The Adventures of LitBoy: Bill Brent's Blog

Buy Vintage Bowling And Music Gear

Hi, everyone --

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm retooling the LitBoy blog for the new decade ahead! Or at least the next ten months, ha ha. We are all quick-change artists of Life in the Fast Lane of the Internet. Last year, I never thought I'd succumb to Facebook fever, either.

So, since I am in the process of getting rid of my unused stuff in preparation of a likely move in the less than distant future, I am re-inventing this blog to express the theme of "small footprint": Take what you need and leave the rest. Or, if you want to get all Net-jargony about it, you can say that I am re-branding LitBoy.com as a blog for the "small footprint, frugality mentality" niche. Or maybe as a "save my money and simplify life" blog. (Let's see -- what other likely search engine keyword phrases can I cram into one post before this gets tedious, not to mention painfully obvious?) :-P

Anyway, I'm sure you get the idea. Likewise, I'm sure there will still be some Hawaii-specific content to enjoy, which has been the other major theme here.

Really, though, this transition is just an extension of some of the posting I've been doing online, both to this blog and elsewhere, over the past five years. We're just getting more focused now on simply living the simple life, that's all. Hey, I've always been a trendsetter -- so naturally, I was broke before it was a national condition, right? [cue rim shot]

Stay tuned, then, and you might even pick up some ways to save on the cost of living and have fun while doing it.

Meanwhile, as you may have noticed, there is new sidebar content here. Click to the left, if you like, and see if you like any of my stuff for sale at either Amazon (books, CDs, DVDs) or Etsy, which is a great site for handcrafted goods, crafting supplies, and cool vintage items over 20 years old. On Etsy, I have started to sell vintage bowling gear and home music studio gear in both analog and digital flavors. In fact, some kind soul just blogged this here retro piece of music-making home décor I put up for sale, within 24 hours of my listing it! Like I said, we're Livin' La Vida Internet here. VRUUUMZ!

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Wishing you a beautiful day,

Bill Brent

[this page last updated: 2009.07.13, 2:30 a.m. Hawaii time]

LitBoy.com is the brainchild of writer Bill Brent. If you enjoy this blog, please consider a donation in support of my work. You can send money via PayPal to info [AT] litboy [DOT] com, or better still, use Revolution Money Exchange. Unlike PayPal, RME pays me 100% of your donation. It's quick and easy!


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A Really Fun Trash-Lit Site Is Now Back Online

The Home for the Literarily Bent

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Wishing you a beautiful (and pervy?) day,

Bill Brent

[this page last updated: 2009.07.10, 6:25 a.m. Hawaii time]

LitBoy.com is the brainchild of writer Bill Brent. If you enjoy this blog, please consider a donation in support of my work. You can either (1) send money via PayPal to info [!at] litboy [!dot] com, or better still, (2) use Revolution Money Exchange. Unlike PayPal, RME pays 100% of your donation. It's quick and easy!


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kick-a** blog recommendation

Greetings, friends and browsers of this blog --

This young man comes up with more good content than most ten bloggers combined. This excellent meditation on PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT is, IMHO, one of his best to date.

-- Despite public appearance, I am a very private person, and so I'm only going to say this once: IT WORKED FOR ME. I stumbled upon the basic principle Glen describes in this post by myself, by mistake, and through a great deal of trial and error. If you are one of the attentive few who truly knew me when I was 19, then 29, then 39, you know that I am not making this up.

-- I also believe that some of us genuinely evolve throughout our lives, whereas most of us merely achieve some fairly superficial levels of change, and never really experience what I would call a deep, integrated growth process.

To put it more bluntly, talk about personal transformation is cheap.

And very lucrative.

-- You may not agree with me on this point, and I will concede: IMPRINTING can happen at any point throughout our lives. While it is never too late, the earlier you start, the better your odds of lasting progress ... toward becoming the person you want to be, rather than the one you are told you should be. Growth and integration oriented change do NOT happen by remaining steadfastly in our comfort zones, however charming and appealing they may be.

