Las Aventuras de Marco Gana 3: Poetry and Dance

Yesterday was the continuation of a string of just completely beautiful days weather wise. So it was a perfect day to go out and enjoy life.

Now the crazy thing is that I almost didn't even get to get out yesterday... my mom sent a message to do some chores, and being the good boy that I am, I did the chores before I started to prepare for today's festivities. This almost resulted in me not going out because she said that she wanted to go out, and with my brother Kevin having to go to work, this meant that I would be the one to have to stay in and watch my little brother.

FORTUNATELY! My mother came up with a back up plan that would have her take Justin out with her if she went out. Which was awesome. She didn't have to do that. But she did. I really love my mother. Like, she really didn't have to come up with that back up plan. And due to that backup plan, I had an awesome night. I really have to do something special for my mother soon... and I'm not going to wait until May to do either.

Anyway, I stop by my friend Janaya's BBQ. It's a simple gathering of family at the moment, not many people my age are there yet. Unfortunately for that, I had to go soon. I dropped off my basketball, ate a few burgers, some chips, and had some Dr. Pepper for the first time in years... and I left. And I kinda felt bad for leaving... like, I felt like "a typical nigga," so to speak. Furthermore, I realized where I was going and was thinking to myself, Clearly I ate a smidget too much...


Oh well. I hope my local buddies understand. I see them all the time, but I don't get to see Paola much. Nor do I get to ready my poetry much. So this was an opportunity that I felt I should not miss. It was also an opportunity that I thought I was going to be ridiculously late for, but MTA just simply agreed with me and allowed me to get there much earlier than I thought I would get there.

Note: Wishful thinking kicks ass. I think there is a power in my mind... a power I'm not yet fully harnessing, but... eh, whatever... continuing.

So I get there at about 8:30pm and the poetry readings hadn't begun yet. I had some or-derbs (that's not how you spell it... it's a French word that I have no idea how to spell), a Smirnoff, met some people, overall quiet like I usually am around new people though, and just chilled till the poetry readings started.

The poetry readings were pretty awesome. There was definitely some talent in there. Basically, the readings were done, filled with emotion and word play. The format of the readings were such that everyone would read one poem, then we'd take a break, then we'd read another poem, then another break, and so on. The Bilini sisters, who hosted the show, started most of the rounds with some pretty intense poetry. What I found really interesting about their poetry was how they would have a theme or a new perspective that I wouldn't have ever thought about. Most of my poetry is simply an outlet of some kind of feeling creatively expressed, but they, amongst others, took it to a new level of subject and perception that I definitely didn't see coming and might explore at a later date.

There was also this poet. He was literally a poet. Like, literally, down to his name. His name is El Poeta and he's pretty awesome. He recited my favorite poem of the night, "Rocket Ship." It was about how a young man sees his dreams and builds a rocket ship to reach his dreams and as he grows older he uses his rocket ship he reaches his dreams but then when he gets real old he realizes that he left everything that he loved for something totally different and is wondering whether or not his rocket ship was worth the ride. I'm obviously not that old yet, but I understood the concept, because I understand that ambition to be more than you ever were, but at the same time, I can't imagine not being able to live with certain things, such as family, friends, and various traditions... things that may change or even disappear the moment you hit the big shiny lights.

There were also poems about gluttony, envy, and lust, poems about sex, loves from the past, present, and future, there was a haiku, there were poems about personal problems and other people's problems... the variety was great. Speaking of variety, it's wasn't all poetry. We had some stand up comedy come up, but it was short lived because he had family matters to tend to, and then we had this one guy come up and simply talk about life. He said something about how a panhandler swindled him for $20 because he was trying to be a good guy and make the lady's day, and then he talked about how women label each other (which they do).

I had read some poetry myself. I brought 5 pieces, but only ended up reading three. One was titled "If Nothing is Forever," one was titled, "Critical," and the other... piece... I read... has multiple titles. In the end, they said it was more like a "monologue-y" "stream of conscious." Which made a whole lot more sense considering the way it came about via the intense feelings that I was experiencing when I wrote it.

One thing I noticed was that my "performance" of my poetry wasn't as intense and as engaging as the other works. I also noticed that my poetry (the first two pieces at least) weren't as long as the other pieces being up there. It was kinda one of those things where I'm like "Wow, am I under dressed for this?" But I thought about it and said, "Fuck that, here I go." I got pretty solid reactions though. All of the poetry was good, so everyone got a round of applause, but admittedly, there were some amazing, amazing pieces read that deserved the hyped up ovations that they received. Still, at the very end, I was able to hear some more personal reactions to my material, and they were very well received. :) It's always nice to hear when people you just met sincerely tell you that what you do... what you create... what you put your heart and soul into... is good.

In between the poetry was food, drinks, music, and bailando. (dancing). My stomach managed to digest enough of the food from the BBQ to be able to try the lasagna, which was really good. It also reminded me that I need to try and learn how to cook lasagna. Actually, I need to try and learn how to cook a lot of things, but that's a different story. Anyway, the lasagna was good. The drinks were good, but I kept it simple because I knew I had a pretty intense trip to make back home (from the Bronx back to Rosedale? late at night? yeah, no way I was OD'ing... I need maximum alertness).

The music... I heard reggae, reggaeton, merengue (!), bachata (!), and probably other stuff. I did a bit of dancing... LIES! I did more than a bit of dancing. I got to dance with Paola and/or Katalina and the Bilini sisters. Paola explained some of the basic differences between salsa, bachata, and merengue, and Maria showed me some basics of merengue. Now? I pretty much merengue like a pro. Okay, not really, but apparently I learned it pretty quickly. I didn't get to merengue with Paola because she was teaching some other guy how to dance, but he totally, totally need the lessons. lol. Still, it puts me one step closer towards my dream of having a Hispanic wife... the idea of getting my wife mad and having her angrily yell at me in Spanish? Nothing short of a turn on.

