Claude,
Right you are. I was just trying to update the line about the stained glass window. I don't even remember which novel that was in, but it's one of my favorite lines, along with my favorite scene in Blade Runner. This is a really fun game, I can't believe these are.
Sure he’d seen things, things we people wouldn’t believe. All you had to was ask him and he’d rattle on like a winner on Oscar night. That was before he died. One minute he was C-Beams this and Tanhauser gate that, the next he was just a sack of meat past its sell-by date. You could say he expired, and you’d be right. Speaking of right, maybe he was. Maybe we wouldn’t believe those things. And maybe was was wrong. Then again, I’d seen plenty in my time. I never claimed to see an attack ship on fire, but I had seen a blonde with a face that would make a programmer stick his foot into a 23” cinema display.
Sorry, Greg. I was really just trying to be helpful.
As for the topic, there is good news and bad news. The good news is a spammer is getting serious jail time. The bad news is that one out of every 30,000 people is a complete moron.
Here's an interesting news item about it.
Greg,
I used to be an an interactive ad copywriter. One of the big problems we had with clients was explaining the concept of conversion and return on investment. Because of the technology, a consumer can actually click on an ad and then buy online, and naturally marketers consider this a conversion. As you discovered, that is rarely the case in practice.
Branding, i.e. "impressions" each time a viewer sees your ad can also lead to a conversion. They see your ad, then they go to a bookstore, then they see your book, they get tired of browsing and buy yours because it's slightly more familiar. Advertisers think this is what happens, but nobody really knows. It makes sense to me, but it's also a good way to cover your ass as an adman when nobody bought what you got paid big bucks to advertise.
The fairest compromise that I saw was to make define the term conversion somewhere in between. Rather than try to get someone to buy a book straight from an ad online, try to get them to do something else. Most of us aren't shopping for books when we're reading this blog, and so even though we're a good audience for your book, we might be at work, or not in the mood. (I can browse the web at work, but if I pull out my credit card, then I'm obviously not working and will be assigned something really lame to do.)
You might want to drive people to a small site, where they can enter their email for a chance to win a copy of your book. Have an opt-in chance for them to recieve updates on your readings, or reviews of you book. Obviously, it must be opt-in and not shared or spammed etc.
The key is to spark their interest, then offer something they really want, then build a community. Think of an ad online as the envelope of the junkmail. It's not even the letter. You've got to offer something and then something and then something if you want them to give you money.
That said, I quit being a copywriter and took a HUGE pay cut because I felt I was using my powers for evil. Now I want to take a shower. I wish you the best of luck, and asking for a advice was a good marketing move, if I may be so cynical.
You people are way smarter than I am.
All I can offer is this:
If you get blisters from poison ivy, sumac, or oak, don't stand in the shower for an hour and blast them with orgamsically hot water. Even though the itch will be relieved, and you'll learn an entirely new coordinate on the pain/pleasure continuum, you will get more blisters all over your body and have to take steroids to make it all go away.
"They're not allies, they're tools of the bad guys, and their willingness to be used as such means they need to be regarded with wary suspicion."
I get this. My big mistake in supporting Nader in 2000 was not understanding the stakes. I misunderstimated Dubya, and my feeble attempt to spank Gore boomeranged. I begin to understand how the communists who voted for Hitler must have gone through when the reality of their new fuhrer dawned on them.
The fact that republicans were underwriting Nader this time around should have taught him something. I was despondent after the election, but now I'm just really pissed off. We must fight Bush together, and any Greens who still think that pulling the lever for anyone other than a Democrat is progressive, I implore you to join me. We have to do this one step at a time, we have to do the next right thing, which means eroding Republican power by building Democratic power.
Bruce, well said. I accept that and readily admit I was horribly wrong to vote Nader in 2000.
I was up last night losing sleep over this thread, a sure sign of internet craziness. But here goes.
In 2000 we "Naderites" made a grave mistake. We deserved every bit of spleen that was vented at us for the four years that ensued. I admire Teresa and Patrick and many of the posters on these blogs a great deal. In part because of the Bush calamity, and because of the well-reasoned arguments that the Goreists made, I and many others changed our positions.
I was proud to take up common cause with the Kerryists. I thought we were marching shoulder to shoulder to put Kerry in office and send Bush back to Texas. We suffered a gruesome defeat, and as the dust settles, suddenly the very people with which I had voted, marched, and contributed to the Democratic cause have turned on me "angry enought to spit" and tell me I will "never be forgiven."
Yes, I sowed the seeds of this disunity. But 2000 is over, we lost 2004 together. It's a horrible situation we're in, but we Naderites abandoned that cause and carry your standard now. I would be proud continue the struggle and get the Republicans out. Please don't spit at me.
