End of the Week Thoughts 9-25-09

Twitter Twit

Yesterday, a famous comedian changed his Twitter profile pic from a picture of him alone to one of him and his wife. Someone that follows him tweeted, “Your wife has a lazy eye.” Now, that’s not nice and I’m in no way condoning it. In fact, neither is the person that wrote it. She immediately apologized after the comedian responded with a retweet, “Fuck you. You have half a face.” (Her own profile pic showed only half of her face.) Because of the comedian’s brand of humor, I thought that, for the most part, he was joking and took her comment in stride.

For those not well-versed in Twitterverse, a retweet is the email of equivalent of forwarding a message and leaving the original sender’s info intact so that those receiving the message can see it.

Now, all of the people who follow the comedian can see his response to the comment about his wife, as well as who sent it and what she said. What do you think happened? I’ll tell you: quite a few people that follow the comedian proceeded to write the girl and attack her. They cried foul at her audacity to insult the personal appearance of the comedian’s wife by… insulting her personal appearance.

It was ridiculous. Sure, she wasn’t right, but was it really necessary for the comedian to sic his followers on her? Maybe that wasn’t his intention, but he had to know that’s what would happen. It seemed most people felt the need to contact the girl, not in defense of the comedian’s wife, but simply to, in some way, get his attention.

Not cool. Not cool at all.

Grey’s Anatomy -

I waited for this premiere all summer. I still have last season’s finale on my TiVo because I loved it so much. Don’t judge me! There were times when last night’s premiere felt uneven. Not the episode as a whole, but the grief that the characters were supposed to feel (spoiler alert!!!) in regards to George’s death.

While I liked the fact that the two-hour episode spanned a little over one month, and in doing so showed the various ways people deal with grief, I could have done without some of the wow-look-how-oddly-we’re-dealing-with-George’s-death moments. Like the laughing fit at the funeral. Seriously? Also, did Callie really need Izzie to tell her that kind, considerate, awesome George would donate every bit of himself that he could to save another life?

Speaking of Callie, she and Bailey seemed to be the only consistent and believable mourners in last night’s episode. Bailey, who had formerly been tough-as-nails, realized that caring so much for the doctors in her charge had opened her up to pain and disappointment when they got sick (Izzie) or died (George.) In every scene she was dead-on as someone dealing with the shock of losing a friend who had delivered her baby – and don’t forget, she named her son after George!

Just as they quickly and inexplicably made Callie a lesbian, the writers need to unlesbian her ass and put her and Mark back together. They are funny and sexy and have more chemistry standing next to each other in an elevator than he has with Lil Grey in a full-on sex scene!

I did appreciate the moment at the end when each character narrates that after you go through all the stages of grief, and think that you’ve moved on to a place where it will all be okay, there are still the occasional moments when you are hit in the gut with the thought that, “Wow. George O’Malley died.”

Too Cute To Be This Fat –

I really need to get back on the ball. I really need to blog about weight loss. I really need some of you to be strong with me, stay interested, and help motivate me. I really am too damn fine to be fat.

Queries -

I keep getting positive responses to queries for my novel Sharing Space. Also, my short story Amongst the Tulips will be published next month on a literary magazine’s site. I’ll link you guys when it’s up.

I’ve started writing my next novel titled Tales From the Biosphere. It’s funny and it’s flowing and it pretty much writes itself. Also, getting positive literary news doesn’t hurt my motivation.

So, how was your week?

Nina’s Top Ten Annoying Tweeters

I know from my conversations with some of you that you still have no idea what Twitter is, how it works, or why it’s so addictive to some. Let me try to explain before we get into the top ten list. Twitter is nothing more than a constant stream of status updates. If you follow me (neenerspb) you will see anything I choose to share throughout the day. Like:

@neenerspb is cleaning up baby poop

@neenerspb hasn’t written a blog this week because life got in the way

@neenerspb is watching Two and a Half Men… someone kill me!

Such updates are called Tweets. You can only see the tweets of the people you follow and vice versa. But you may end up seeing someone’s tweet through a re-tweet. If you’re not following KeMari, but you follow me and I re-tweet something funny that she’s written, it will look like this:

@neenerspb: RT @KeMari: Nina is so awesome. I am lucky to have her as a friend.

I think a good tweeter has a decent mix of:

a. the mundane

b. the interesting

c. the personal

d. the funny

e. and some self-promotion

As with all things social networking, there are disadvantages. Like, if you find yourself following the people on this list.

10. Celebrities – I’ve always said that Myspace, Twitter, Facebook, and the like have made the world a lot smaller – and that’s a good thing. But some celebrities have missed the whole point of online interaction. I follow some that NEVER respond to “the common folk.” Instead they tweet a constant stream of “look how funny I am” and “look how great my life is.

