Do You Ever Write About People You Know Personally?

Why yes. As a matter of fact, I do. Look, while it's not my primary source of income, I do earn at least a portion of my living from writing stuff. And of course, I write about all sorts of people. Politicians, CEO's, criminals, average Joe's in the news that are interesting to me for one reason or another. To me, when you write, while there are obvious things you don't write about for all sorts of reasons, everything is still essentially and necessarily, and quite possibly open to being fair game.

Especially when I happen to be a writer of mostly opinion and make a fair amount of observations about life and all sorts of things that happen to us in it, you kind of have to at least have some modicum of advance knowledge that something you say to me, or do to me, or some situation you put me in may very well become fodder for something I write.

It's sort of like walking into Denny's and ordering a steak. You pretty much know what to expect from it. You can't order it expecting gourmet and be surprised if it's actually lousy.

That's going to be a Denny's steak. No surprise when you get what you get.

And the same goes for me. If you are in my company, expect that I am a writer and expect that the nature of what I write may include you in some form or another. If you don't want to be in my "story," don't offer me a reason to become my fodder.

Beyond that, being that I am strongly opinionated, and use all sorts of things around me to help drive my points home—and being a staunch supporter of the 1st Amendment as well as strongly of the opinion that no one has the right to NOT be offended—it's just not something I tend to care all that much about.

Oh sure, you can change names. But whoever you are actually writing about is still going to know who it is that is the subject of the commentary.

When I was in management, I used to have a very simple rule. "Don't tell me anything you wouldn't want upper management to know." In other words, understand that I have a different priority and a different obligation with regard to any information I may have at my disposal.

That is the nature of our relationship.

Truth is truth and I keep no secrets. And my opinions matter even if someone else doesn't like them or disagrees with them.

And that includes people who are around me on a personal level. I'm going to be real and tell it like it is. And because the main media of my expression is through the words I put on a page that happen to be published publicly; I am going to fill those pages as I see fit.

It is never something to be taken personal. And, it should be noted, it is never something done to be malicious or mean. It is simply me being me.

The thing is people talk all the time in their circles about all sorts of things and people. And while that may be considered somewhat of a closed circle of sorts, once something is uttered anywhere is it ever truly private and done in confidence?

No. In the real world, even sometimes the circle expands and something you held in confidence now becomes more public.

My writing, and the outlets in which I share what I write, are my circles. Just like in real life I know no circle is sacred, and word might get out—one should be aware that whatever happens in my own circle may also not be held in absolute confidence.

"If you didn't want John to know what you thought about what he did, and told Colin and Ray and Kevin, you can't be mad at Colin, Ray or Kevin if what you said happens to wind up landing in John's ear after all if one of them happens to spill the beans in another circle."

Like I said. I am careful. There are some things that are simply too personal. And I do avoid that. It is simply the "right thing to do."

At the same time, when I do write about someone personally, I have every expectation that it may well reach the person I was talking about. And if it is something I choose to share publicly, I am confident that I won't care if that person I am talking about sees it.

In fact, sometimes I want them to.

Besides, wouldn't we much rather live in a world where people are honest and open about their thoughts rather than keep secrets and tell the truth only to other people?

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He Shot a Man in the Behind for WHAT?

We say it all the time that truth is often stranger than fiction and sometimes there are things you can't make up. Well, everyone remembers movies like Fargo and Pulp Fiction, so perhaps that's not entirely true. Because out of movies like that a scene like this one would not be all that surprising to see.

Those were some great and entertaining movies, by the way.

If you hadn't heard, there was a 64-year old Kentucy man who shot his roommate in the butt after a dispute over the roommate apparently eating the last Hot Pocket in the freezer. Yep, you heard that right. He shot his roommate in the butt for eating the last Hot Pocket in the freezer!

Beyond the clear idea that people are simply nuts these days and seem to be getting nuttier by the minute, when I read the story one thought came to mind.

There's more to this than just that last Hot Pocket.

I would actually be more interested in hearing what the back story is before this went down. Because of course there has to be one. This was not just a spur of the moment idea, "All right, Imma let him have it!" There's a lot more that has been going on in that house for a lot longer and the Hot Pocket was just the straw that broke the camel's back.

