This has been an interesting week. It didn’t start off all that great, but it has pulled into the station nicely. I was kinda down in the dumps, as I did my quarterly Google Analytics check, and I didn’t like what I saw. Honestly, the stats weren’t that bad. What bothered me most is the number of clicks I get from tweeted links. I have over 700 followers, and tweet each link 2-3 times, yet I’m only getting clicks from about 1% of those people. There’s something wrong there. Add to it that some assclown called me “unrepentantly negative” in the comments section of a friend’s blog. What bothered me most, though, was that this guy also said that he was disappointed that my friend had been retweeting me as a “key source of opinions”. I don’t think of myself as negative, even if I say a lot of negative things. I just can’t lie about shit when it’s shit. In the world of mainstream comics, there’s a LOT of shit these days. Sadly, there are too many old farts who think that things are gonna return to the way they were when they bought comics down at the drug store for a shiny dime. The business has changed. So, I’ve lost some followers and been branded for all of that. Anyway, it was all somewhat sobering. Maybe my shit does stink. Who knows? As the week wore on, some great folks on Twitter reached out to me, and things picked up as the week went on.
Wednesday, I was invited back on the UnderScoopFIRE! Podcast, where we played 80s trivia game What’s The Scoop? Hosted by Howie “Dick” Decker, I played against Jaime from Shezcrafti.com and Corey Chapman, producer of the USF podcast. Oh, and did I mention I won? I’m honestly not boasting, as I missed a lot of answers that I’m gonna get shit for from Twitter friends. Sorry, never seen Airwolf; we all have our pop culture blind spots. Anyway, you can give it a listen here, and the link will be added to the Podcast Sidebar. Btw, at the end of the show, I mentioned a new URL for Will’s World of Wonder. I must’ve been drunk, ’cause I surely do not own WillsWorld.com. So, carry on with the old info.
A few weeks back, my Twitter pal @Kap_L had a quick contest where he would draw the character of your choice if you were the first to respond to his call-out. I won, and requested Batman. At the time, I had no idea how talented he was. I just wanted a Batman. Then, this came in the mail last week:
Just as amazing was the artwork on the envelope.
Anyway, Kap’s definitely a cool dude and this is a nice addition to my collection.
I also happened to find the latest series of the LEGO Minifigures collection. I ended up with doubles and took to Twitter to find someone who might want to trade. Well, @Dex1138 stepped up and had the Hamlet/Actor that I needed. When the package arrived, it included so much more!
There were magnets of my initials, as well as vintage trading cards. It was such a nice surprise, and you should definitely check out his site, AEIOU…and Sometimes Why!
If I’d been down early in the week, my spirits were lifted due to the reaction of the one post I did write this week: 1 Broke Plot: How 2 Broke Girls Shortened Its Lifespan. It began as a Twitter conversation, and was going to end up as a bulletpoint in this edition of West Week Ever. After a bout of insomnia, it turned into a full-blown post. Not only did folks I know seem to dig it, but I also managed to get it in front of a few media types, like USA Today’s Brian Truitt, the folks at This Was Television, and Josef Adalian from TV Week. If you haven’t read it, please do so. Even if you don’t like 2 Broke Girls, it’s still good discussion for anyone who likes the television medium.
Since I didn’t write much this week, here are a few posts written by others that I enjoyed:
Mer-Man Is Gonna Be My Gateway Drug – Howie Decker’s heartfelt account of how he got back into toy collecting, and the flood of memories and emotions that resulted.
Black Presidents – As we celebrate the 2nd term of Barack Obama, Classick Materia looks back on the history of black presidents in media, and asks “Who was the best?”
Snack Report: Hostess Orange Cupcakes – Vincent dips into his fabled Hostess war chest to review my favorite of the Hostess empire, the Orange Cupcake.
Doing More Things: My First Time Ice Skating – Last, but not least, my wife and I went ice skating last weekend. It was her first time, yet she skated circles around me. I fell. Twice. There are lots of pics of me holding onto walls!
Well, that about does it here. Tune in Monday, as you’ll never believe the Thrift Justice I have lined up!
Wow dude, thanks for featuring Black Presidents on your blog, that’s great hustle I didn’t see coming. Love that you were on USF doing a game show, even at the cost of my still-unreleased Kevin Smith episode, it was worth the delay to hear you tighten your iron grip on pop culture.
Don’t worry about the stats, it’s all about the love. I need to do my part and click on your stuff more often.