That's all I'm sayin'.

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Wishing you a beautiful day,

Bill Brent

[this page last updated: 2009.04.23, 3:05 p.m. Hawaii time]

LitBoy.com is the brainchild of writer Bill Brent. If you enjoy this blog, please consider a donation in support of my work. You can either (1) send money via PayPal to info [!at] litboy [!dot] com, or better still, (2) use Revolution Money Exchange. Unlike PayPal, RME pays 100% of your donation. It's quick and easy!


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On mass delusion, part 2

HERE IS A FOLLOW-UP to LAST WEEK'S POST regarding the notion of IDEOLOGIES AS A CONTAGIOUS MENTAL DISEASE.

I have some thoughts I'd like to share on this topic, but I'm letting them form a bit further before I compose an essay, or simply list my thoughts in a more ordered fashion than below.

Central to this constellation of ideas, though, is my realization that if we can construe society as an addict, then we can also construe society itself as the drug. Social approval, for instance, and in particular: the need to at least appear to SOCIALLY CONFORM (use the drug) in order to be compensated (for example, get the funds that enable us to keep using the drug). In other words, late-stage capitalism is akin to late-stage drug use.

So what's the solution? Well, for starters, I've noticed more of my friends have been bartering lately for goods and services. (Here in Hawaii, it's fairly easy, since many folks can grow or raise food on the land they inhabit.)

We all drop in and drop out of the mass culture in various ways at various times. Heck, sometimes you have to OPT OUT, just to avoid the mass marketers. But there are other ways than simply removing yourself from lists. For instance, forming unpredictable, one-time tribes, such as GUERRILLA QUEER BAR in San Francisco circa Y2K, keeps the landscape freer, more spontaneous, and less of a target. As you can see by clicking on the link, Guerrilla Queer Bar is a great example of a meme that has spread, virus-like, to many other cities.

Any other ideas? Feel free to chime in.

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Wishing you a beautiful day,

Bill Brent

[this page last updated: 2008.09.09, 10:30 p.m. Hawaii time]

keywords: Society is an addict. Society is a drug. Conditional tribe, tribalism, pack behavior, spontaneous swarm.

LitBoy.com is a culture-oriented site, focusing mainly on literary art and current events. If you enjoy this blog, and you wish to support its continued existence, just hit the "Post A Comment" button at the end of any post. In your comment, indicate your desired contribution amount. The moderator will then reply with an invoice you can use to contribute via PayPal. Your name and contribution amount are confidential and NOT posted to the blog. Your three-dollar minimum donation helps keep this banner-free site alive. It's quick and easy!

20.00 / $200.00 (10.0%)

This meter displays this year's contributions to date in U.S. dollars and the annual goal of $200. Make a donation, watch the meter rise! Usually LitBoy posts your contribution on the very next blog post.

Unless otherwise indicated, all original materials here on LitBoy.com (writing, photos, drawings, graphics, etc.) belong to Bill Brent. If you want to re-use something here, please ask. Higher resolution images are available.

On mass delusion

WOWSERS.

[backup link HERE]

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Wishing you a beautiful day,

Bill Brent

[this page last updated: 2008.09.03, 9:40 a.m. Hawaii time]

LitBoy.com is a culture-oriented site, focusing mainly on literary art and current events. If you enjoy this blog, and you wish to support its continued existence, just hit the "Post A Comment" button at the end of any post. In your comment, indicate your desired contribution amount. The moderator will then reply with an invoice you can use to contribute via PayPal. Your name and contribution amount are confidential and NOT posted to the blog. Your three-dollar minimum donation helps keep this banner-free site alive. It's quick and easy!

20.00 / $200.00 (10.0%)

This meter displays this year's contributions to date in U.S. dollars and the annual goal of $200. Make a donation, watch the meter rise! Usually LitBoy posts your contribution on the very next blog post.

Unless otherwise indicated, all original materials here on LitBoy.com (writing, photos, drawings, graphics, etc.) belong to Bill Brent. If you want to re-use something here, please ask. Higher resolution images are available.