Also, aren’t you already rich? In a time when everyone is struggling to pay their monthly bills, do you really think it’s appropriate to pander and beg people to buy your new perfume or comic book?

Not all celebrities suck at tweeting. Jon Favreau is awesome. Not only has he responded to me and others, but he shared tweets all throughout the shooting of Iron Man 2 and included the occasional on-set photo via Twitpics. John Cusack is wickedly funny and responds to damn near everyone.

A friend said that following me and Donny on Facebook is like following Ashton and Demi on Twitter. Except I hope we are a little less annoying. OK, we get it. You’re both ridiculously hot and in love. Enough.

9. Social Media Experts – I mean, really. How many social media experts does one need in one’s life? I have one. Kevin a.k.a Obi Wan Kenobi of the internet. He guides me and reminds me to update Wordpress and install plug-ins. He helps me understand and obey social networking etiquette. And he does all of this while only making me feel like a ree-ree 45% of the time. Everyone else can beat it.

8. Inspirational Tweeters – You know those desk calendars that have a quote from like Ghandi or MLK on every day of the week? Well, inspirational tweeters sit at their desks all day long tweeting a week’s worth of inspirational crap.

“You have to love yourself before others can love you.”

I hate you.

7. People Who Use All Caps - Are you that excited to be on the internet? I’m looking at you, Diddy.

6. Sexy Tweeters – When will people learn that trying to be sexy is never sexy? Purposely saying sexually explicit things and dropping sexual innuendos in EVERY tweet doesn’t make you provocative, it makes you slutty. And annoying.

5. People Who Complain About Spoilers – Look, tweeting has become a way for people to share experiences over long distances. If you’re not watching something that is generating big buzz online, then it might behoove you to log off the internet for a few hours. You can’t expect the masses to conform to your late ass.

That being said, I try to be as spoiler free as I can in my tweets about the lastest movie or television episode… for the proceeding 72 hours anyway. After that, all bets are off.

What do you think is an appropriate amount of time to discuss spoilers online?

4. People Who ReTweet Stuff About Them – Before we go any further, I am COMPLETELY guilty of this. If someone sends me a tweet like…

@neenerspb I love your blogs. They make my day.

… I’m retweetig that shit. Why? Because you should know how awesome I am.

3. Unverified ReTweets – Check and make sure that what you’re retweeting is actually interesting. Also, make sure that it’s not offensive so that you can include that in your retweet. The last thing you need is someone opening up “Cakefarts.com” at work.

2. Religious Tweeters – I may need Jesus, but I don’t want to find him on Twitter.

1. Negative Tweeters – Nothing annoys me more than someone whose every tweet is about their latest ailment, family fight, or overall drama. Seriously, no one wants to hear it. Harsh, but true.

So, what are your Twitter pet peeves?

A Vote For Me Is a Vote For Babies & Puppies

I like to win things. I really, really, like to win things. However, very rarely do I win things just because. Like, if I enter a writing contest, I’ll do well. I’ve even placed among the top 40 and will see my piece published in an anthology.

Don’t believe me? Click here.

That’s me under the grand prize winner. And you can read my winning entry, here.

But I don’t want to win something because I put in an honest effort. Been there, done that. I want, like most Americans, to win something just for being lucky. That’s where you come in.

First, everyone here knows I’m the biggest Battlestar Galactica fan in the history of ever. Don’t believe me? Click here. And here. And here. Well @SyFy is giving away an honest-to-goodness Cylon Toaster and I want it. Badly. If you are on Twitter, follow @SyFy and send them a tweet telling them (in 160 characters or less) why I should win the toaster.

Let’s face it, via my blog and my Oprah-like powers of persuasion, I’ve gotten so many people to watch/rent/buy Battlestar Galactica, SyFy probably owes me some dough. But the toaster aside, and I do want the toaster, you should follow @SyFy for updates on Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, Eureka, Warehouse 13, Caprica, and all your other sci-fi faves.

Also, a friend of mine convinced me to enter my blog in the Black Weblog Awards 2009. My blog is being considered in the following categories:

Blog To Watch

Best Writing

Best Family/Parenting

Best Personal Blog

Best Microblog (if my tweets have you all atwitter)

Of course, I know of a few deserving blogs in each of those categories, but the bloggers aren’t black. I am. So, sucks to be them. Nobody told them to be white.

If you’ve been enjoying my blogs since back in the day (2006), I’d appreciate your votes. Click here to do so.

Vote away! And remember, a vote for me is a vote for babies and puppies.

Nina’s Top Ten People That Can Kiss My Ass

10. My biology teacher – I would like to say that things got better from the time I posted this blog at the start of the semester. They did not. My whole semester was plagued with vague instructions, poorly designed exams, an unanswered questions.