I am reminded of two stories from some years back. One where a man was cited for shooting his lawn mower after it wouldn't start. "For the last time the damn thing wouldn't start, and I'd simply had it," the man told police.

Clearly.

Still, you know, as many times as I have found myself in moments of utter frustration never once has it ever crossed my mind to pull out a gun and blow something to bits. Okay, maybe dynamite came to mind. But of course, it was just a thought. It's not like I would ever intend to actually make good on such an idea.

Well, maybe if dynamite was more readily available. I mean, if I could walk into a Menard's and the guy said, "Dynamite, aisle 6," perhaps I would more heavily consider that. But I digress.

Or take the two old men who were neighbors for something like 30 years. One day one of the men walked over to the other man and beat him to death with a spaded shovel. But, as the man said, "After 30 years of bickering back and forth and irritating each other, I'd just had enough and decided to do something about it."

There were 30-years of back story here. And even in the case of the lawn mower shooter, I am sure that mower was a thorn in that man's side long before the day he shot it. In fact, he probably had an entire garage full of menacing, maddening power tools and other equipment—that lawn mower just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and BLAMO! It became history.

Either way, now that the story is out, I bet that will be all we will ever hear about it. However unfortunate for inquiring minds like mine it happens to be to get the whole tale. But hey, maybe the makers of Hot Pockets can take this one to the bank and come up with a new slogan?

Hot Pockets. So good, they're worth a bullet in the ass!

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Can I Get to a Million Followers on TikTok?

Boy, that's a reach, isn't it? A million followers? I mean, it would certainly be something fun to do. Why, I could become the next big TikTok star, you know, and earn lots of money from sponsorships and maybe my fans would kick in some serious money too.

Of course, I am not nearly talented enough to pull that off. My current content is just plain, boring, goofy stuff. But I am a bit creative at times. Who knows? I could pull off a video that goes viral one of these days. 

It happens!

Granted, to be fair, it is not likely. I am just a 50-year old nobody who does a bit of writing and has a few songs I've released—none of which will have me getting my door knocked down by the Washington Post to write some articles for them or initiate getting a message from Shonda Rhimes to spin one of my songs on one of her popular TV shows.

One thing I do over there is to Go Live, and for whatever that's worth every time I do that, I tend to gain a few more followers each time. If I reach enough people perhaps it is just a matter of time before I default to that many followers?

And what about that video content? I can do a lot of stuff I suppose that could be considered at least remotely entertaining. We camp, the wife and I for example. Why not post some camping videos? Especially camping folly videos—those can actually be a bit funny. Or I can do informative things something like what I do with some of my writing.

Maybe that captures a few eyeballs?

I can see it now. Marcus Lemonis contacts me to do some Camping World ads. Or, perhaps I do some financial advice stuff and J.P. Morgan Chase contacts me—all with big money in hand of course.

Ah, the sweetness of the idea of it. Joining the ranks of some of the top paid TikTokers, raking in millions of dollars per year for their video content. Or going live and having viewers lob gobs of Galaxy gifts my way just because they like hearing me talk so much. I mean, let's not discount that a Galaxy thrown at you is worth $10 in real money, folks.

And let's face it, when it comes to the money side of things, people just gift you. And they don't even necessarily need a very good reason to do it. It's part of their fun and game with the whole thing. Even having gone live only a handful of times so far, I have already been able to rake in a whopping $15, and that's saying something since I don't feel like I have done much, if anything at all, to get it.

I was just there. Live and talking. That's it.

Besides, I am telling you, while I am close, I have been wanting to retire to the good life anyway and maybe getting to a million followers might let me do it. Even if I don't achieve the golden level of Paid Creator, with a million followers I could still walk away with a handful of potential loot simply be being gifted from people stopping in for a quick peek at what I am talking about.

In fact, someone I know made $57,000 last year just doing live events alone—he really doesn't have any videos at all, but he does have quite a few followers.

All the money stuff aside, I suppose just getting to a million followers would be enough for me. Just something as a goal to shoot for, you know? Just to see if I can actually achieve it. Just to see if a little old me is able to actually pull it off.

One never knows. Stranger things have happened, and I am not talking about the popular TV show.

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Does Anheuser-Bush CEO REALLY Get the Boycott?