... nice! ;-)

Like all good things, the night came to an end, and I went home. The trip was long, but quiet, and I got home.

el finito.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 2: Yesterday's Short-Venture

So yesterday... it was a beautiful day outside.

Nice warmth.

Nice sun.

There was no way I was just going to sit inside and miss it.

So I went outside. I wanted to go to a park that I had my eye on for quite a while... a park that is just past Toys'R'Us, which is just past Green Acres Mall. Thus, I call it Green Acres Park. It's actually rather small, but there are plenty of examples of nice things coming in small packages.

I finally went there. For some reason, this park reminded me of Zelda games. It was nice and green. As I said I would on a FaceBook status, I found myself a patch of grass and laid there for a while, just enjoying the wind, the warmth, the sun, the cars driving by, unable to enjoy this peace, and the animals. I saw ducks and squirrels.

Here are some pics...

And that's all I really have to say about it. It was a very short adventure because the park was small, but I enjoyed myself none the less. I managed to come up with a beginning set of poems that I might share at this Poetry Slam Party that I might be going to depending on various circumstances (i.e. laziness). 

For those not in the know of my poetic abilities (or lack thereof), here's a small example of what I might do:

If nothing is forever, then everything is missed.
If nothing is perfect, then perfection don' exist.
If energy is neither created nor destroyed,
Then why are kids able to break their toys?

If nothing is forever, something is classic,
Something is useless, something is tragic.
If something is timeless, time is external.
But if nothing's forever, how is it eternal?

The paradox of time, the paradox of life,
The paradox of husband, the paradox of wife.
I can have one of each, or I can have two of both.
No matter the paradox, forever the oath.

Enjoy the puzzle, not the puzzle itself.
The puzzle will destroy your mental health.
Like when you try to figure out never say never,
Simply understand that nothing is forever.

And that concluded Mark Wins Adventure #2. I'm sure that I'll have an adventure on Saturday though... unless i.e. laziness strikes...

The Executive Semi-Decision on Marko Man's Future

If you have been paying attention, you'll know that I've been thinking about and making changes to the Marko Man series. From the characters and the stories to the format, nothing has been free from the winds of change in terms of my flagship series.

Recently, I had talked bout whether I wanted to take the series to a publishing house, or whether I wanted to just write the stories independently, and I even wondered if I should go down the line of making it a comic or a webcomic. And I did some research. And I did some reading. And I did some digging.

And I came to the conclusion that Marko Man is against odds. Period.

So, I've decided that Marko Man will remain an independent production. I still haven't decided if I want to do the 50+ independent novels or if I want to work on the webcomic. I could possibly even go with the digital comic road... which may be better for Marko Man... I don't know yet... still more research would have to be done. But as far as going down the road that insists on being "mainstream," if you will... I don't see it working.

Mainstream comics? Pretty much suicide. Top selling comics barely scratch 100,000 sales. Green Latern's sales are up probably because of the upcoming movie. Marvel and DC will never hire an unpublished comic writer. Other comic publishers are simply not on Marvel or DC's level; those two practically monopolize the comic book industry.

Mainstream novels? Suicide as well. Apparently, only about 50 superhero novels have been published over the last 10 years. Publishers also have issues coping with an unpublished author wanting to make an ongoing series (aka me). I could try and change Marko Man into a sci-fi story or a fantasy story, but... no. Just no. Overall, in order to try and get into a novel, Marko's gonna lose. Period.

And at that point, I'd rather have full blown control over everything if only 1000 or so people are going to read my material. Characters. Stories. Publishing rights. If it was something that I created for a one time event, then sure, not having complete control over it so long as I'm getting the royalties and the credit for doing what I did would be cool. But when it comes to Marko Man... the series that I have been working on since I was 10 years old... I can't deal with losing any part of it to some legal bullshit.

This doesn't mean that I'm not trying to be an officially published author. I have a number of non-Marko Man story ideas that could actually become novels with the right amount of work and the right amount of luck. Said story ideas will not be shown to the public at this time, as the public as a habit of stealing ideas without consent.

But yeah, Marko Man will remain independent. Whether it's going to be a novel series or a comic series (or maybe even a combination of the two...) might be revealed this winter. I can definitely tell you that I am in fact working on my *not very good* art skills and thinking about how the comic would be formatted... definitely something I'm actively looking into, if you can't tell.

Additionally, with all the research I've been doing, I definitely feel like this is a much better way for Marko Man to go. I still definitely have many a trick to learn, but I believe that with my versatility and intelligence, some way or another, I can scramble up some kind of following for Marko Man. And from there... the sky's the limit.

So yeah. Marko Man remains independent. And mine. Other undisclosed story ideas will become novels. The end... for now. :-D

Ringtones

Jeff Hardy Another Me: http://ventones.com/m/6413641

Cheesesteak: http://ventones.com/m/6413655

One Winged Brando: http://ventones.com/m/6423071

Sonic 1-up: http://ventones.com/m/6423088

Keyboard Cat: http://ventones.com/m/6423096

Bonus Rush: http://ventones.com/m/6423120

Money, Then Power, Then Women

I gotta try and remember this shit. Like, on a regular basis. I keep allowing myself to catch feelings... especially for women who violate the 45 minute rule.

Additionally, I was never really the "get money" type, you know? Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of money, but hardly believed that "money is everything" like various sources would have you believe and/or perceive.

Regardless... I need to constantly remind myself to work on me. I'm obviously not stable yet. Progress is a slow process. I'm definitely better off emotionally, mentally, and spiritually than I have been in years. But I still got work.

I've come to the conclusion that I work on me and make sure that I am at least capable of maintaining a healthy relationship before I can try to pull one off. No need in causing extra drama and heartache in my life.

So whoever "the one" is... you're gonna have to wait.

PS: Additionally, I think that other men should take this advice... work on you first. If you're not where you want to be, where you need to be, then chasing women ain't going to help you. Chase your (non-women influenced) dreams first. With money comes power, with power comes respect, fear, demeanor, etc. And then, you know... women. Even Nintendo knows this.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 1-1.5: Why did Blogger Destroy my Post?

