For example, I sent out a tweet a couple of hours ago about how I’m really excited about the Oculus Rift, a 3D headset that monitors how you move your head while immersed in a video game. In the tweet, I said it seems so much cooler than the Wii or Kinect or traditional 3D, while adding a link to The Verge article on it. There’s not much else interesting I could have added to those thoughts. Two or three years ago, I would have embedded a YouTube video about it and spit out a couple of paragraphs about the gaming possibilities and how awesome or nauseating it would be to play Mirror’s Edge while wearing the Oculus Rift.

Back then, I also had more real-life friends who read this blog at least occasionally. Due to the lack of updates, and not posting links to this blog on Facebook due to keeping my real name and this internet handle separate (half-assedly), the people reading any posts on this blog are almost all internet friends who are already exposed to my thoughts on Twitter. So the only things worth writing here are sufficiently thoughtful and lengthy posts, something akin to this R.A. Dickey fanpost I put together over at Amazin’ Avenue. Maybe I should re-post that piece here just so it looks like I still care about this blog.

The camera loves Tara [Lipinski] for some of the same reasons that the camera loved JonBenet Ramsey. That particular combination of woman and child is something you don’t see every day.

Maybe it creeps me out because it’s hard to argue against. Even though JonBenet Ramsey was six years old, that goddamn fucking awful child beauty pageant shit did its best to make her look like a fully-grown woman.

I feel like this is the type of minutia Tumblr is meant for. So, in an attempt to length this blog post a bit, let it be known that Haruki Murakami’s piece in the collection about his personal experience with running makes me never want to read any of his books. It’s probably the translation, but the prose and tone was equivalent to an 8th-grader’s autobiography.

- Since I didn’t make a 9/11 post here a week ago, I’ll just mention how I do not give a shit where people were when the planes hit or the towers fell. We were all in class or at work or sleeping, I get it. If you’re going to write something like Rany Jazayerli did, that’s cool, but 140 characters is just garbage in this case.

- It’s pretty amazing how people — on my feed, at least — show up when a sporting event gets really interesting. I like to think Twitter has allowed people to see many more no-hitters, 5-set Grand Slam tennis matches, and overtime Stanley Cup playoff games.

- I don’t understand people who follow a few select people who exclusively tweet about one topic. I follow people I find interesting or amusing, regardless of content. It just so happens I follow a very large percentage of baseball (and Mets) fans because they are the people I come across most. I’m sure this has nothing to do with my own tweeting habits.

- My follower count really wishes I were an attractive girl, or at least played one on the internet.

- Every person I’ve talked to about Keith Law (@keithlaw) thinks he comes across as arrogant (and even Michael Lewis jumped in this week). But he’s still the only ESPN employee (outside of Grantland writers) I follow, due to him being, you know, intelligent.

- I’ve said this before, but I should have quit Twitter after this tweet.

- Does everyone remember when you could see all the tweets from someone who you followed, even the replies to people you didn’t also follow? I definitely remember the uproar when that changed. Can you imagine how much of a disaster your feed would be if that magically changed back?

- Drive has to be garnering the most polarizing movie tweet reviews I’ve ever seen. It’s either “fuck awesome” or “one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.”

- Outside of the previously linked Ayn Rand fatality tweet, I really don’t understand why I come up with my best Twitter material when everyone is asleep. I guess it’s probably because once my head hits my pillow I have to choose between thinking about my life or coming up with humorous tweets; the latter is much less stressful. Honestly, unwinding with some indacloud beforehand makes the late-night creativity flow even easier.

- Apparently, two-and-a-half acres of land is the minimum required to be seen as a true homeowner in central PA. The way properties were split up with tree lines reminded me of some of the scenes in Band of Brothers. After a few too many beers, I started visualizing tanks rolling through the backyard.

- Since houses are spread out in what would qualify in my estimation as countryside (despite the locals vehemently classifying it as suburban), there are not many cab services around and none at all after 10 PM. So maybe friendly tanks and jeeps would have been appreciated. Also, there are students of the Wharton School who drive cabs — well, at least one.

