Fashion, Victimized

Posted by Adron on Oct 18, 2009 in Life & Times, Writing | 0 comments

This article was originally published a few years ago as a guest column in the Edwardsville Intelligencer’s “Edge” weekend insert.

Remember these? Yuck.

While out shopping with a female friend, we stop to examine a kiosk selling trendy purses and belts made entirely of big, dangly sequins in bold, fluorescent colors. I fear someone has accosted a figure skater and stolen their outfit for raw materials.

“I should get one of those,” my friend says, her face a canvas for disco-ball refractions cast by sparkling handbags. I raise an eyebrow. This young woman, characterized by her classy, subdued taste, must be in thrall, mesmerized by the magnificent gaudiness.

Learning to Love Spam

Posted by Adron on Oct 18, 2009 in Life & Times, Web & Internet, Writing | 0 comments

This article was originally published a few years ago as a guest column in the Edwardsville Intelligencer’s “Edge” weekend insert.

Like this, but digital.

What’s the big deal with spam?

I’m referring to the unwanted email, mind you, not the highly dubious canned meat product (it deserves an entire column to itself).

Sure, spam clogs up our inboxes. Yes, we waste many minutes of precious surfing time deleting undesired messages and appending mail filters. And, technically speaking, this electronic junk mail absorbs precious bandwidth and slows the entire internet down. But what about the positive side of spam?

Everyday, I’m gratified to open my email and discover 15-35 unsolicited expressions of hope and reassurance. My future sure looks brighter now that I can eliminate my credit card debt, increase my ability to please my lady and start a great career working from home. Those email subject lines inform me that I can get brand name software cheap, cleanse my colon and receive a complimentary gift, all without leaving my keyboard. Now that’s a pep talk!

Marvel Annihilation and the website in development

Posted by Adron on Oct 18, 2009 in Comics, Reviews, Web & Internet | 0 comments

The new website has been up for about a week now (though I haven’t promoted that fact yet). I haven’t had a lot of time to work with it, but have been filling in some content areas here and there. There’s still a lot of empty spaces to drop stuff in – the filler feature headlines are a tad vexing – but I’m getting there.

Watching traffic trickle in, though, it’s funny where I’ve gotten some random search engine views from. I moved a bunch of old blogs over to this site (stuff I done on Blogger and MySpace in the past), a few which mentioned movie celebrities. Apparently dropping a Kelly Clarkson or Hugh Grant reference in a blog pulls immediate metrics.