Was my post so fucking ridiculously epic that it simply had to cut the first half out?

I have no idea how that happened... smh... that was a lot of fucking typing too.

Basically, I met up with Eddie, we went to Pacha, the nightclub is awesome, but the way the people party there is different from the way I party, so it was a clash of styles. Still, I think that Pacha is one of the best night clubs in the city regardless.

I am supposed to go back there next week. I don't know if I'm going yet because I need details from Paola.

Also, some guy got punched in the face for dancing with the wrong girl, hence all the jokes. Still, it doesn't matter because it was all supposed to tie in and be this epic post about night clubs and blown minds and how I got the crowd hyped for some guy to feed off the hype and make the crowd go OHHHHHHH and... meh, whatever.

You know, that was a really amazing post, if I do say so myself. I don't understand how it got cut off. :(

And then it makes AoMW 1-1 look like trash because there was a flow of how that was supposed to tie in...

fuck glitches. I'm really upset right now. Someone needs to cheer me up.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 1-2: The Night the World Ended

Now before I continue with the many "punched in the face" jokes that we came up with last night due to traumatization, I want to continue on with how good Pacha was a night club. Three floors of music, different music on each floor, and ultimately, the DJs were awesome. Black DJs could definitely learn a thing or two from whoever was DJing at Pacha last night. They didn't interrupt with bullshit promotion and/or sound effects (although there was this time while I was on the first floor, a giant, loud ass horn blew while the smoke and crack lights were in full effect... scared the shit outta me). They just let the music play. Too many black DJs come on and stop the music because they wanna tell us this or they wanna tell us that... does it look like I give a fuck? Play the fucking music and let me dance, dammit. These DJs know what they were doing, and I really do wish black DJs would do what these guys did on a regular basis.

Also, while the place was packed, there's always room to navigate when you're not on the dance floor. I think that's a very key feature when it comes to night clubs, especially in an environment where dancing with the wrong girl can get you punched in the face. 

Now, back to the story of the trip home. We basically get to Times Square, and we chill there for a while because Eddie doesn't feel like getting punched in the face while waiting for the bus in Jamaica, which we concluded is a slightly more dangerous area than Times Square, on the final trip home, so we uses his phone to find a good sync between the train and the bus. We continue with the punched in the face jokes as we wait in Times Square. As we walk to the train station, some guy walks by us at an awkward angle, and Eddie playfully threatens that he woulda punched them in the face if they came at them any wronger. We wait for the train, we get on the train, the train is moving at breakneck snail's pace, and Eddie threatens to punch the conductor in his face for moving the train so slowly. 

Eventually, this one guy gets on the train, and he starts snoring. But he doesn't just snore. No, that would be too easy. He sounds like he's inhaling squirrels or something. I start laughing because there was this one guy that was rather startled by the snoring/squirrel-inhaling that the guy was doing, and I continue to laugh when Eddie said "That's the kind of snoring that gets you punched in the face."

We get off the train, hop on the bus, more insignificant jokes about face punching and traumatization, and we eventually part ways. I do remember him asking me if I was going next week because I mentioned that Paola said that she wanted to go next week, and I remember saying something along the lines of, "I'm not sure yet. Depends on who she's bringing, when they're trying to go, and whether or not it rains. Also, I'm not tryna get punched in the face."

And I get home. Finally. The epic day known as The End of the World finally came to an end.

Final random thoughts

• Early bird gets the worm.
• I really wanted a picture with that blue sword. :(
• Parades often attract tons of hot chicks.
• Marko and Katalina need more encounters. (stop asking questions)
• Music is awesome.
• There was totally some guy that reminded me of a fusion between Undertaker and Randy Savage. RIP
• Wait, wut did i do thar?
• The game store and comic store that I randomly discovered on St. Mark's needs to be added to the Team Epic Takeover Tour of Summer 2011. 
• Certain people should not be allowed to wear Spider-Man costumes. Spider-Man is not short, stumpy, and fat.
• "You were shooting hadokens?"
• "You talk?"
• 99 cent pizza is the wave.
• Wishful thinking is wishful, but then again, even 1% is a chance.
• 1% is also a chance to get punched in the face.
• I just might have to invest in salsa lessons.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 1-1: The Day the World Ended

So I decided that I should blog about the many adventures that I have, and said blogs dealing with them will, from this day forth, be called, "The Adventures of Mark Wins." I will blog about them whether they are solo adventures, adventures with a partner in crime, or adventures with a team.

Interestingly enough, the adventure of May 21st (aka THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!) was so ridiculously huge that I'm breaking it up into two parts.

So I woke up at 8am, because there was a dance parade that my friend Paola invited me to. I had looked up some details and figured that in order to maximize the entire day, I needed to get there early so that I could take advantage of critical features.

It was a nice sunny day, and getting there was easy. I got there, and Paola says she wants a Pacha T-shirt (she's not quite there yet). So I attempted to get a T-shirt. Total madness for attempting to obtain a T-shirt. Complete bum rush, the dudes that were handing out the shirts were getting ridiculously upset, and people are stupid. Whatever. Guy randomly throws up a shirt, I use my a taste of my phenomenal rebounding skills that I learned when playing basketball, and I snatch a shirt out of the sky forcefully (because despite the fact that I had the superior grasp, people felt the need to try and snatch it. No, okay?) <---Win.

