EdgeofGloria

Jim wrote Shit Magnet while in prison. He details the day-to-day surroundings, the other inmates, the seating organization in the cafeteria and his cell. He says, “Every prison sentence is a death sentence.” Jim rails about the unfairness of it all. He wonders why all this bad stuff happens to him, and while I understand bad stuff happening, maybe he didn't think about these things: If you create—and writing is creative, you are bound to piss someone off. If you try to be honest, you will piss people off. If you point out truths, you will piss people off. If you are an abused guy, and you want to go to NYU, and your parents say no, and you channel your rage into writing, you will piss people off. If enough people would have purchased Hitler's paintings, maybe he wouldn't have been seen as a bad guy, because he might have become a successful artist and not a murderer of millions. I'm not comparing Jim Goad to Hitler, but I'm showing how po...

Anne beats Jim up on a bus. She leaves voice mail messages about how happy she'll be when he dies. And the email messages start, as do the postings online about Jim's nose job, among other things. And she threatens to kill him. Jim gets a restraining order against Anne, but they careen back and forth. And Jim admits he didn't want to go back, but he didn't Anne to be alone. He didn't want Debbie to be alone. And most tellingly, HE didn't want to be alone. Anne files charges on Jim. Eventually, he goes to prison because he beat up Anne ONCE, but is unhappy that Anne has attacked him several times and ends up going free. Until she runs someone down with her car. She got five months. Jim got two years. And Jim says both of them will be worse when they get out. Love is like heroin. Sometimes it destroys lives, but damn, it feels so, so good. And I think that is what makes it so hard to break up sometimes. I think Jim knew Anne was a nutcase when they g...

I'm sorry. I told myself I would update this blog on Tuesdays and Saturdays, but I missed my deadline by 15 minutes. I wanted to grade papers before I got online, and it took me a bit longer. I AM sorry. Hope you enjoy this post. ----------------------------- Depending on your viewpoint, Jim Goad is an amazing writer with an eventful life, or he's a mean, hateful man. I have to thank Jim and Debbie Goad as influencing my 'zine “Angry Young Woman.” I knew I wanted to write something edgy, but wasn't sure where to begin. Then I picked up “Answer Me!” number three and I knew. I could write about whatever the hell I wanted. That's what Jim and Debbie did. They wrote about suicides. They wrote about handicapped kids who made their own music. They wrote about Suzanne Muldowney, a performance artist. And lots more stuff. Timothy Leary. Russ Meyer. And in earlier issues, they wrote about serial killers and mass murderers. They talked to Anton LaVey. They wrote abou...

One of my co-workers at one of my jobs gave me an idea (unknowingly) for something to write about. I was telling her a story about an experience I had with someone who had fixed my computer. We got into a dispute on a local television station's website, and I told her what he had done to my computer. She asked me, "where do you meet these people?" I told her it's not like I hang out at dive bars, or prowl back alleys, or intentionally seek out these whack-jobs. Sometimes I meet them in the comfort of my own home, via the miracle called the Internet. Anyway, I thought it might be kind of interesting to talk about some of my experiences with these people (without naming any names) so that folks might understand a little bit better why I keep to myself a lot and why I'm very reluctant to become a member of a dating site. So I don't know how many of these stories I will have, but it's an interesting idea, and I think I might just do it. And I apologize i...

I have about 36 videos up on YouTube, on my channel, GloriaD5767. But thanks to some computer snafus, I haven't been able to do a lot lately. Here's the story. My now FORMER computer guy put a fake version of Windows on my computer. I backed up everything else, but he said I'd have to re-install any programs I had. Which I thought would be fine. But when I re-loaded Magix Movie Edit Pro 15, I discovered I needed a codec in order to use footage from my Samsung video camera. I could use video from my digital still camera, but I didn't like the quality I got from using it as a video camera. And it was impossible to find a codec that would work, even though I searched the web. And I found out Magix no longer supports Movie Edit Pro 15. So, when an incredible deal came up to get Magix Movie Edit 2013, I took it. I installed it, and it seemed like everything was okay. I made a video of my helicopter ride at this year's Three Rivers Festival and I really had fun with it...

I was playing around with my new phone when all of a sudden I found pictures from my long-lost trucking blog. How they ended up on my camera, I may never know. All of a sudden, I had a photo album from Picasa in my "gallery" and low and behold, pictures from my trucking blog. I punched in the URL, and the blog is NOWHERE to be found. I think I still have the secure data card from that particular camera, but it's a little unsettling to play with your camera, and be confronted with your past. At least I wasn't twerking.

I've been pretty scattered lately in terms of creativity. I made a couple of necklaces, but was disappointed when the metallic paint  I'd painted my paper beads with came off on my skin. I've got at least three writing projects in progress. A few months ago, I bought a super-cheap music software program and have been experimenting with that. I found some essential oil at Hobby Lobby and want to make my own body spray. I love Bath and Body Works Twisted Peppermint, but the powers that be have decided they are only going to ship a certain amount to stores, and when it runs out, it runs out. So that means I'll have to call or visit the store to see when it's going to arrive and hope I have cash to buy it. Finding peppermint and spearmint (!) oil at HL means I have the power to make peppermint/spearmint spray any damn time of the year. Screw you, BBW! I've got the power (snaps fingers and dances.) And lately, I've been trying to make cell phone covers for my ...