Some craziness happened with the Astrological Signs or some shit, I don't know it's still kind of fuzzy to me, but all I know is that I was a Cancer yesterday and now I am a Gemini. Which sucks cause I have the Zodiac Sign for Cancer tattooed on my right wrist. This is from Troy Reimink from The Grand Rapids Press:
If your astrological forecast is inaccurate today, there's an explanation – other than the usual explanation of “it's all made up, anyway,” I mean.
Confusing messages from the stars? Only if you believe that sort of thing.
The Internet is all atwitter with news that threatens to upend the industries of horoscope writing, little symbolic knick-knack manufacturing and ill-considered lower-back Zodiac-sign tattooing: Your astrological sign isn't what you think it is.
According to astronomers at the Minnesota Planetarium Society, here's how your date of birth aligns with the constellations:
Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16 Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11 Pisces: March 11-April 18 Aries: April 18-May 13 Taurus: May 13-June 21 Gemini: June 21-July 20 Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10 Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16 Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30 Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23 Scorpio: Nov. 23-29 Ophiuchus: Nov. 29-Dec. 17 Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20
Wait, 13 signs? Ophiuchus? Let's slow down. The system still observed by people who take astrology seriously dates to the Babylonians, who started with 13 and ditched Ophiuchus, the “snake handler,” because they wanted an even 12 to match the number of months in the year.
But is the Age of Capricorn the new Age of Aquarius? Sure, but only if you want to be, like, technical about it. The origin of this discussion – “new zodiac sign dates” is a Google hot trend item, in case you're wondering – is a brief piece in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune in which an astronomer merely points out that the positions of constellations relative to the calendar, as observed by the Babylonians, no longer correspond to the dates they appear today.
The ancient Babylonians based zodiac signs on the constellation the sun was "in" on the day a person was born. During the ensuing millenniums, the moon's gravitational pull has made the Earth "wobble" around its axis, creating about a one-month bump in the stars' alignment.
So should everybody re-examine their personalities? Start reading a different horoscope for spiritual guidance? Divorce the spouses they married because their signs allegedly matched?
Well, it's your life. An astronomer pointing out the flaws in astrology, by the way, is kind of like a doctor explaining why you shouldn't drill holes in a person's head to let the demons out. In other words, the extent to which this information is cosmos-shattering probably depends on how much you 're willing to let grumpy ol' science blow the whistle on superstition.
I don't know what to make of any of that...but...hey...if you get something from it, then I'm glad I posted it!
So here it is. My blog project. Using this Generator I will be given a random thing to do. And subsequently write about it. The first one that came up is for me to Write A Letter To Someone I Appreciate as depicted in the title. So that's something I will do. I welcome all of you to do the same, even if it's just onto your facebook page. Anyway. Here goes my letter:
Dad (with a little bit of Mom),
I appreciate you. I know I'm a dick to you all the time. I don't know why I do what I do to you, and why I treat you like you know absolutely nothing about the universe, when in turn, I get annoyed at the ignorance of people younger than me. I am a hypocrite when it comes to this. For some reason I have categorized you and mom into some kind of dilusionaly crazy old morons who can't really have cohearant thoughts. I think about how this family is multiple times a day. And I always conclude with the following question; "Am I hurting them?"
I'm always afraid I'm hurting you and mom when I talk to you like you are below me, yet I continue to do it. I have excuses if you care to hear them. I feel trapped in this house and in the curse that us kids have deemed our lack of accomplishment to be. I hate living at home to no fault of yours or mom's. I just hate it. I'm 23 and as every day passes I worry I will be living here when I'm Bill's age. Something I don't want to be doing. I think that's pretty much my group of excuses. Or pair of excuses as it is. But I'd just like you to know that I do appreciate you. Now and Always.
I appreciate you taking the huge step that cause the five of us to move so far away from our family. The life I made out in CT is something I cherish, even now after a year of being without it. I still have so many moments of joy from what I experienced in my ten years there.
I appreciate you for the wrestling rings. No matter how flawed they were.
I appreciate you for the drumset, the guitar, the hacky sacks, the DDR stage, the iMac, And all the other shit you've bought for me because it was my ticket to making something of myself. Anything I became infatuated with, not only have you supported but you attacked it with the same enthusiasm that I did. Never once did you tell me "no" because you knew it was just a phase. You've always let me do my thing and supported it 100% no matter the cost.
I appreciate you not being an asshole after you walked in on Lauren and I having sex. You could have been an embarrassing douchebag, or just a prick about it, but you never really said a word. It could have been from you not really knowing what to say, or just trying to act like it didn't happen. Or, you could have just been oblivious to it...in which case...we weren't having sex. I was tickling her.