So I escape that crowd of madness, and confirm that Paola has a shirt. Nice. Then I snatch up another one, theoretically for me. Then I snatch up free tickets to Pacha's official after party. (lol... oh, we're gonna get to that after party in Part 2). While I wait for Paola, a number of people ask me if I want to sell the shirts. I was definitely not selling the shirt I rebounded for Paola, and I wasn't going to sell mine, but then I got the thinking... if these people are willing to buy a shirt that I know I totally wouldn't be willing to buy, it probably means much more to them then it does to me. So I sold my shirt. Made $5. Hindsight says I shoulda sold it for $10. Team Epic Time Travel Machine will have me go back in time, hi-jack the box, and sell them for $20 a piece. Whatever. Paola finally shows up, and THEN the Pacha float mobilizes. (background info: Paola brought Miami's sunshine with her on Saturday to the dance parade, thus Paola made Saturday. lol)

Paola is quite the dancer and quite the photographer. We're jamming through the streets, taking pictures, seeing and savoring the sights and the music. The music was fucking awesome. We were floating back and forth between two to three floats, vibing and jamming to the music. It was fucking awesome (yes, I know I'm repeating myself). We would eventually settle with the Pacha float, where I had noticed a glimpse of Katalina, so Marko Man had a brief introduction to her and ultimately, Marko likes what he saw. (wait, who is Katalina? You're asking too many questions....) We also collected a retarded amount of free after party tickets... we had 10 altogether by the end.

Spoiler Alert: Paola doesn't actually go with me to the after party. :(

So from there, she eats, she claims that she hasn't seen a Mr. Frosty ice cream truck in too long, I buy her a snow cone because I don't like it when women leave me via disappointment, and we part ways.

I stay in the city, and call up some people to see who wants to go to Pacha with me for free. Only one that wants to and/or can go is my dude Eddie, who I hadn't seen in a few months. He says he'll be there eventually, but before 11pm. Cool. So I'm out and about in the city. I find this awesome comic book store that I'll have to revisit some day, and I also find this awesome video game store that has a fuckton of classic games and systems. Both are on St. Mark's place. Epic coincidence. I eventually get up to the area of Times Square, and then I decide, with nothing else to do, to go and do some recon to see where Pacha is. It's quite a walk, but you can't miss it if you follow directions.

What I noticed about Pacha's location is that it's merely a few blocks away from Pier 84. I never even knew that Pier 84 existed, and my gosh, it was such a beautiful sight.

And at that point, that when I start thinking about how I need a chick that's just as epic as I am to be with so that I can share these amazing adventures. A lot of people say that New York isn't the greatest place to live, so on and so forth. We wonder why New York attracts so many tourists because we've been living here for years and we're on the inside looking out. We're always rushing to get somewhere by car, bus, or train, and we miss out on exactly how beautiful and amazing this city actually is. Like, half the awesome things that I find in any given borough of NYC comes from either leaving my comfort zone to explore a new area or simply just walking a given path when I could have taken a bus or train. The sunset that I saw was no different... and it reminded me that the End of the World is not a time or a date... it's a place... a location. And I need a young lady that will travel with me to the End of the World... but maybe not yet? I don't even know anymore...

Well, that's the end of part 1... stay tuned... the next part of this adventure has our experience at Pacha Nightclub... which is... quite the experience.

Dear SCW,

After a number of random thoughts about the upcoming show, I've come to the conclusion that the booking sucks. Big time. I really should have continued to argue against it, but whatever. Too late now. Doesn't take away from the fact that the upcoming show is going to be garbage.

Who dost thou suck? Let me count the ways:

1. How can someone help develop a character if said someone is supposedly absent?
2. We are all getting a whole month of recovery... can said absence really be believable?
3. There is obviously no respect for the SCW Title.
4. Good job focusing on one character and not the others.
5. Exactly what feuds are you trying to build here?
6. Simply put, none of anything makes sense in the end.

If I wanted to deal with bad booking, I would have applied for TNA's latest Gut Check, put on a great showing, and had to deal with the terrible creative team lead by Vince Russo. I thought that here at SCW, we'd be better than that.

Last time I was displeased with the way SCW was being ran, I nearly walked out on the company. This time, things will be different. I will be the one making the difference. I refuse to let this company be ran by a bunch of over-sensational imbeciles who watched one episode of WWE Raw and think they know wrestling. I compare this show to our last show, and it all makes sense. One guy raises the bar, and everyone else attempts to hop over the bar, only to trip on it and fuck everything up. 

In hindsight, I was glad that the footage from our first show was lost. I was hoping that we could take the good from that show and build on it while we learn from the mistakes that were made. Unfortunately, no one here at SCW is thinking on that level, and is still stuck in the past.

Well come the next show... allow me to wake you up.

Yours Truly,

Marko Man

RIP Macho Man, the Curse of being Epic, [a few] Status Worthy Comments, and Why Sonic Runs Away from Amy

RIP Macho Man Randy Savage.

What had happened was he was in a car accident, and then he died later at the hospital via a heart attack. :-(

I graduated from the 6th grade by way of this amazing song...
I think what's more important, though, is that I'm still dropping flying elbows on people since the 5th grade.

For as long as wrestlers have elbows, his spirit will live on.
Wow, that makes him sound like he was trash. No, he was great.
For as long as there are pro wrestlers, his spirit will live on.

The Curse of Being Epic

I think that I am so unique... so strange... so weird... that I simply appeal to absolutely no one.

Like, I'm simply not mainstream. At all. From the music that I listen to to the TV shows that I... oh wait, I don't watch TV, I watch YouTube.

From the way I dress, which is generally rather simple, to the way I think, which is generally rather deep...

I simply do things differently... do things epicly. Surely, if you met me, you'd probably remember me, but the fact that you met me was probably against chance... I'm just that one of a kind... that legendary... that epic.

Yes, it's very, very narcissistic. I'm very aware of that.

Status Worthy Comments

Lately, I've been dropping some deep shit as comments in other people's FaceBook statuses and posts. I'm collecting them here...

• If you have the power to run your world, it doesn't matter [who runs the world] in most cases.
• I wanna take a Blu-Ray disc and make a 2-D game with 20000 levels. Now that's replay value.

LOL. Apparently, I lied. Two comments? That's it? Oh well. I can make mistakes.

Why Sonic Runs Away from Amy...

So because of the FaceBook comments made for this blog post, I've come to the realization why Sonic runs away from Amy.

