you've read it already, you can review it, and we'll all be much the wiser.
Definition.  Okay.  It's a graphic novel.  It's published by Slave Labor Graphics.  Copyright is 1998.  If i had to look at it objectively, I'd say that the art is scrappy, rough around the edges, and lacks a mature style.  The story jumps around alot, some things which are important to the main character one moment are completely forgotten the next, and other things of recurring interest to the character throughout the book don't come to any kind of conclusion by the end.  In fact, the character, despite all kinds of experiences and insights, doesn't seem to make any major breakthroughs except to accept the idea that if people are able to find something or someone that helps them be happy, then you should be happy for them, and not jealous or angry.  Which I suppose is a good realization to make. 

Oh, did i mention that it's autobiographical, and Ariel Schrag was 16 when she wrote and illustrated it?  So that kind of throws all my objective stuff out the window, because maybe that's what it's like to be a 16 year old girl.  I dunno.  Having never been a 16 year old girl, I can't really say.  Some things i should mention at this point is that even though it was written and illustrated by a teenaged girl, it's not something you're likely to find in the teen section of your library.  She goes through some mixed up stuff, and deals with it pretty honestly, without a lot of self censorship, and maybe just a touch of pride.  Enough said.  Okay - who's going to read this thing (it takes about an hour, if that) and review it for real?

Well, I'm in the midst of A Scanner Darkly, by Phillip K. Dick and i have to say that it's pretty awesome.  I won't talk about it yet, though.  I figured I'd list some other things by PKD that I've read.  Ahem. 

• Ubik This is my favorite of his novels, hands down.  Don't ask me to explain what it's about, because I'm not really sure.  It's about death, maybe.  And time travel.  And super powers.  And really odd futuristic fashions.  And it's about Ubik, the do-all product of the past, present and future!
• The Man In The High Castle This was the first PKD book I ever read, and at first i was disappointed.  The premise of the book is that there's this alternate universe where Germany gets the bomb first and wins WW2.  It didn't focus a lot on that aspect of the world, however.  As I've read more PKD over the years, my appreciation has grown for this book, for it's subtlety and absurdity.
• Now Wait For Last Year This is a great read if you can find it.  Classic PKD, full of unsolvable conundrums and bizarre drugs - the premise of this book is that there has come into existence a drug which, if you take it once, you'll be addicted for life, and will die if you don't take it regularly.  The affect of the drug is to send you back in time.  Outcome:  The whole world gets crazy messed up.
• The Minority Report This is the short story the movie was based on.  The movie was okay, but barely follows the story.  The story is of course the superior work, and the paradox of knowing your own future is so much more interesting and fulfilling in the story than it was in the movie.

Well, enough for now.  Tune in next week for more exciting news from the land of books!

Junky, by William S. Burroughs

Well, I finished list little item a couple weeks ago, and I've kind of been stewing it over in the mean time.  Ultimately, I didn't like it all that much, but let me explain - what i really like most in a novel is the plot, and the mechanics, and the way that symbols and ideas are brought through evolutions or revolutions, to build a coherent vision of the story.  Something like that.  'Junky' is like listening to a junky talk about how they came to be a junky, and their various junky adventures - which i guess is pretty much what the book is.  I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, you know?  But ultimately there was no other shoe, in fact, there wasn't even a first shoe.  Which is probably the brilliance that is Burroughs - it's just not the kind of thing that i go rushing off to find more of.  Compared to other beat writers, I'd much rather pick up Kerouac, or the 'beat inspired' Brautigan.  My brother thinks I need to read Burroughs' 'Cities Of The Red Night,' before i make a final judgement, so we'll see... In the mean time, i have a lot of other books to read.