Category Archives: Joyous Bear

Apr 15 2012

Felix Felisitas or Here We Go UP

Ron tells me that I have cycled up again.   I started a new project,  was talking mile a minute and stayed up for about thirty hours.    During those hours of heavy activity,  a friend and I  talked about feeling as though we had taken a bit of felix felicitas,   the complex potion that Harry Potter takes in order to accomplish his goal in one of his adventures.      I genuinely believe my new project has a great deal of promise.

This blog is connected to my wallet name.    I have in hundreds of places linked “Libdrone Books”   to “Alan Jobe”.     While I have tried very hard to be candid in these posts,   I have also tried hard to be honest without be hurtful,   and to seriously consider any other points of view offered through readers’ comments.   I have also tried hard to be discrete.   While I have made a point of introducing Ron and have at times written about gay rights and those sorts of things,  I have never once in this space said even a single word about my sex life.    My sex life if mostly under a handle.    It’s not one most of my wallet-name friends would ever be aware of.    My new project is a very targeted niche publication and I do not plan to ever reveal to my wallet name friends my nom du’porn.     In a way,  with this new project what I am setting myself up to try is to create a social and fan following for a fictious social persona,   a character/narrator in my own personal play.

What really pisses me off so bad about Google’s new  ’you must use your wallet name here’ policy is that it completely ignores the reality that the fictitious character that talks  Very frankly about his busy sex life (complete with photos).     I am reaching out to relevant people in my circle for help with this new project,  which I am hoping will prove to be a money-making thing for me.   Not that I’m every going to get rich.    But there really are a lot of stories to my life that I know I will NEVER share on this blog.    And I am very excited to have an outlet to talk freely and frankly about subjects my wallet name is never ever ever going to Mention in public.

Apr 12 2012

On Being An Outlaw

When I think about it,   I realize I’ve always been a sort of outlaw.    I remember as a teenager in the early 1980′s learning about sodomy laws  (boy that’s a term you don’t hear much anymore) and being outraged and horrified to discover that sex between consenting adults could be illegal.   While I was certainly glad when the Supreme Court in 2003 struck down all of the remaining sodomy laws,  including in my native Louisiana,   I have to say that I never let the fact that it was illegal stop me from having sex in any way I preferred.

I’ve mentioned before that Ron and I don’t want to get married,   even if when gay marriage becomes legal here in Washingon state,  either in June or after the November election if those who are opposed to my civil rights succeed in forcing a ballot question.  I have not previously answered,   when asked why we don’t want to get married.    While I fully support marriage equality and would fight for the rights of any two consenting adults to enjoy the full benefits of marriage,  the fact is that for over forty years now I’ve gotten accustomed to being a sexual outlaw.    I’m glad I’m not illegal anymore but I have no desire whatsoever to participate in a social form which I do not believe would confer any real benefit upon me or my huzband,   given our particular circumstances.   (Ron and I are both on social security disability.    Were we a heterosexual couple,  we would be foolish to marry since doing so would significantly lower the amount we receive each month.)   And I know in my heart that no piece of paper could make our relationship any stronger than it is.   I also don’t believe we could possibly love or cherish each other any more than we do,   regardless of whatever some politicians may think of us or our relationship.

I am grateful to live in an era when young queer folk  (gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, trans-gender-ed) continuously hear the message  ”it gets better”.    But frankly,   having been an outlaw all my life.   I have zero interest in joining the ranks of the respectably wed.

Jan 31 2012

Mischievous Mis-spelling

That the lower case  ’n’  and the lower case ‘h’  can look almost the same, to a not quite awake proof-reader’s not fully open eyes can be a curse or a blessing.   The thing is,  it was intended as a joke.  The fact that I mis-spelled  Holly Jahangiri‘s name in the tweet I got 20 folks on an Empire Avenue mission to tweet,  in the opinion of some just made it funnier.   I set out to see how many of the Empire Avenue folks who took my 1,000 eaves would send out this tweet for me:

 

@HollyJanangiri I DO believe in #prunebutt. (@libdrone made me say it!)