Here's an excerpt of the script from Sonic Adventure 2:

Shadow: I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space.
Sonic: What can I say? I die hard!

SO! That means that the only time Sonic dies is when he's hard. It's an amazing trait, but it does have a glaring weakness. Surely, the fact that Sonic almost died at that point in the game was because Amy was being threatened at gun point. Of course, since Amy wasn't in the capsule with him, he managed to survive.

What's more interesting, however, is a certain set of events that went down in Sonic 06. While frolicking with Elise, Sonic gets killed by Memphiles. My guess? He was hard. Sure, Elise wasn't even remotely the hottest possible chick, but I'm sure that the only reason he died was because he was hard. And as Sonic said in SA2, "I die hard."

Good job proving it.

Fortune Telling...

http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicssales/2011/2011-03.html

So, the best selling comic book in the nation has merely 115,000 sales to it.

One could assume that Green Lantern is up there only because of the upcoming movie...

It would seem as though Marko Man's chances of being the next big thing is slim...

But when have I ever NOT been up against the odds?

Trollcom Strikes Again (aka the reason Bob is in Street Fighter X Tekken)

BOB SAGAT?
Capcom obviously knew what they were doing.

Shoutout to Luke for showing this to me.

Renaming the Series...?

So I'm probably going to rename the Marko Man series.

It's not quite a sure bet yet... nothing is quite sure with the Marko Man series until it happens (which it will, in some way, shape, or form), but it's a relatively new change that I am considering amongst other changes that I am considering (like the format of the series itself).

Why the name change? Well, I feel like revealing the direct reason for wanting the change would lead to spoilers, so I'll say this: I personally feel like this change will add a new level of versatility to the series, allowing me to go into new directions with little to no resistance.

If I go with a name change, it'll be good... trust me. :)

CONFESS!

So with the end of the world looming, I figure that I should probably get 21 things off my chest before the world ends on May 21st. (see what I did there?)

1. I never actually owned a Game Boy Pocket. That yellow GBP that you may or may not remember me having? My moms.
2. Maureen is, hands down, the sexiest female on my FaceBook friends list. No contest.
3. I love Sally.
4. RPJ is the definition of scum.
5. I think that my wishful thinking has toyed with fate on numerous occasions...
6. I still watch wrestling, and rather intensely too. I will easily watch TNA over the NBA. 
7. Pictures of sexy women in clothing are more likely to turn me on than pictures of chicks already naked... something about my imagination... (for the record, naked chicks in real life turn me on faster than clothed chicks.)
8. I sometimes wonder if Christians got it wrong... what if Allah is actually up there in heaven? Or what if the Greeks got it right and Zeus is up there laughing at us due to our stupidity?
9. I can hypnotize to sleep. If the world doesn't actually end, I'm going to have to see if I can hypnotize someone else to sleep.
10. When I was a freshman in high school, Mr. Roberts pretty much invited me to join track because he noticed my speed and my triple jump was better than average without any kind of training. I didn't join because I was too busy trying to make the basketball team (when I sucked insanely) and because the cool kids didn't have after school activities...
11. I haven't had sex since 2009. Additionally, I got my first job in 2010. Coincidence? That said... I should probably have sex one last time before the end of the world...
12. I believe that the three reasons fate sent me to Temple University was 1) to save someone's life 2) to experience freedom before I was actually going to be able to embody it and most importantly 3) to meet Sally.
13. I might be a smidget too lazy to be a genius...
14. I actually got hit by a car once, but I'm so indestructible, the side mirror that hit me broke. And then the due tried to sue me...
15. I have never beat Super Mario Bros. 2 and I've only beaten Super Mario Bros. 3 twice. The second time I beat it was in 2011. 
16. I think that Halle Berry is overrated.
17. I'm not the influential unifying factor that I used to be.
18. I will not sell my dignity for fame. I have the greatest love of all, so I don't need to do that.
19. I really do feel that people are really fucking stupid. Like, I seriously find myself arrogantly considering myself way, way smarter than the average human being.
20. I am addicted to the Internet, simply because the Internet is the biggest enabler on the planet... if you know how to use it...
21. I am actually from the future. Spoiler: the world doesn't actually end.

Some of those confessions are serious. Some of them are jokes. I'll leave it up to your judgment on which is which.

While I am totally going to abuse this whole world ending stuff for the next week, the world's not ending on May 21st. Think about it... all the predicted shit never happens. All of the disasters happen randomly, with little to no warning. 9/11? Random. Earthquakes in Japan? Random. Hurricane Katrina? Random. (although that a warning.)

So enjoy life, live it as you were going to live it, but at the same time, practice balance. Know when to prepare for the future and know when to live for the moment.

VIDEO... OF THE FUCKING DAY!

Does this video look like a bitch?

A Fork in the Road for Marko Man

SO!

I've been reading some things, and I have come to the conclusion that as is, the Marko Man series probably won't get published on some official publishing house level. I'd have to push it independently.

Which I have no problem doing if I choose to do so.

But there are an interesting number of choices. Once I finish doing all the reading I want to do, then I will have to make a choice between the following.

A) Independently publish the series as is.


Why this is Awesome: With this option, the Marko Man series is ready to go. I could literally start it today and just go on with the 50+ books that I have, as well as any additional content that I may want to add to the series as I please.


The Glaring Issues: Exposure. It has never been my strong point. Otherwise, I'd be famous by now. I'd have to learn a trick or two about gaining an audience, and potentially having that audience grow. Also, this route might be a bit expensive...

B) Re-do the series foundation such that it has a higher chance of getting published.


Why this is Awesome: With this option, I get more money (albeit not as much as I would think I should unless it gets real, real big), and it would be a true dream come true. I would have to cut out quite a bit more stuff than I already cut out, but it would actually serve for better quality stories...

The Glaring Issues: ...Or would it? With cutting out more than I feel is necessary to have the series at its best, will it really be at it's best? In a perfect world, the series as I have set it up for the future would get published in a heartbeat, but with the way the publishing industry works, it's definitely not getting published. But let's say a few stories gets published, but then they don't want to hear about the rest of the series. Do I lose my characters? My publishing rights to my own stories? Do I have to cut a bitch?