Throughout this whole Dylan Mulvaney, Bud Light boycott debacle the one impression I have constantly been left with is that they just don't get it. On the surface it may appear they are trying to appease the customer base they've pissed off, no doubt. Why wouldn't you want to? This whole issue has cost the company billions of dollars and sales continue to plummet. But are they really?

Meanwhile, conservatives are standing their ground and don't seem to want to relent. At least not yet.

I have even suggested perhaps the boycott should contine despite what the company does since I feel it would have more of an impact to warn other companies that forcing woke culture on its customers is not going to be a good business plan. It is something, I feel, needs to be understood and clearly.

In other words, if companies feel there will be an easy out and only some short-term pain there will be nothing to stop them from considering doing it anyway despite what their customers want or think. They'll just price in the losses.

The latest earnings call with shareholders lead by Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris only confirms to me that they continue to not get it. In his comments he didn't really do much to really address how they made their customers feel. In fact, in a way, his comments actually only continued to scold customers. From the first response spokespeople offered that in so many words suggested customers need to just suck it up and be inclusive, to now suggesting customers are hurting "our people and especially our front-line workers."

The latter is true, of course. However, it's not up to the customers to make sure that employee's go home happy with paychecks to feed their families. And that's not to say I have no sympathy for employees or anyone else who may be impacted negatively by the boycott. But ultimately, no one is to blame for any impact but the company itself who made the decision to ignore their customers or to assume their customers would just toe-the-line and not care what kind of marketing the company wanted to do.

In his commentary, the CEO also sort of distanced himself a bit from any responsibility saying essentially, "This was the result of one camp—it was one post, not a formal campaign or advertisements."

Regardless of any of that, when it comes to CEO's, the buck really does stop at their desk and they are ultimately responsible for all things that the company does, including marketing. And let's not forget that no one was ultimately fired for anything. In their words, it was simply a matter of leaves of absense and a little reorganizing of marketing teams. Frankly, and many people caught on to this, that was just a way to make the appearance they were taking things seriously and doing something about it.

But of course, the way it felt was that they did it in a kinda sorta way that seemed to be more of an attempt to "test the customers" and see if it might be enough to backtrack than actually coming out having to admit directly they did anything wrong.

What it feels like to anyone who is following this whole affair, and to anyone who continues to ban Anheuser-Bush drinks from their shopping lists, is that they just want to skirt the issue rather than to actually address customer concerns.

I think that will continue to hurt them. The problem is, and everyone knows it, is that they are still wanting to appease the one group that doesn't really actually matter. The LGBTQ community. Because they only represent about 1% of the population. And they are an even smaller base of their core customers. Because if one thing is true, it's that advocacy groups don't care about companies. They don't care about jobs. They don't care who buys the products. The bottom line is they only care about their cause and the rest of us be damned or pay the consequences if we don't fall in line with what their demands are. And they continue to place heavy pressure on companies like Anheuser-Busch to not back down from their demands and simply ignore their customers and continue to have them force-feed their woke culture come hell or high water.

Doukeris ended his call by saying, "We will continue to learn, meet the moment, and come out stronger, and work tirelessly to do what we do best: Bring people together over a beer and creating a future of more cheers."

In other words, they didn't learn anything because they haven't really signaled they have. They are not meeting the moment, because as of this moment customers have made it clear we are not interested in woke marketing of any kind. And they are not working tirelessly to do anything but try to save their brand while at the same time forcing upon customers "inclusivity" when they say "bring people together."

I grant they are wanting to be careful. But at the same time, what customers are demanding right now is that they (Anheuser-Busch) simply admit that marketing to a 1% group of people forcing down a nation's throat a culture very few people agree with is not being inclusive at all but is rather alienating an entire majority segment of the population and making them out to be the bad guy.

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What Do You Think About the J.K. Rowling Controversy?

I have said for a very long time that I don't like it when celebrities get up onto their podiums and blabber their mouths. I will even admit that most of the time that's because most celebrities are liberals and the things they say, I find, are just off the wall.

Liberal commentary, let's just be real here, is often quite abusive and extremely derogatory.

I will grant you that I am a conservative and I have some obvious bias—but not without reason. Of course liberalism makes no sense to me. Part of that is because most liberal ideologies simply cannot be explained in great detail. It's typically resigned to slogans and bumper sticker length quips.

