Random Updates: New Story and Funny Video

In between client projects and my personal writing projects, I’ve been working on the site. I updated my posts, got rid of some excess categories, tagged everything, and did some SEO so that it can start ranking in the search engines. Although it has been awhile since I’ve had to think about this stuff, it’s been easy getting back into the groove of things. Plus I’ve been surfing the internet reading about social media, SEO/SEM, and other ways to market a website.

You may have noticed that the title and description of the site has changed. Part of that has to do with the keyword research I did this weekend. Mainly, though, it is a refinement of my goals for this website. First and foremost this site exists as a repository for my erotic fiction stories. Ultimately, I would like to build a readership and sell books (and other things) so I can quit freelance writing and make money doing something I really enjoy. The fact that I also post about life, writing, and other random shit is only a secondary function of my blog.

And Then There Was One: The Book of Eli

Two posts in one day. Must be a holiday or something.

I enjoy watching movies but I hardly ever go to the theater any more. Seriously, I don’t see the point of spending $10 to watch a movie when I can buy the DVD for the same price a few months later.

This evening The Book of Eli came on HBO and I decided to watch it since it was free. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman are two actors whose work I enjoy so I expected the movie to be decent. It was.

The Book of Eli is set in a post apocalyptic world. 30 years have passed since war broke out and civilization was destroyed by, what we are led to assume, an exchange of nuclear bombs. The movie follows the basic hero’s journey plotline. We meet Eli, a lone wanderer, as he is hunting for food in the woods. But soon it becomes clear that he is not walking around the U.S. for fun and hijinks. He is on a mission.

Yeah, What He Said

Christianity would have you believe that we are born evil and must accept Jesus as our lord and savior in order to save ourselves from burning in the fiery pits of hell. In the same breath they say that we are born with free will and are free to choose our fate.

That’s like me saying you have a choice between telling me you love me or getting a bullet in the brain. In what way does that prove how much you love me? Rather I think it would prove how much you want to live. It is interesting how otherwise intelligent people do not understand this analogy and insist that all who choose god do so because they love god and not because they are trying to save their own afterlife.

Extremism In Any Language Means Bad

I’m supposed to be writing so of course I’m doing everything else but. I’m not quite sure how I found myself at God is 4 Suckers but I was there wasting time and catching up on the latest articles. GI4S is a news/commentary website run by atheists for atheists. Before my father passed away, I spent lot time there reading the articles and learning a lot about the issues facing atheists in America and generally trying to feel less alone in my non-belief. One truly is the loneliest number and, if you don’t believe me, then you try being the only atheist in a family full of Christians.

Anyway, a link in the comment section of one of the articles led me to one of the most horrifying videos I have ever seen. It is even more distressing than seeing the Twin Towers crumbling to dust right before my eyes. Warning, this video contains footage not suitable for all audiences. Please hide your children, cats, dogs and maybe even yourself.

The Truth About Saint Valentine and Valentine’s Day

Not much is known about the saint Valentine’s Day is based on. In the Catholic martyrologies there is mention of not one but three men named Valentinus who the holiday could be honoring. One was a priest who, according to the Nuremberg Chronicles, was caught helping Christians during a time when doing so was a big no-no. The story claims that Claudius II sentenced him to death when he refused to renounce Christianity. This priest made friends with the jailer’s daughter, used the power of his faith to cure her blindness and deafness, and left her a love note on the day of his death.