mark’s Comments (group member since Nov 22, 2010)

mark’s comments from the The Extra Cool Group! (of people Michael is experimenting on) group.

Tressa wrote: "I'm not cool now nor have I ever been cool, so I'm not sure what I'm doing here, but what the hell.

Amanda wrote: "I'm not sure why I was invited to this group, as I am most definitely not cool...."

extra coolness is in the eye of the extra cool beholder. extra cool people get to decide what is cool and at what cool temperature that cool thing is. don't worry, you both are frosty. all this coolness is making me chilly. now i will go invite some lukewarm people.

Michael wrote: "Michael wrote: "guilty because I joined the group under false pretenses becau..."

i get a satisfied feeling watching Michaels meet.

next stop, twincest.

Aloha wrote: "Mark Monday invited me to join in this group that is "sorta interesting". I have to admit, I wasn't sure about sorta interesting. It's either interesting or it's not. But then I realize Mark is ..."

i only believe in half-measures. well, i sorta believe in them. i mean, they're okay, i guess. i really don't want to offend them, but i think i have a big problem with them too. maybe.

God bless rent control!

Miriam wrote: "Wow, I've never PMed anyone with nasty comments, or had anyone do it to me. On the one hand, I feel morally superior. On the other, now I wonder if I'm being too nice..."

i have an advanced case of moral inferiority. tis a heavy cross to bear.

Jason wrote: "you dont like my shoe string book mark review, i'm going to guido you until the RICO laws are applied....."

i'm happy to report that a scan of your reviews did not end unhappily. i even Liked one of them. now stop anti-whoring while i go look up the meaning of guidoing and RICO.

your promised reward is merely a fictitious motivator.

thank you, urban dictionary. yesterday: dirt squirrel. today: the cake is a lie. tomorrow: the whole world explained, at last? urban dictionary, i lie at your feet in homage!

let's go for a pie instead.

nope, as i mentioned, i only pm folks who have personally attacked me within groups, and the main reason i do it is to take the confrontation away from a public setting. i don't go around looking for a fight or to use "the PM service to abuse and bombard". that's ridiculous behavior. a fool's game. i only react when provoked.

i'll negatively comment on someone's review if they've insulted the author in a personal way. i hate that bs. i have no problem with negative reviews, even of books i adore; i've Liked many of them if they make me think of the novel in a different light. what i find disagreeable are personalized attacks. negative reviews are a great part of conversation and much more interesting than sitting around, agreeing on everything. there's nothing wrong with reviews that really rip apart a novel; just don't turn that review into abusive, vindictive commentary on the author's life.

of course. if a person's going to smack me upside the head at some event, i'd prefer to take a walk with them outside rather than making a public scene. if there's going to be a volley of insults going back and forth, i'd rather it be within personal messages. i don't appreciate reading that kind of crap in groups and i definitely don't want to bog down a group with personalized arguments.

plus, people can be so brave in their insults when they are anonymous and on-line, and that really bothers me. if a person gets personally insulting, they should be able to continue the confrontation away from their little group safety net. if not, they should have tact enough to shut their pieholes and not get personally offensive in a public space.

do you find this point of view disagreeable?

i think that authors hyping their material on GR is annoying but understandable. i usually check myself before rolling my eyes because hey, they're just artists who are trying to get the word out about their efforts, what's the harm.

reviews that i've gotten the most pissed off about are those rare-ish reviews that make personal attacks on the actual life of the author. as far as i'm concerned, go hog wild in critiquing style, theme, narrative, whatever. but attacking real components of a person's life just comes across as so dense and so despicable to me. critique the product, please.

i guess the exception to that would be personal narratives, books of opinion, bios. in that case, i have no prob with critiques that are critical with the real life activities and points of view that are being described. i've made some myself. if so-and-so is going to be writing all about their life, then i suppose that opinionating on that life is a valid part of a critique and not just miserable bitchiness. or so i tell myself.

i think trolls are fun, until they're not.

i think i'm probably a troll myself, at times. if i read a review that i think is particularly shitty, i'll comment. if a person gets personally insulting in a group to me, i'll PM torment them until i get bored. if a person posts a link to some snarky review they've included in their boring blog, i'll post a review of their boring blog. i get irritated by assholes; i am pretty much an asshole myself. but with a tender heart, awwww.

i'm pretty democratic, or slutty i suppose, when it comes to reading. i like almost everything, i've even tried PNR which sorta gives me the creeps. i try to treat all genres the same in my reviews. even PNR. although if an author is fairly unknown, i do try to give them a little special treatment. they deserve it, poor unknown authors.

south bend?? wow i grew up in south bend. partially. and now here i am in sf. what a gap-bridger, i'm so proud of myself!

i suppose you have a point about beer and sf. sigh.

i like the personalized reviews. the only other sites in which i read any reviews are imdb and amazon. unfortunately most of the reviewers on both sites have some mental issues or are just reaching pubescence. not to be judgmental of course. but there are a lot of reviewers on both sites who are pretty great too. still, GR tends to have my favorite reviews. blogs make me impatient.

i'm a director of programs at a nonprofit that provides services to folks with hiv or breast cancer. its an awesome job. i spent many years studying film & writing at university and am using none of those skills currently. yet still paying off student loans, which is less than awesome. i live in san francisco. i write reviews for nearly every book i've read because it is the brainiest form of mental masturbation that i've come across in years. i don't have a lot invested in getting votes for reviews, much like i don't have a lot invested in getting votes for jacking off. although i suppose the latter is a pleasing, ego-gratifying idea that should be explored. a good number of my GR friends are my friends in the outside world. most of them think i have terrible taste and some of them like to bring up my reviews at parties etc just to torment me. oh and they never vote for me.

let's see, what else? i like my cat a lot. i think people who exist only to be snarky are worthless. actually i hate that word "snarky". i don't drive. i eat meat. i'm political. i think The Bad Girls Club is awesome. the end.

Michael wrote: "I've changed my mind yet again about the free beer. I have a six pack waiting for everyone here in Arizona, and you can claim it next time you're in the neighborhood...."

but then i'd have to go to arizona, yikes. that state scares me. please send me a gift certificate to a corner liquor store here in nice, safe san francisco.