But my opinion is not about my politics, or anyone else's for that matter. Including the politics of the Harry Potter series author, J.K. Rowling, who has taken quite a bit of heat for her stance against transgenderism, which is of course a hotly debated topic these days.

The left wants to punish her just as much as often times the right wants to punish liberals. Fair enough. Like liberal celebrities, J.K. Rowling is entitled to her opinion, and I guess if they (anyone, right or left) wants to voice them, so be it. It's a free country.

But there is still a stark contrast between liberal speech and the reaction to it and conservative speech and the reaction to it. There is a stark contrast between the "punishment." In other words, when it comes to liberals, if you speak from a conservative viewpoint, they not only want to vehemently disagree with you, but they also literally want to destroy you. And I mean everything about you. They want you erased from existence and completely abandoned. They want you poor and destitute and sent to the streets. 

No, seriously. That's what they want. 

The issue I have with the J.K. Rowling controversy is that. We live in a world right now where liberals are free to say whatever they want and often without consequence. Conservatives will still punish the liberals to some extent. But conservatives also aren't as violent about their dislike over some of the things liberal celebrities espouse as liberals are.

Of course, it depends on what the "issue" happens to be of course. Sometimes things go too far, and everyone notices it on both sides. Take the Kathy Griffin Trump severed head thing. That did not go over well for liberals as well as conservatives. And rightly so.

Kathy Griffin's career imploded, and I am sure it is safe to say it has never fully recovered and likely never will. Roseanne Barr suffered a similar fate when she shrieked the National Anthem, grabbed her crotch and spat in 1990. Something that today might be more acceptable to the left considering all the kneeling thing that happened, but she's still on the naughty list with liberals because she turned sides and became a Trump supporter. 

Barr's getting newfound love from conservatives, for whatever that's worth. And let's face it, having friends on the conservative side is a much more lucrative enterprise. It just is. I think it will work out well for her actually.

Just look at Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A.

Conservatives speak on the extremes while liberals clash with the norms, and that's part of the difference. Whether or not you happen to be conservative or liberal, the fact is that conservatism is more mainstream while liberalism is more fringe.

And by the way, I should point out that J.K. Rowling is not a conservative. She is simply not toeing the "party line" when it comes to issues of transgenderism, and the liberals will not have any of that. You either conform to the entire platform or you are ousted—in their minds—and must be destroyed.

In essence, according to the left, you are not permitted to have an opinion of any kind unless your opinion matches their side's opinion. Pretty plain and simple. If you're not onboard; cancel, silence, abolish and destroy!

It sounds like an extreme thing to say. But look around and it all makes sense. It's what they do.

The thing is, I'd like to Rowling to keep quiet just like anyone I suppose. Even if her stance on this particular issue makes sense to me. I am not against liberal speech in the sense that I am for freedom of speech even if I don't like the words.

For me it comes down to a similar stance I have with businesses espousing their politics or certain social concerns publicly. Take the Bud Light controversy. It ruins the brand. It ruins the business. It alienates the customers on both sides when this happens. 

Celebrities are a brand and a business just like any other business, and customers are more interested in the product than really the person. And so, when the celebrity injects into their brand something other than what they are ultimately selling, it taints the entire thing. It hurts the business. 

At the same time, the tenacity by which the left goes after conservatives is much more pronounced. Conservatives may not like what Robert DeNiro has to say on political issues, but if they like his acting they'll still go and see his movies. 

On the left it's very different. Ultimately, I say let people say what they want, on both sides, and let's get back to a place where we can simply disagree with the stance but not have to have the desire to completely cancel the person over it.

We can simply disagree and move on and not destroy everyone and everything simply because we disagree.

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Why Have You Not Written Here For So Long?

I write a lot if I have never mentioned it before. And I write about a wide variety of topics. I very much enjoy every bit of the process of writing. As my bio suggests, "keeping the pen moving" is crucial to the process of continuing to write anything.

The reality is that Blogspot has been both a rewarding and disappointing experience for me across all the blogs I have on the system currently. 