Since I've gone in this direction, let me throw myself into a ditch I might not be able to climb out of. Thanks for not being a douch the morning after that night you walked in on my jerking off four years ago. I was freaking out all night and couldn't even finish cause I was expecting you and everyone else to be making comments, I don't know if you even told anyone. Either way, thanks...
Shit...you know what...if for some reason you couldn't see what was on the screen, and had no idea what was going on, I wasn't jerking off, I was checking for testicular cancer. Yeah...
Fuck.
Uh...moving right along then...
Dad...thanks for not being like those Dads that flip out about their daughter getting knocked up by a black dude. Really. I don't think there was a moment that I witnessed in which you seemed ashamed of her or anything like that. The fact you and mom didn't even question Shannon's decision to keep it and supported her 100% truly shows what great parents you are. You raised us the best you could and then let us live our lives, and any decisions we made, you guys had our backs. I love you for it, and Shannon does too, because without that backbone of support you've both always been, we wouldn't have the amazing gift of Alexis. She really is the most amazing thing to ever happen to this family. So thank you for not putting your fist down about what Shannon should or shouldn't do, and let her just make her own decisions, especially considering the crisis our family has been in for the past few years.
Thanks for having your warped sense of humor, you are creepy as hell sometimes and unnecessarily perverted...but you an mom make a great comedy duo, and without your collective humor this house would be WAY worse. You guys make the crappy circumstances better, just by allowing us to freely express ourselves on any topics.
I'm sure there's more, but I am feeling like shit thanks to a stuffy nose and fucked up throat...
This has been stuff I appreciate about you. And I love you (and mom)
Now if only we can get you two to follow a fucking TV show without being so goddamn frustrating in EVERY way imaginable this house would be as peaceful as a Tibetan Monestary.
Sorry I've been away for so long. I've been trying to get my book out there, but it seems to be fruitless, the efforts will not stop!
I am just quickly posting to let everyone know that starting tomorrow, you could check back daily for really cool, off the wall, and unique posts. I can't really go any further into explaining it, but they should be worth checking out. So please do so. Thanks a bunch everyone!
We are 2 weeks away from the release of my first novel ROCK BEATS PAPER. I am excited to say the least. I have been working hard on trying to figure out how to market this damn thing. I've been working on a concept for a book trailer to no avail. It's annoying trying to be creative.
I am doing a interview with CT Magic Guru Rick Star on November 30th on USTREAM. The show starts at 7/6c you can check it out LIVE Tuesday November 30th at this link: Rick Star Magic Experience on USTREAM
I'm pretty excited about that. It'll be a 20 minute call-in spot, where I will be talking to Rick about everything from my wrestling career(or lack thereof) to how I came to this book. Though, I feel I must say, with all due respect to Rick, my original hope was that I'd be doing the interview with Mike Milano on his USTREAM show. Unfortunately, Mike passed away before I completed the book.
I just wanted to come and give a quick update, but before I leave I want to leave you all with a special gift. The Book Preview!!!!!
Check it out...this is the first 4 Chapters of the book. I don't know if it's enough to make you hungry for more, but it's what I felt was enough for now. So check it out and give me all of your feedback. Good or Bad I want it all....
As you can see, the cover-art for my novel is complete. I think it is kick-ass if I'm speaking truthfully. It was created by a mix of myself, my brother Bill, and Dave Cole an independent wrestler and artist out of New Haven, CT. He is a good friend and did awesome work on this cover. I'm excited as hell about the whole thing. My brother and I have spent long hours working on the interior design on the book. I think it looks amazing and professional. I'm really proud of the work we did and can't WAIT for you people to see it.
All I need now is the edited manuscripts back from the two people I have going through it, and I'll be able to update the book, and it'll be ready. Once it's ready I've decided I won't sell it right away, I wanna continue generating buzz, so I'll be doing some marketing stuff, sending the book out to people who have a large online following, in hopes they can give me a good review, and maybe even quotes I can throw onto the book.
The official release date of the book is going to be December 7th, 2010. However, the first 500 people to "Like" the book's official Facebook page (see the right panel of this site for a box that shows a minimized version of the page) Will get an access code to receive an ADVANCED, DISCOUNTED copy of the book. So Like the page and spread the word. I'm only going to release the advanced book ONCE there is 500 people.
What else is going on? Next week I will be working on the official site for the book, and I'm working on having a NEW blog site fully created by my brother and I. In other news I have registered a domain name for a new site that I want to launch. It's a entertainment site that covers...well...entertainment. I have a lot of cool ideas, and I'm jumping into it with little prep. So, we'll see how it goes.
OH! Let's talk about why I am disappointed. Well, with all of this chaos and work I'm putting into the novel I have finished. I have not been able to focus on NaNoWriMo, if you look to the right you can probably see that I've only finished 622 words. Terrible. I am disappointed that I am not able to focus on it. I doubt I'll reach the 50,000 word goal, but I love the concept of NaNoWriMo and look forward to fully participating next year, hopefully I won't be as busy.