- I had heard of Wawa and how it’s a souped-up 7-Eleven gas station, but I wasn’t prepared for touch screens to order sandwiches at three in the morning. I was impressed, considering I’m accustomed to just grabbing a buttered roll at that hour. I had also never seen so many coffee machines lined up next to each other.

- The reason I was in PA in the first place was for some memorial golf tournament held by some family that I’m connected to through about four people. But hey, I had two friends who invited me who said it was a good time last year, so how could I resist showing off my mediocre golf abilities in a best-ball (after researching, it turns out we played scramble) tourney? Oh, the thing I learned was that I can hit my driver relatively straight and far consistently now. So I have a step up on Tiger at the moment. BURN.

- That learning experience recap was just a segue to the picnic after the golf tourney at the host family’s two-and-a-half-acre abode. Remember when I said how everywhere outside of the northeast metropolitan corridor can be considered the South? Well, there was one cute girl at the party with a slight country accent — which I guess makes sense since she lives in Lancaster County adjacent to the Amish? — and after a few beers and filling my stomach with too much food, she was the only thing I was concerned with. But after consuming too many beers for her tiny frame during Flip Cup, the cute girl ended up disappearing and passing out upstairs in the house. As about ten people were seated around a couple of tables — younger family members, my friends and I, and some random girl — the cousin of the sleeping girl, in an attempt to keep us at the house overnight, said loud enough for everyone to hear, “Hey, you should sleep with [my cousin], she’s pretty!” I guess in Pennsylvania it’s cool to pimp out your catatonic cousin to a relative stranger when you want to fuck one of his friends, too. Maybe she meant literally sleep, but I feel like on some level that’s even creepier. Perhaps, at this point, I should be elated at the opportunity to just lie in the same bed as an attractive girl, but instead we all got the hell out of there because it was obviously getting strange. But not before one of the girl’s brothers got upset with a friend for hugging her a bit too hard, and said, “I don’t even get hugs like that,” to which my friend responded, “Yeah, because that’d be fucking weird.” With that, my friend summed up Pennsylvania west of Philly.

- Some driving listening thoughts after the proposed rape: I didn’t know I could like Ken Davidoff any more than I already did, but he was great on the Jonah Keri podcast episode he was the guest on. Anyone who answers a question with, “Because I’m not an idiot” is awesome in my book. Also, Louis C.K. stand-up passes the time extremely quickly. Especially this interview with Conan, which is for all intents and purposes stand-up (skip to 9:28 for best results, since I can’t embed and put the timestamp in).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoqclnkM2gg

It seems like it’d be cool to write about baseball for a living, but you’d also be a baseball writer for a living. In all likelihood, you’d make garbage money, unlike investing in Best Day Trading Platforms UK, where you would make some real cash instead of struggling to cover the latest player drama. You’d be writing about overgrown millionaire children idolized for being able to hit baseballs really far or throw them really hard. Consider opening an islamic junior isa if you want to invest in your child’s future. Investors or entrepreneurs may look into portuguese investment funds to diversify their portfolio and potentially relocate to Portugal. Those who are interested in precious metals may explore our collection of authentic Australian gold coins.

Sometimes I wonder how I can even religiously follow and support such a farce until something awesome happens like Jose Reyes hitting multiple triples, or Tim Lincecum throwing a 14-K complete game shutout to win a 1-0 postseason game, or Shane Victorino getting beer poured on his head. I just enjoy watching athletes perform at the absolute highest level, whether it be baseball, football, or tennis. I don’t think there’s any shame in that, but sometimes you need to take a step back and realize this shit doesn’t fucking matter, even if their feats are impressive. Since gladiatorial battles and war aren’t held in the same regard as they were hundreds and thousands of years ago, perhaps seeing Justin Verlander throw 100 mph after 120 pitches while tossing a no-hitter is the closest we can come to seeing a chariot race to the death in our civilized society. Sure, there are still heroic soldiers, but the ongoing counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan are not exactly spectator sport — even if the U.S. reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden was one on par with winning the World Cup.

On that note, wouldn’t it have made sense to post my first blog update in months on 9/11/11? That should be a fun day to look back and see how the terrorists won (I can be this much of a dick in this post because it’s not 9/11 yet). Instead I’ll be posting about the usual bullshit until then. I just wrote condenscendingly about sportswriting as a career and I’m going to resume blogging about sports, movies, books, and games. I’m obviously jealous of people that get paid for it, right?

