I Hope This Helps

Humor, Business and How It Isn't About You Content is not just king. It's queen, rook, bishop. However, a pervasive issue that AI is not helping with is aggressively bland text that doesn't stand out in any way. Thousands of words that are blander than crackers and far less fulfilling. One thing AI can't do - because a lot of actual people can't either - is a humorous tone. When you're writing any kind of copy a little humor is a solid bet because it evokes a strong, positive emotion and people will remember that. Every year the Clio Awards are roughly half humorous advertising.  Everyone has expectations about how topics are written about. There is an endless supply of writing - from medium to substack - about *ANYTHING* and any sampling based on a topic will likely give some clue about the pervading tone.  I regularly read about warfare. The pervading tone? VERY SERIOUS©️  However, a wise old Navy Chief once told me "The military is too goddamned dangero

By wiredforlego from Portland, USA - Day 1 : Celldweller, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=147338547 Blue Stahli is an American electronic rock music project by Bret Autrey, a proflic musician with an astonishing decade of creating truly compelling music across an incredibly broad spectrum of sound and subject.  Battle Tapes is an American electronic rock band, based in LA, formed in 2010 with four members: Josh Boardman, Riley Mackin, Josh D'Elia and Pete Kraynak. On December 1st, 2017, Blue Stahli released the album Starlight under the nom de musique Sunset Neon with the track Never Dance Again .  On May 10, 2018, Battle Tapes released a  remix .  The lyrics (after the article) are identical in both versions.  However, these songs are incredibly different.  The original version is an upbeat dance-rock track with vocals vocals harkening back to the Pet Shop Boy's Can You Forgive Her? in its auditory tone but with a gleeful edge of revenge in term

Or Why You Really Need To Stop Talking Shit About Young People When You Only Understand One Part of the World They've Had to Live In Via The New York Times The kids today don't have it "easier," they have it VERY different in some ways that may actually be entirely incomprehensible to someone even as young as 35 (give or take).  A pervasive way to talk about "the youth" is to cite precisely one thing, and speak to that one thing as though it's the lynchpin of an entire generation's behavior.  This is as stupid as it is unscientific which is to say very.  For example? An American 18-year-old today was born in 2006. They have never known America to not be at war.  Mass shooter drills have expanded exponentially since Sandy Hook.  In a decade, training to only be ready to survive against a shooter while they are unarmed is the most standard part of American education than reading any book.  COVID is a real thing that happened. Now, look at this chart f

In honor of Ghostbusters' 40th Anniversary here are four ideas that have been bouncing around in my head ever since I realized that, in the first movie, Venkman said "The franchise rights alone will make us right beyond our wildest dreams." These are merely ideas and I do not expect to be involved in their further development creation and I'm putting them out there just because I can for the love of the stories, the concepts, and the ideas that Ghostbusters fosters in and of itself. One of the core concepts of the entire franchise is a kind of cross-generational justice and overcoming obstacles with a combination of teamwork, technology, and willpower.  Rather like filmmaking itself.  Courtesy Variety Ghostbusters: Neon Spectres Three best friends, Diego Willis, Walter Sanchez, and Leena Tacarelli buy protonbacks at an auction and hang out their shingle in Los Angeles.  Willis is a software programmer with an eye for detail. Sanchez is the hardware/industrial design g

I stop paying attention to the news around 10 pm as a rule. I try to do something else. Anything else. Play video games. Write some short fiction. Clean my kitchen. My bathroom. Something else. I was listening to the third book in the Armored Saint trilogy and painting. I heard my front door unlock. I have four people that have a key to my whole living space and two of them are among my unofficial godchildren. “Hey,” I started to say as packed up my brushes and went toward the door. It was just another base coat anyway and one of my godchildren is standing there. And this look on their face. It’s not accusing. It’s not saying I hurt them. It’s the face of a scientist who has disproved a theory that another old scientist said was true. I say this all the time, that Baltimore is per capita no more dangerous than any major American city. And it’s not. Baltimore is barely a major American city in terms of population. But it terms of American Blackness, it’s among THE American cities. Th

  EXT. High School Science Fair in the 1980s  INT. Science Fair, it's a bunch of people doing variations on physics. This one guy, who is extremely tall and has green skin is the only one taking a swing at a botany project INT. Herman is holding a rose bush so rich and lush against the dull space of the school gymnasium it catches the eye In the improvised hallway there are guys doing physics and Herman's Roses stand out even more.  Lily is the Student Judge, 

On Saturday I will turn 42. The "Life, the universe, and everything," birthday.  I have never felt so far away from all three of those things.  I have been unemployed since April 2022. I am not comfortable talking about why I quit my job.  I try to apply to four "cover letter" jobs a day and at least 10 "one-click" jobs daily.  It’s Not So Bad Once You Get Used To It Acrylic On Canvas, 20 X 16 Considering how much of American life is focused solely on work, money, status, and everything that I just don't have right now I feel disconnected from everything.  I have roughly one interview a week on average. Some weeks for reasons I'm not clear on, I get a spike in interviews. In the past year, I have had one follow-up interview for a job I didn't get.  No one is obligated to tell me why they didn't hire me.  One job had a ton of potential but it would have involved a move that I couldn't afford then and definitely cannot afford now. It wa