140 characters works for some things. Sometimes you need more space. I would like to address the spin factories around the world. Over the last week my posts on twitter have received a lot of attention. I have not begged or pulled or asked for any of it. Let me set a few facts straight.

1) I do not think that going off on my neighbor was a horribly offensive thing to do. I have been woken up every morning for the last four months by hammering and construction on a structure that is very close to our property line after being told the land was being purchased to build a park. Yes, there may have been a more diplomatic way to do it and maybe broadcasting it for the net wasn't the wisest choice. My father is a contractor my step father is a contractor. I grew up hiking shingles to the roof of houses and driving nails at 7 am for a living. I have absolute compassion and understanding for the workers. I do however have a job that sometimes forces me to work into the night (sometimes the movie business requires that) and occasionally I like to sleep past 7 am. Yes I live a very fortunate life and for that I am very greatful, I do however work for a living. I have a family that I support and a company that I run daily. And I cherish the 4 to 6 hours that I sleep a day.
2) I didn't "chuck beverages" at the construction workers. They were very happy to see us and laughing at the whole ordeal. I asked them if they wanted something to drink and they said yes. I thought that it would be a nice gesture. I am sorry if some found this offensive. But I know that the workers loved it.
3) I don't feel that my distain for the unwarranted attack on my step daughters by a blogger I will not name is out of line at all.
4) I don't smoke marijuana and any statement to the contrary is a lie. I simply feel that Michael Phelps is entitled to his privacy. The kid made a mistake (he is only human) and anyone who has been in the public eye knows the magnification of minor missteps can be blown way out of proportion. Yes he is a role model and a great one at that. But I'm sure that in his lapse of judgment he wasn't thinking, "boy I hope the whole world can see this so that kids everywhere can copy me." And truth be told, if they went out and trained and worked as hard as he has to reach the great heights of success in their careers I wouldn't hammer them about a slip up either. And in kind I would like to retract any negative statement that I made about the kid who published the pic. I'm sure he/she wasn't in a sober head space while taking it or publishing it for that matter (you are the company you keep). I leave perfection to the creator of this great universe and wouldn't assume that duty on any human being.
5) I find it exceedingly disappointing that the press coverage of my wife and my blog posts have not included the philanthropic pursuits that we have adopted and encourage. Our intention in becoming more active on the web has been with the effort to connect to the community in an effort to create a greater bond with the amazing fans that we have adopted over several years. We are sharing our lives our thought our ideas and yes our faults with the hope of using connectivity and oneness to build a greater unity and take down the walls that divide us. We have dedicated ourselves to building a coalition to abolish 21st century slavery and are smart enough to know that we can't do it alone. But truth be told we are having fun connecting with people and if we are to be defamed for doing so, so be it. We aren't publishing news. We are sharing with a community of people that are sharing back with us. So I only ask that you don't take our conversation out of context and please stop printing half truths in the media so as to drive up your user consumption and sell more ads on the content that you claim to be news.

Ps. US weekly my 15 minutes of fame has lasted 10 years I think we can quit using that line now.

twitter nation. you rock. ak