I really don’t know how much longer I’ll be updating this particular blog, though, and with what frequency. I’m still bitter about all the [bot] traffic I lost when I moved away from my previous WordPress.com URL and I’m also bored with this name and site design. For a little while, I thought Google+ could serve as a sort of blog, but that service looks DOA, much to my chagrin. Twitter is not enough to get my thoughts across, even though I’m on there way too much. There’s always Tumblr, I guess. Or focusing on writing pieces for Baseball Nation.

I can’t help myself.

The last time I posted, Cliff Lee had just become a Phillie. Maybe it’s just taken me this long to recover from that blow. Luckily, the Mets are pretty much in a reassessing mode, so over this year of Phillies dominance they can work on building towards 2012, especially with all the money coming off the books. I just look forward to seeing a healthy lineup of Reyes, Pagan, Wright, Beltran, Bay, and Ike for 2011. But enough about the Mets, as I can save that for another post.

While I’ve spent plenty of time putting together link posts for Roto Hardball, it’s not that blog’s fault that I haven’t written a blog post here in a while. Whenever I’ve felt like writing about something else other than fantasy baseball, it’s been a fairly personal topic that I thought was better suited to my hipster-worthy Moleskine notebook. I tried to work out problems and issues on the page, writing them out with a pen instead of typing them out with a keyboard — as if that would make a difference. Maybe I’m just preparing for the inevitable appointment with a shrink; instead of talking, I’ll be able to just give the doc my journal.

It’s funny when you worry about things blowing up in one way, and then having them blow up in a way you never thought would happen. On a related note, part of growing up is being able to deal with something not turning out the way you hoped. It’s also important to know when to stop giving, even if you think it’ll make you feel better. In the end, it only adds to a massive feeling of resentment. This reminds me of Blue Valentine — which you should watch as soon as it hits Netflix Instant. The independent movies are always on there much quicker than the big guns.

I’d go into Oscars discussion now, but, 1) I didn’t watch the ceremony, and, 2) I haven’t seen 7 out of 10 Best Picture nominees. I have no idea how to punctuate that sentence. I am listening to the winner of Best Original Score as I write this, though. I thought the Inception soundtrack was fantastically bombastic, but the work Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross did for The Social Network is just so damn cool and much more conducive to writing. I’d listen to the Inception soundtrack while skydiving.

But yeah, the past two months. I’ve been meaning to look for a new job for the past month and a half or so. That hasn’t happened. The nearest equivalent would be applying to the MLB Dream Job of sitting in a room for seven months and watching every single baseball game of the 2011 season, while blogging and making videos about my experience. But one of the application questions asked if I was of legal drinking age, so I hope it involves imbibing alcohol as well.

By far the coolest thing that’s happened to me recently was attending a bloodbath between the Islanders and Penguins. A friend called me up the day of, and I said I’d be down for going to my first Islanders game this century. Like most of America, I no longer follow hockey, but I knew that the last game between the two teams had resulted in a broken face for Islander goalie Rick DiPietro. So I was expecting for fights. But I didn’t think the Islanders would a 4-0 lead into the first intermission, while also participating in a couple of one-on-one fights which only served as precursors to a full-out brawl. By the end of the game, the Islanders had scored 9 times.

While I complained earlier in this post about when things don’t work out as planned, this Islanders game was perfect. Each team only had a handful of players left on their benches by the end of the game due to the insane amount of game misconducts. In the final minutes, fights were breaking out after every face-off and chants of “We want ten!” were reverberating throughout the stadium. And I got to witness a mother yell out, “THIS IS WHAT WE’RE RAISING!” after she heard some vulgar taunting in the parking lot. It was a wonderful night, topped off by watching the highlights at the Hooters nearby; it was not until seeing the fighting condensed into a few minutes that my friend and I truly appreciated what we had just experienced.

If I felt more comfortable sharing my life details on here (a.k.a. GIRLS), I assure you this post would be longer and much more entertaining. I try to make up the difference with GIFs.

- The difference between the David Wright mentions in my last two REAL TALK posts is hilarious and depressing. June: He’s awesome! August: He sucks!