PS: Team Ultimate gets severely crippled if I go with this option. I've been thinking about the further innovations that I'd have to go with if I used this option, and Team Ultimate... I don't know, it just isn't the same as I imagined it. The Team Ultimate portion of the series is probably the most distinct of the entire series, even with everything else I ever planned for it. As far as I can tell, that distinction goes right out the window with this option.

C) Try and get the Marko Man series published as a comic book series.


Why this is Awesome: What's hilarious is that even though I wrote novels, everyone thought of them as comic books anyway. And with good reason. Many a time, the stuff that I write doesn't fit the mold of a novel. It's action packed, it doesn't care for highlighting themes or other literary elements that they tried to teach you about in school, and ultimately, if a kid did a book report on one of my books, it'd be dead on arrival. Making the Marko Man series a comic book series would actually be a really cool fit with all the action that goes on.

The Glaring Issues: So originally, I thought that I would have to learn how to draw in order to go down this road. Apparently, writers and artists are two different things. While I didn't know that, I feel like I should have. Regardless, finding the right artist would probably be difficult, and apparently you have to pay the artist out of pocket... Furthermore, I had dedicated a reasonable amount of time in learning how the publishing industry for novels work. I haven't the slightest clue how it works with comic books... not that I can't learn but... still, it's all very brand new territory.

I would also have to modify the series a bit, but for the most part, nothing gets crippled in the way Team Ultimate gets crippled if I go with option B. 

D) Go for making Marko Man a web comic.


Why this is Awesome: I would have complete control over the comic (I'd have complete control of the independent novel publishing as well), bringing my creation to the website of my choosing. I could hire and artist, or I could learn how to draw on my own (which I have been looking into all weekend). I don't think that my art would have to be top notch... just cool enough to generate some traffic.

The Glaring Issues: I mean... I can draw, but... I need work. Tons of work. I can do scenes pretty okay, but as far as humans and other figures, like animals and whatnot... needs plenty of work. Plenty. Of Work. Like I said, I have been working on it over the weekend, and I learned something important about drawing humans... bones are important. Who knew? Also, there's the concept of generating traffic. I feel like at the end of the day, that is the biggest issue for me when it comes to taking either independent route.

I would also have to modify the series a bit, but for the most part, nothing gets crippled in the way Team Ultimate gets crippled if I go with option B. (yes, copy pasta'd)

E) Quit Marko Man completely.

This isn't actually an option.

Mark, if you had to choose an option right now... like RIGHT NOW!, what would you go with?
Option A. It pretty much keeps the series as I imagined it and allows me to get started on it right away... like RIGHT AWAY! I feel like I could start with option A right now... like RIGHT NOW! if I wanted to.

But of course, I went in. And I found these possibilities. And I don't know which way to go...

Yet.

But I will in due time... or maybe not due time. I should have an answer by the end of the summer though. I still have tons of reading of all types to do before I make a final decision.

Gosh... getting Marko Man off the ground is taking longer than I thought.... good thing I didn't wait until 2013 to try and get it off the ground.......

lol @ Kidd Flash

Oh, I get it.

Let's be cool with the guys that tease you, that pull your pants down and takes vulnerable pics of you, and start multiple situations that bring you to tears because they know they can get to you.

And let's not be cool with the guy that protects you, tries to teach you how to live better, and otherwise loves you.

lol. Whatever kidd. Let me know when you open your eyes, okay broski? 

=====

I swear, sometimes, I can not be bothered with that kidd.

Like, he wasn't always like this. He was always annoying when he was younger, but at the end of the day, he was his own person, he was lovable, and he was cool. Now? He's simply a carbon copy of everyone else, trying to be something he's obviously not, and he's not funny anymore. 

I get it. Peer pressure. Trying to be cool. Yeah, I know. I was that age at one point. And while I reacted differently to peer pressure and whatnot, I still succumbed to it at enough given intervals. So I get it.

But I always... always listened to and respected the people that PROVED they loved me. Period. 

I get it though. Because I'm "different," because I'm not "cool" within your frame of reference... I'm a game head... still watches wrestling... don't listen to rap, and call rap trash every chance I get... I'm the bad guy that's trying to teach you right from wrong... tried to step up as the father figure regardless of the fact that I'm clearly not really father material yet... who wants to be disciplined by their older brother, right? Who the fuck is he? He ain't my father... no shit.

But whatever li'l dude. You may or may not have noticed it, but I'm slipping farther and farther away from caring, because you keep pushing. Notice how I'm the one that went up to the school, said I'd help you with school, got you on the conduct sheet, but now, I'm not even caring about how you do in school anymore? I'm tired of fighting. I got my own shit that I'm trying to do out here. I can't put up with resistance from the world AND resistance from you. Like I said... clearly not father material yet. 

So yeah. Have fun rolling with people that don't give a fuck about you. I'll be here when (if) you come to that grand realization of who's who and what's what.

Funny thing is... you probably won't get this message. And I don't care. But if you know me, you know I just gotta vent via writing. That's how I do it.

You get what you give, broski. Remember that.

==================


You can talk a horse to a well, but you can't force it to drink.
This horse is clearly dehydrating...

Charlie Sheen Replaced by... Asthon Kutcher

*sigh*

This is what you call making decisions just to be making decisions.

This is an example of the wrong people being in the place to make decisions.

Any story that you write that removes Charlie from Two and a Half Men has practically no choice but to be shit.

You're literally removing the guy that makes the show. With Charlie on the show, it has something unique to it, since Charlie is this sex-driven drunk that's, you know, actually around... and housing... a kid.

But with Asthon there, he's simply going to be the typical funny guy that doesn't make the show any different from any other show with a funny guy. Oh well.

Good luck. I'm sure Sheen will find other things to do with his life.

Winning is not a trend. It's a lifestyle.