I will try to explain this in good faith, i.e. from the standpint that you are actually interested in hearing what a green has to say rather than dismiss it as being out of touch with reality.
From the perspective of 2000, Gore and Bush didn't look that different. I had no idea that 9/11 would happen and that we'd be in the situation we are now? Did anyone? I mean, this truly has been a nightmare and it's getting worse daily. As soon as we had another opportunity, me and the other former Nader supporters on this thread gave money to the Dems and voted for Kerry.
Your loss has been our loss, we feel it just as poignantly as you do, and it affects us just as much as it affects you. For me, your self-righteous anger coupled with the Republican joy carries quite a sting. Again, I feel like you are coming home from a bad day at the election and kicking the dog, the only political players in this arena who are bigger losers than the Democrats are the Greens. Everything that we had hoped to accomplish has been demolished, and those of us who defected to try to limit Bush's power are pariahs in your party, despite our support in the 2004 election.
I registered Green when I was 18 years old. I worked as a poll watcher for the greens in 2000, and I voted for Nader in that election. My reason for doing so was that I had hoped support for the greens would move the Dems left. Patrick, as you say, a left 3rd party may never have moved the Dems leftward, but I believe that Dubya moved the Republicans to the right in reaction to his father's loss to Clinton. Republicans had split and moved right, to the cost of the white house, and it did indeed move the party rightward to recapture their votes. It is a valid strategy.
That said, I voted for Kerry, and gave the man money this time around. I'm not sure if that redeems me in Teresa's eyes or not. Perhaps I'm a flip-flopper. But the 2004 election was in a gravely different context from the 2000 election. And, for the record, I've never believed "It has to get worse before it gets better."
The Democrats gave Bush the authority to wage war, and I don't believe, as Patrick does, that they did this in good faith. I believe they did it out of cowardice because they were terrified of being branded unpatriotic, and I believe they were caught up in the same Republican bloodlust that said someone, anyone, had to pay for 9/11. That talk of only authorizing Bush to pressure the UN, not to actually make war on Iraq was mushmouthed bullshit.
To look at the catastrophe of this election, and rail on the Naderites of 2000 is merely kicking the dog. Go ahead and hate us, but when you're done, put your house in order so that we can someday turn this nightmare around. I will vote for a Democrat, any Democrat, but I sure wish they would act like an opposition party.
Why did Kerry give a gracious speech encouraging bipartisanship? Everyone knows that Bush will trample on the Democrats and give us nothing for the next four years. It's time to fight them on every single thing, and to start telling the truth. We have nothing left to lose at this point.
As a green party member who crossed party lines to support Kerry with my vote and my money, I would encourage Democrats to start acting like they really believe that greens are merely left wing Democrats and start working with them. If your leadership put half the effort into working with greens as they have into working with Republicans, you'd have more suppport.
As for 2004, I simply don't understand why anyone would support Nader. The man failed to change with the times. The world changed after 9/11, and his inability to address the crisis our country is in identifies him as an incompetent leader. I would not continue to support him, but in 2000 things looked much different.
“We’re voting the movement, not the candidate.”
Those Naderites are so scatalogical. Yes, I supported the Greens in 2000. Yes, I regret it.
Sorry, forgot the link:
http://www.prlit.com/prlithomewho.htm
More about the famous Peter Rubie, including a photo!
[quote]
In non-fiction he specializes in narrative non-fiction, popular science, spirituality, history, biography, pop culture, business and technology, parenting, health, self help, music, and food. He is a "sucker" for outstanding writing.
[/quote]
Adina! You're a hero for taking on this Phule's errand and vindicating Making Light!
I'd never heard of Curzon either. I loved the Aragorn poem, and I can't write in any code, let alone PERL.
Why are you all so much smarter than I am?
FWIW, you can also see Yann's photography here at the official site, and avoid the wrath of phule:
http://www.yannarthusbertrand.com/yann2/index.php
Phule... I'm sensing...anger.
:: bearded shrink raises eyebrow, scribbles on notepad ::
The rug shot could also be the floor of a mosque. I've been to mosques in Turkey and Syria that were giant, domed buildings, entirely empty except for the floors covered three deep in rugs.
I know this is off topic, but it seems very much in the spirit of making light and the people who come here. A nerd was nearly denied access to the ferry because of a D&D book, which is classic patriot act gone awry. I submit a link to the story for anyone interested.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/mephron/349969.html
As far as the meals and sleep advice goes, a friend of mine named Bill Wilson advised following this handy acronym:
HALT
Don't let yourself get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
ie, if you suddenly want to die, see if you need to eat, sleep, call a friend, or stop running through the same argument in your head. It's worked for me many times. How many suicides could have been prevented with a cheeseburger?
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 1 |
| 2004 | 26 |
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