Before I go, I'll leave you with some shows I think you should watch.
First, A&E's new show Teach: Tony Danza is AMAZING. For those of you who don't know, I'm working towards being able to begin my journey to High School English Teaching this coming spring. I'm very excited about it. In Teach, Tony Danza of "Who's The Boss" fame has decided to finally put his college degree to use. He enters the Philadelphia Public School system with the entire community having doubts and ripping him apart, saying the show is just a way to Jump Start his career. Though within the first 3 minutes, Danza is crying because he feels the pressure, and knows the weight that is on his shoulder's. He doesn't take the job lightly and he is very VERY passionate. The show is heartwarming and funny. Danza's charm is one-of-a-kind. Nothing is more clear than he WANTS to be there, and he WANTS to teach. There is no performing for the cameras, you can clearly see that Danza is genuine in everything he does, and his emotions run high. The pressure often brings him to tears, and his fellow faculty members are there to support him. The show is filled with interesting kids, heartwarming moments, and very dedicated teachers that show that the profession is far from dead. If this portrayal of what it's like to be an English teacher in urban schools, is at all accurate, I am more sure after watching just five episodes, than I ever was, that teaching is what I want to do. Teach: Tony Danza airs Fridays at 10/9c on A&E
The next show I'd like to talk about is "Running Russell Simmons on Oxygen. Yes, I do know that Oxygen is a network aimed towards women, but Running Russell is quite an awesome show. Sure it's concept is the same as so many of these other glam-job reality shows, but i think it's execution is what will set it apart. To truly enjoy RRS, I think you have to know a bit about the man Russell Simmons. I'm not going to be the one to tell you, that's what Wikipedia is for, however the show isn't JUST about Russell, what it's really about is the girls that run his day-to-day. The names are lost on me, and if this was something more official, I'd probably look them up, but the show just has so many elements to it. The first episode had me craving more, and I'm excited to watch more. Russell is a great man, he runs his business in a really efficient way, but he doesn't let his power go to his head, at least, not on the show. The first episode shows a situation in which a cleaning lady at Russell's house is getting the place ready for a fundraising event Russell is holding, it gets back to one of the main character's that the cleaning lady claimed she wasn't able to get a chalk-board cleaned. The woman who was responsible for making sure, nothing in the house gets ruined as a result of the party, immediately freaks out. Now, I was thinking "wtf? it's a chalkboard" well, it turns out that the chalkboard, and the content on it, was actually a valuable piece of art worth about $150,000 or something. The woman freaks out and runs up the stairs where Russell is meditating. I was freaking out thinking he was going to be pissed not only that the art was ruined but that she disturbed his meditating. She interrupts and you see Russell's eyes slowly open as if already prepared to handle bad news. She tells him what has happened, and you can almost immediately see sadness on his face, then a calm, and he tells her not to worry about it. I was so happy to see how relaxed he was. It was amazing, and I was so happy to see him react like that. It was THAT moment that I fell in love with RRS. It was amazing. Russell is a goofy guy who through all the chaos his life brings his assistants, he always tries to make sure they are relaxed and composed so that they don't deal with too much unnecessary stress. It's just good TV. Check this show out.
I'm taking part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) just 5 days after finishing my first novel.
NaNoWriMo takes place from Nov 1st - Nov 30th and it is exactly what it sounds like. You write a novel in the month of November. The rules are simple, you start ON Nov. 1st and must have written at least 50,000 words by Nov. 30th.
I just finished my first novel, which the word count is slightly over 60,000. around 48,000 of those words were written in 19 days. I think I got this. What do you think? Let me know in the comments section. I kind of need a cheering section. So please root for me.
You can follow all the progress on my Twitter @MMartinWrites or at my official NaNoWriMo page: MikeMar10
Also, to the right of this screen you can check out my twitter...uh...tweets...and also my progress in NaNoWriMo right here. I guess I can officially say this is your one-stop-shot for all thing Mike Martin. Woo.
I'm really excited for NaNoWriMo if you can't tell, and look forward to starting my writings later today, after I get about 3 hours sleep.
Don't forget to root for me!
Here's a little blurp of the Novel I'll be working on for NaNoWriMo:
The Impeccable Memory of Carson Battle
Carson Battle is living life, one chapter at a time.
Born with a rare ability to remember every single moment of his life, Carson Battle has quite the story. Now, on his death bed he reflects and though he can remember every detail of his life, he finds that he has forgotten quite a bit about the real relationships he has had. Is it too late to live life when he's spent most of it taking the world in?
Hope you are excited to read what I will come up with as I am to write it!