Video of the Day... lol

Mind. Blown.

Like... wow...

We need to recruit this chick for Team Epic. For real.

Not Minaj. Marbles. The Jenna Chick... she is hot though, even without the pillow butt.

I do like weird foreplay though... we could try the pillow butt thing just once....

Once... (maybe)

Edit: Don't Judge Me.

Games I Wanna See For Nintendo's Next System (aka Project Cafe)

So with Project Cafe coming soon (Nintendo has some amazing code names for their systems... Revolution, Dolphin, Project Reality...) I figure I might as well tell about some games that I would like to see on Nintendo's next console...

Mario & Sonic NOT at the Olympic Games


Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was fun. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter games was more fun. But now they're going back to the Olympic Games again...

Yeah...

It's not 2001 anymore guys. Sonic showing up on a Nintendo platform isn't a shock anymore. Mario's been in a game published by Sega, Sonic's been in a game published by Nintendo. We know you bastards are on good terms. We know you bastards are capable of making the Mario & Sonic game that everyone wants to see. We know you bastards can make the action platforming adventure that combines the best of both world. Stop trolling and make it happen.

Nintendo X Capcom


I feel like the Smash Brothers series is played out (because Brawl killed it). Sure, if there's a Smash 4, I'll play it and I'll probably enjoy it, but if it's going to be like Brawl rather than Melee or Smash 64, my guess is that it'll be short lived.

The interesting thing about Melee is that the game was unanswered for 7 years, and people were playing it both casually and hardcore right up until Brawl's release. But most of the casuals seem to not care about Brawl, despite the game being designed for said casual audience. The market's been flooded with a whole bunch of casual games surrounded by new technologies, so yeah, I can see why it would be that way.

But fuck it. Ono said that he'd love to work on a Nintendo X Capcom. Don't be gay Nintendo. When Ono calls, pick up the gotdamn phone.

New Super Mario Broskis


This series is plenty of fun on either system, still holding true to Mario and being playable by ANYONE, not a given demographic. Anyone with half a brain can pick up NSMB and know what you're supposed to do... go to the right. And you'll have fun doing it. No matter how much you deny it, or claim that Mario is for kids, you had fun bitch. Don't lie.

For NSMB to not show up on either Cafe or 3DS simply seems silly to me, and I would guess that it will eventually come up... but hey... guesses and such.

F-Zero


Mario Kart is a given. It's also a given that it's probably going to be the item-rape train that it was in Mario Kart Wii. Whatever. I will easily accept Mario Kart being like that if F-Zero makes a return. If what I hear about Nintendo trying to recapture the "hardcore" audience is true, then an F-Zero game in development would be something to help prove it.

Knowing how today's players work, Nintendo would probably have to remove the concept of "lives" in the game, and replace it with infinite continues. The concept of "lives" is what adds thrill, intensity, and suspense to the speedy, futuristic, well-designed courses of the F-Zero Grand Prix in the first place, but if "lives" have to go to bring F-Zero back to form otherwise, I think that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Star Fox


I'm not even that big of a Star Fox fan, but it has always nice to have someone with a Star Fox game around. And I'm not talking about an "Adventure" either. I mean vintage, Arwing strapped Star Fox.

Protip: If you still refuse to put him in the Arwing, make the game action oriented, not an "adventure."

No More Heroes (or something equally as amazing)


No More Heroes is pretty much done. I'd love to see a new game that doesn't ruin the series, but knowing the laws of unintended sequels... still, sword games that are awesome didn't see much light of day on the Wii. If the next Nintendo system keep motion, I'd love to see a new title that plays just as good, if not better, than No More Heroes.

Contra
At this point, I don't think that "hardcore" gamers are as "hardcore" as they claim to be. How do I know? Because a Contra game seemingly has no place in the current video game market. I wanna see a brand new Contra game. And I wanna see people beat it.

And personally, I don't care what system it's on. But if Nintendo is sure about wanting to capture the hardcore audience, asking for a Contra game is sure to scare everyone away. lol (what am I even trying to say here? REF!)

What About Everything Else?


Zelda's missing, Metroid's Missing, Sin and Punishment is missing... a number of stuff is missing. But the seven franchises that I pointed out here are the franchises that I want to see either happen/have a revolution or return. Merely my opinion... I'm not speaking for everyone else.

That said, I'd love to hear your opinion... what game(s) do YOU wanna see on Project Cafe?

So Now... Everyone is a Creative Genius...

... or a creative philosopher ...
... or just down right clever ...
... or you have undisclosed sources ...

For the vast majority of you, I'm pretty sure it's choice number 4.

Now some of you people were actually funny, creative, and clever before you got to FaceBook. Some of you naturally grew creative, deep, clever, etc.

But some of you... the majority of you... are not fucking clever. At all.

Now here's the thing... I double checked to see my origins on FaceBook... and I was fucking creative OUT THE BOX. This is because I was creative on Xanga first, then on Sconex (RIP), then on MySpace.

But back in the day, FaceBook had an intense character limit in its statuses. However, all my creativity and depth was stashed in my notes... I had poems, stories, and a whole bunch of other random shit that I don't think people could comprehend. I was random before random was in. I was a poet before poetry was cool. I was a creative genius before everyone got the creative gene.

lol, did I really just say that? "I was a creative genius before everyone got the creative gene."

WHY THE FUCK AM I NOT FAMOUS YET? THIS IS BULLSHIT.

It's thoroughly amazing. I practically innovated creativity on the Internet. But because I lacked tits, no one noticed.

Well fuck you world. Fuck you and everything you stand for.

Know what I might do? I might have to up the ante... I might have to get all controversial with it.

Video of the Day... lol

SONIC GOT BIG BOOTY BITCHES IN THE LABYRINTH ZONE.

I lol'd.

Granted, the songs don't necessarily go together the whole time through, but the fact that someone thought, "Hmmm... Labyrinth Zone and Big Booty Bitches goes together," makes it worth a spot as the video day.