- How is it that women just know when you have given up on or forgotten them and subsequently decide to initiate intimacies again?

- The Prisoner (1967) is one of the weirdest television shows I have ever seen, but it also has one of the best openings ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AL7npkSXZE

- Who decided Chris Bosh was a great basketball player? I’m asking because due to my lack of basketball knowledge nowadays, I was led to believe he would make a perfect third man for the Wade-LeBron duo. Is this like the baseball writers who thought Jeff Francoeur was good?

- Someone needs to manufacture a breathalyser for people to log on to their computers.

- I think forgetting to wear a belt for the second time in a month is grounds for being committed (I’m losing my mind).

-  The American public seriously needs to stop being averse to subtitles. Inglourious Basterds did well because it was by Quentin Tarantino and featured plenty of English, allowing it to hide the presence of subtitles in its marketing. I remember telling my “boss” to watch it and when I mentioned subtitles he groaned and I wanted to slam his face into the nearby desk.

- I must be one of the few internet-obsessed people left in the Western world without a smartphone.

- As great as the Mets’ front office now is, it’s going to be a depressingly inactive offseason for them. But hearing your GM say that their top starting pitching prospect is not going to be used in the bullpen as a stopgap anymore can’t help but be encouraging.

- Building a PC is less intimidating to me than preparing a multi-course dinner for two. Unfortunately, only the latter helps you get laid.

I’m thankful for:

Seeing my hammered friend slowly walk up to a couple of high school girls with his arms held up in a muscle pose on Thanksgiving Eve.
My innate ability to be better than most of you at video games.
Receiving a NES when I was 3 years old — maybe that’s why I am an XBLA savant.
Daft Punk doing the TRON: Legacy soundtrack.
Dogs bringing a smile to my face every time I see one.
David Foster Wallace’s essay collections.
Chobani Greek Yogurt which I could eat all day to sustain me like Michael Westen on Burn Notice.
Baseball stats that allow me to prove people wrong when they spout garbage.
Having a working penis.
Growing up in a town with four seasons, near both near a coast and a world-class city.
Christopher Nolan putting out a blockbuster every couple of a years that I enjoy.
My bank account having money in it.
The wonder that is air travel, for at least one reason.
Netflix Instant Watch being an amazing service.
Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez living up to the hype of Hard Knocks.
25 mph over the speed limit being the cruising speed on the Southern State Parkway.
The increasing prevalence of Wi-Fi hotspots.
Having a multitude of friends going all the way back to elementary school.
Alcohol making everything more entertaining.
Being a kid before dodgeball was banned from schools, allowing me to throw big balls in kids’ faces.
Never experiencing any serious health-related hardship.
David Wright, a player who has given the Mets 36 wins of value already in his career.
All the food I will be having this extended weekend, starting today.
Tyler Clippard winning 11 games last season, most of them for my roto fantasy team.
Having working plumbing and a toilet for reading magazines on.
Apple for HAHA just kidding.
Still having some semblance of sanity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ6Kuyi9Omg

Tea & Crackers – Rolling Stone article about the absurdity of the Tea Party. Not that you weren’t already aware.

This is a news website article about  a scientific paper – This is pretty damn old, but I appreciate well-done satire, especially when it comes from somewhere other then The Onion. Some of the comments are amusing as well.

Does Your Language Shape How You Think? – Some languages don’t have have words for left, right, front, and behind. Yeah, that would definitely affect how one thinks.

‘Science as the Enemy’: The Traveling Salesman of Climate Skepticism – An old man who sees himself as the last bastion against socialism or communism or something does his best to spread doubt about climate change, pretending there’s not a 97 percent consensus about the science. Apparently, he’s succeeding.

A Not-So-Brief History of Pitching Injuries, Starring Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers – The magical solution to fixing arm problems? Long toss. I seriously cannot believe that most teams don’t have their pitchers throw past 120 feet. I really can’t. I’m so shocked that I feel like emailing Jonah Keri about it. EVERYONE does that in high school and college.

Halladay and Lincecum – Joe Posnanski being Joe Posnanski. My Halladay post seems so pointless after reading this. Is there any sportswriter that comes close? Please let me know if there is.