This is not the only blog I have neglected for some time, although I do spend more time on The Springboard, which I consider to by my "hub" if you want to call it that. Needless to say, I have spent more time on other sites that offer a bit more interaction on my posts. Something I enjoy. And it always feels like I am reaching a wider audience than these blogs have been able to generate.

I should point out that I am trying to change that now, going forward, and am adding content to all of my blogs.

But over the years I have written in many different places. Bubblews, Daily Two Cents, Niume, WebAnswers, HubPages, read.cash and myLot. There has simply been more opportunity to reach more people and even to generate more revenue from my content.

And that's NOT to say that my purpose for writing is to make money. But let's face it, more money is what opens up more opportunities to write more since time is a valuable thing, and one of course has to eat.

Building an audience in this space is honestly a tough thing, even in those other spaces. It takes time. It takes a lot of content. And you have to be constantly incentivized to write anywhere based on the "reaction" you are able to get, and those other places have simply offered more.

That being said, I opened up a "fan page" of sorts on Facebook where I can direct people to go to follow more of the other things I write about and the places where I write. It's slow like anything is. I created the page many years ago mainly to highlight what I was doing on HubPages. 

Now I see it as more of an opportunity to have it be a "place to collect and share all of my work." 

At the same time, having that "one stop shop" to showcase it all gives me much more encouragement to get back to work on some of my other neglected blogs, such as this one, expand my audience, and make it easier for them to find what I am writing about.

Building from the outside in, so to speak.

The long and short is that over time I simply have not appreciated fully the value that Blogspot brings me, to have complete and full editorial control of my content, to post what I want and let the audience decide what interests them and what doesn't.

I have changed my mind and will now be adding content to all of my pages here on Blogspot, and hope you like what I am doing and will join me along my journey back.

As for this blog in general, while I generally pose questions as a topic to write an answer about, I encourage you to stop in and if you have a question you want me to try to answer I would love to give it a go.

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Green Forest Vape: Royal Tobacco

Source: Green Forest Vapor Shop
Where: 106 E. Main St., Belleville, IL 62220
Website: GREEN FOREST VAPE
Flavor: Royal Tobacco
Nicotine Level: 3 mg
Mod: SMOK Procolor 225W
Tank: SMOK Big Baby Beast

My initial reaction to this particular vape flavor is that there is definitely menthol in it. One odd thing to me has been that most mentholated flavors are more than a bit overpowering on the menthol and I was a former menthol cigarette smoker. You get the hints of the tobacco for sure. In fact, the tobacco flavor is quite noticeable and strong. But you also get a quite noticeable and strong menthol. I've been vaping this for a tank or two and for whatever reason it seems to me that the menthol is becoming more and more pronounced as I vape it. And I do tend to shake my bottles well before every tank fill.

On the basic flavor level I'd say it tastes pretty good. But I can't help but think there is, as there always is in any mentholated flavor, way too much menthol.

By no means is this a dig against Green Forest Vapor Shop. In fact, I shop there often since it is local to me, and for the most part I have liked their vapor flavors. One of my favorites is their Blueberry Cheesecake one. The fact is that I have yet to find any mentholated flavor of vape juice that is actually good. Not a single juice maker I have found to date can match a real menthol mix that mimics and actual menthol cigarette.

Unless, perhaps, you smoked Kool cigarettes, which were always overpowering when it came to menthol. When I smoked I smoked variations of the brand of Newport. Newport, Newport Lights, Newport Menthol Gold, and Newport Smooth Select. That particular brand of mentholated cigarettes is actually mild in the menthol category and that may be why since there are many other brands of menthol cigarettes which are much more "minty."

If you like a very strong menthol with a tobacco flavor, and what I think is a hint of sweet here as well, then this particular vape juice flavor may be right up your alley. But honestly for me it is one I don't think I will buy again. It's just too strong, and will probably wind up in a mix I use for juices I don't like just to "use them up."

They have an online site you can indeed buy from, and they have several house juices worth giving a go. For me, Royal Tobacco is just not my cup of tea. Again, way too much menthol, and to be quite honest, the more I vape it, the more sickening it is becoming.

Green Forest, I think you missed the mark on this one. You should have called this Royal Menthol or something like that. Again, not a dig against the maker of this juice. Just an honest opinion on this particular flavor which honestly did nothing for me.