Edit:

I lied... this is the video of the day

Osama bin Laden is Dead... And...?

So last night, during the trailers, I hear that Osama bin Laden is dead. We get into the neighborhood after the movie and I hear he got shot... my first reaction?

"Killing a leader doesn't stop the cause."

I don't exactly remember when or where I learned that, but I know that it was a fact.

I finally get home and look up the news. I see the video of Barack Obama's speech on bin Laden's death. It was a solid speech. And yes, it almost guarantees a second term for Obama because America is good for voting for people via trivial shit as opposed to looking up what a given candidate stands for.

Then I see the "SHITSTORM" of statuses about bin Laden's death. I see the simple "ding dong, the witch is dead," statuses, I see jokes, I see deep shit about bin Laden being dead and what it means for the country... just a whole bunch of shit.

But ultimately, I don't see bin Laden's death as a cause of celebration because I don't see what killing bin Laden actually solved. Yeah, he might have orchestrated the attack against the US on 9/11, but you gotta realize... there were suicidal people on his team, willing to actually pull it off.

By a show of hands, how many of you are willing to go to the army and fight for your country?

Okay, by a show of hands, how many of you are willing to die for your religion?

mmhmm... even fewer... how about this, how many of you are willing to fly a plane into a Mosque because you don't have bombs to drop out of planes like that?

Yeah... that's what I thought. While America was hit hard by the 9/11 attacks, the guys who did it were regarded as legendary heroes by the people in countries and religions that hate us. You got people showing "raw footage" of the attacks and the aftermath. How about you show "raw footage" of the celebrations that went on around the world because of the attacks? Thousands of people died that day... does that make the people who celebrated bad people? No, they're not any worse than anyone celebrating the death of bin Laden.

What really gets me is how bin Laden was seen trying to cross an area or something like that, and was shot. Obama ordered for the capture or the shooting of bin Laden when they had him cornered... I wouldn't have ordered for the shooting, simply the capture. People are too quick to pull triggers in acts of revenge rather than figure out the cause of the malicious action brought to them in the first place. Why not capture bin Laden, figure out why we did what he did, and form a peaceful solution from there? Maybe our oil prices could start to alleviate. Oh, we don't like peaceful solutions? Fine, use bin Laden to figure out how deep al-Qadea runs so that we can, you know, stop it.

Ultimately, I just feel like shooting bin Laden dead wasn't the brightest idea, even if it looked like the best thing to do at the time. I feel like the best thing to do was capture him, figure him and al-Qadea out, and work from there, either to obtain a peaceful solution that puts America in a better position than has been in, or work on stopping al-Qaden directly from attacking America and whomever else they may attack ever again. As it stands, though? America is still not safe.

Doing the harder work to ensure that America is safe would not only be an amazing example to lead not just the people here at home but around the entire world by, but it would also make America look like a better country to those who hate us. But you know how America doesn't like hard work, so...

Like I said, the people on the other side of the coin aren't bad people. They just have differing views that no one seems to want to get understand. They don't want to get to know us, we don't want to get to know them. It's times like this where I feel peace is (or was) the best weapon. But it's too late... you can't reverse damage like this.

Someone has to step up and be the bigger man. Guess it won't be America.

Fast Five, Opening Weekend...

... and other things that have to do with movies...

Fast Five was an amazing movie. My personal favorite was 2 Fast 2 Furious, but this one definitely blew that one (and the rest of them) out the window. It was smart, well done movie that had intense star power, knew what kind of hype it had going for it, and it delivered. Big time.

However, I really don't want to go see a movie on opening weekend again. Sure, we got the tickets for free via a nice little hookup, and that made it worth it I suppose, but opening weekend just has too much chaos involved. We originally got tickets for a 10:30 show, but when we got there, the entire place was packed. Apparently, all shows for Fast Five we sold out up until 12:30. However, we caught an 11:01 (or maybe 11:11) show (don't ask me about the whole extra minute). At that point, it occurred to us that not only did we steal seats, but we had our seats stolen. It's real out here... too real for me. I'd rather wait a week for when things are calm. HOWEVER, I'd rather have free tickets first. lol. But yeah, totally wouldn't pay for opening weekend tix.

The trailers were ok... I can only get hyped over but so much. I do know that there's a show that's gonna help my Marko Man books sell because the bitches practically stole my idea, but that's perfectly fine, because I'm going to execute it much... much better. I'm also gonna have to break down and see Transformers 2 because Transformers 3 looks amazing. Why didn't I see Transformers 2, you ask? Well, I honestly think that Transformers 1 was the best movie. Ever. When I heard that there was a sequel, I was kind of upset because it was a sequel to what I thought was the best movie. Ever. And that usually doesn't pan out too well. I heard mixed reviews about it, some saying that it was good, some saying it was bad, some saying it was better than the first one, and others saying that in no way was it better than first one. Because I thought that the first one was the best movie. Ever. I didn't want to taint it by seeing a not so well done sequel... but the third Transformers... looks bad ass. It looks like they're taking shit to a whole new level... but I wanna be in order and know the story and what not... so I'm gonna have to get at that Transformers 2 one of these days...

Humans are idiots. Period. Forget the jumping at the obvious "scary" trailer that had us quiet in the dark for a hot 15 seconds then random (but very, very predictably) makes a loud noise and flashes a monster face on the screen. Forget how no one saw certain results coming at the end of Fast Five. No, let's forget that stupidity and get to how people were apparently so unentertained by the movie that they just had to go on FaceBook. Simply couldn't resist. They just had to post a status, check their notifications and shit... like really? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, the people behind you rather watch the movie and not have this blinding light in the corner of their eye? Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you should be watching the movie and not have your attention span so distracted by the likes of FaceBook, of all things? Damn shame. I'm all for technology making it easier to keep people together and what not, but what the fuck. Just another reason why I rather not be bothered with movies on opening weekend.

And that's the end of my rant. Fast Five was awesome. The people in the theater... not so much.