“I’m not sure what you’re asking. Is there a question there?”

Um, bitch, those sentences that end with question marks? Yeah, those would be questions.

“I’m not inclined to open past exams.”

Well, when the syllabus says I had until the 25th to take it, yet you closed it on the 22nd, your ass better get inclined!

I hate her. I am happy to be done with her. And I better not get less than a B in both of her classes.

9. The HP laptop people – Why is it that I’ve had this laptop for a little more than a year and I’ve already had to buy THREE replacement power cords at $80 a pop?

Why can’t you make the part that plugs into the laptop sturdier? Why does one tug from my 10-month old cause it to break like a waterboarded detainee? Sure, he’s healthy, but it’s not like he’s Bam-Bam!

Donny has an ASUS laptop he has dubbed “The Beast” – I think he just likes leering at me, “You wanna play with The Beast, huh?” when I ask to use it. But anyway, why can’t you be more like them? Jack can do a full body flop on that thing and it remains intact. It’s like it’s made of adamantium.

8. The ASU students who missed their own graduation – To those students who boycotted their own college graduation because they didn’t think that Obama was accomplished enough to be the commencement speaker or receive an honorary degree, kiss my ass! He’s the president!

He was the president of the Harvard Law Review. Meanwhile your greatest achievement is playing the perfect game of beer pong and graduating from ASU. Keep your honorary degree, bitch.

7. The people of Red Robin restaurant – It’s been two weeks, people! Two whole weeks and yet I’m still thinking about that damn food. What the hell did you do to me?

The chili nachos? Delicious. Whose idea was it anyway to put those two tasty treats together? Chili.on.nachos? Sinful. Bottomless steak fries? Screw you! Bottomless fizzy drinks? You devil!

The tower of onion rings is just wrong. I don’t even like onion rings! What are those two dipping sauces you provide? Shame and regret?

But the ultimate assault on my thighs came in the form of a burger. The Banzai burger. Made me wanna smack my Mama.

6. The boneheads at NBC and CBS – The ones that canceled Medium and The Unit. Idiots. Hey, Mr. Moonves how ’bout you concentrate on finding a human to host Big Brother and leave the real shows to people with sense. Like that genius that decided to snatch up Medium after the jackasses at NBC canceled it.

5. Keanu Reeves – The Day the Earth Stood Still is the day I wanted my damn money back. Blu-Ray ain’t cheap, you know!

4. Annoying Tweeters – First, there are the inspirational tweeters. You know those desk calendars where you rip off each day and each has some uplifting quote? Well, these tweeters will tweet like a month’s worth… by noon.

And then there are the social media experts who bombard me with annoying tweets on how to get people to follow me.

I like a mixture of self-promotion and real-life updates. Pimp your blog, pimp your friend’s blog, share something funny you found on the internet, but also tell me what you had for lunch.

Let me worry about how to get people to follow me. I’ll continue to do what I’ve always done – be awesome.

3. The fucker who gave me this cold – I worked my ass off the last two months of the semester and counted down the days until I’d be free. The day finally arrives and what happens? I catch your cooties. Don’t let me find your ass.

2. Those bitches at Red Robin – I know I said them already, but I can’t stop thinking about that damn burger!

1. All of my annoying (now-ex) classmates – Now that the semester is over I can tell all of the annoying, stupid, dumb-question-asking, no-home-training-having, immature, talking-while-the-professor-talks, asshole, jackass classmates of mine to kiss.my.ass!

Who do you want to kiss your ass? Go ahead. Vent. It feels good!

Have a top ten suggestion? Send it to nina@blogitoutb.com and you may see it featured here one week.

TCTBTF: Week 6 and some other stuff!

I have found the best.diet.ever.

The flu!

Jack and I have spent the whole week fighting a cold and as a result, I’m down another 3lbs! This is awesome. Well, not really.

It’s been slow going, but I haven’t given up hope. And as usual, imagine how much weight I’d lose if I actually put my ass in motion.

The cauliflower mashed “taters” were a no-go because it gives the baby gas. So, boo on that. Also, I think I’ve given up on peanut butter.

So, let’s move on to other stuff since I’m sick and it’s my blog and I can talk about what I want.

I’m addicted to Twitter. Really, I am. I tweet all day with people I just met. Twit this, twat that… Wait. If you’re on there, follow me and I’ll follow you. I’ll occasionally post things there that you won’t find here. I’m Neenerspb.

Also, starting today, my Friday entertainment blog will be a Survivor recap and on Mondays there will be two entertainment blogs; The L Word recap and The Amazing Race recap. The L Word will end before TAR so eventually it will even out again. I’ll update the BIOB Posting Schedule.

So, what do you want to talk about?

P.S. I’m so excited about tonight’s BSG I can barely frakking stand it!