Those who know Holly may recognize that Prunebutt is a character on her blog,  sort of in the way I am trying to make Mr. Everything  (and still to come Ms. Efficiency) characters on this blog.   Folks like my friend Liz  (get that Hello World post down so I can link to your blog, Liz!) who know what they are doing on Twitter quickly realized that with her name mis-spelled  @HollyJanangiri  is not a real Twitter handle.  For some folks, like my buddy Hank,  the fact of the typo (which I publicly admitted as soon as Liz pointed it out to me) made the joke even funnier.

As with most everything I do,  there really is a lesson here for folks who are trying to promote their B  (blog, business, bullshit, buns, whatever).   And the lesson is of course,   humor sells.   I set up this mission so that in order to fulfill it folks had to actually copy and paste what I wrote;  the click through went to My twitter profile where some of the folks who clicked it followed me.   I gave away 1,000 eaves to 26  users and fully 19 of them posted that exact tweet.  A twentieth user modified the tweet to use Holly’s actual name and handle.   And one of the first 19 posted a follow up tweet with the name and handle corrected.  Given that it required more action that just clicking, that  I got a completion rate of almost 77%  seems fantastic to me.    That  folks will probably Still be laughing over this little episode after this post is published is a bonus.

So if you are trying to promote something (such as yourself) in the world of social media,  try to always remember you could do a lot worse than going for a laugh.

Jan 11 2012

And Sometimes….

The really bad thing about knowing too many quotes is that after a  time you can continue to spout quote after quote,  but you haven’t a clue where they have come from.    If only that were the secret to original writing.   “And sometimes there’s God….so quickly.”

I find myself thinking today that Biljana is actually a very wise woman.    On the one hand,  I am thrilled.   I have been given license to publish and promote this incredibly wonderful book,  written by a woman who seems smart enough to keep her clever publisher at arm’s length.     Which means that she probably is Not going to want to have endless discussions about the promotions.    I have her snail mail,  we’ve agreed on terms.   I’ll certainly be sending her checks as I sell her books.   But I do not have to clear everything with a temperamental artiste who is also a friend.   I seem to have pretty free reign to decide and do it My Way.

I find myself  wishing I knew just a bit more about the stories of some other incredibly great writers making a life-changing agreement with her first publisher.      Cause I’m pretty sure that the work I am about to introduce to you is as significant as any that global literary society has seen in a long time.   So the fact that I have landed this book is actually HUGE.    Although of course it will take 10 years of hard work to turn it into “an overnight success”.     But  if you have any appreciation for the art and craft of fiction,   I know you will want to read this book.     And if you read my blog regularly,  you’ll soon find out that I will even let you read Black And White  for free.

Jan 5 2012

Happy Bear

So this Thursday finds me a happy bear.  My Empire Avenue stock is up to a share price of 105 and while I do have some back sliding days I am still (knock wood) above 105 today.   I invest some in newbies recommended by DES Daughter and invest back in people who have recently invested in me.   I do try to max out to 600 hundred shares in all of my investments,  but if your div ratio is not great it may take me a Very long time.   And if you sell off all of the shares you hold in me I will block you on Empire Avenue in order to be sure I do not again invest in someone who didn’t think enough of me to buy even a single share.

Now that I have Timeline I am going to try directing the FB post promoting this blog post Only to those on my Empire Avenue list.   It is possible I may have tagged a person or two incorrectly but I believe that all of the folks on these lists connected with me First through Empire Avenue or have been active on one or more Empire Avenue related discussions.  As I’ve mentioned before,  I was Not blown away by Google Plus and deleted my account on that service not too terribly long after starting it.   Honestly,  at this point Facebook allows me to meet and get to know and keep up with an ever expanding circle of virtual friends.

Since my main purpose in social networking is to meet and get to know other people,  and any business that results from these relationships is for me,  simply an extra benefit.  While I do promote my book regularly,  I try very hard not be one note about it and I talk with lots of different people about lots of different things in lots of different threads on lots of different web sites.      For me,  online socializing is very much a time consuming hands-on more or less full time activity.   But I try never ever to forget that it’s All about building real relationships with other real people.

(And I am a very happy bear this morning because I just got back from a great visit with my cub friend and I am maybe even Joyous Bear today  ;)_