Blogocentric Formulations (Book)

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I am SoCalScribe. This is my InkSpot.

Blogocentric Formulations

Logocentric (adj). Regarding words and language as a fundamental expression of an external reality (especially applied as a negative term to traditional Western thought by postmodernist critics).

Sometimes I just write whatever I feel like. Other times I respond to prompts, many taken from the following places:

"JAFBG"

Thanks for stopping by!

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Jeff

about 18 hours ago
In response to "Writing Retreat"

Jayne

- You and I can enjoy the cozy cottage on the lake environment while those who prefer to camp can sleep on the ground in a tent and use a bathroom they have to dig themselves. LOL

Ren~Busy as Usual

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

Well said on all points. The world is a different place than it was 50 years ago and not bad, some good. But lately? Scary.

Witchy Woman

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

I agree that they'll go for Fallon and Myers next. The mud slinging has gone unchecked since Clinton was in office and has escalated to the point that situations are becoming dangerous for anyone not agreeing with cheeto.

1 Like

Seffi

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

"Second Amendment's guaranteed right to bear arms is not the same thing as guaranteed right to assemble an unchecked, unaccountable armory that would make a Navy SEAL envious." That made me laugh. And I agree. Though I am an outsider, looking at the US like a fishbowl - everything looks slightly distorted and confusing, but is also vaguely familiar.

Charity Marie - <3

a day ago
In response to "Free Speech, Gettin' Raptured, & People Worth Suffering For"

What an interesting trifecta. The one that resonated with me most was the last one so it's the one I'm going to respond to because it's directly relevant to my life, especially right now. You could say I'm "sacrificing" for my relationship. If you know the history, it started as a FWB (friends with benefits) and a hard-boundary of nothing serious. But I'm relationship-oriented. I don't do anything shallowly - I'm just not wired that way. I like commitment - there's something about it that resonates in my nervous system and my bones. Out of 8 billion people, it's that person who says, "I see you. I value you above all others - now or future". It's experiencing life at a deeper level than you can with just friends. It's BATTLING through life together.

For the last year, the FWB relationship has worked because I was working on myself and dating casually, just living life. Eventually I reached a point of just wanting more in my life. Wanting a life partner. So I explored that with him to which he basically said he wanted to stay single forever. Okay, understood. You are another emotionally unavailable man. Noted. Moving on - no harm, no foul. I transitioned it to "friends without benefits" to open up room in my life for a life partner. My idea was to use a matchmaking service - because maybe someone could discern through the bullshit better than I could when they see it every day. Hoping someone would have a more attuned radar to pre-screen out garbage better than apps.

Except, when I mentioned it to him he kind of froze and said, "But what about me?" Then it all changed. We've been carefully, like two battle-scarred generals, navigating it ever since. Successfully I might add despite a misunderstanding that could have derailed the whole thing but actually made us stronger. He told me he'd known for a while that if he were in a better place in life, I would be someone he would want more with. Which floored me because I never even allowed my mind to go there. I labeled him very concretely as "boy toy" and "no feelings" except friendship. That's exactly where it stayed because I can compartmentalize like that unlike other people. I'm an INTJ - half computer, half human. LOL Which brings me to the sacrifice part: we've chosen to wait. Because he's living with a roommate and has a one year lease he doesn't want to break (unless he has to because of the roommate). He's trying to financially get on his feet as well as do some healing of his own.

I get it - there's work to do. I'm further along in my self-growth than he is but was just laid off two months ago so now I'm starting over in a rebuilding phase. So I'm simply waiting for him to catch up and for my own life to restabilize as someone self-employed. The sacrifice is waiting from now until up to one year for his lease to end before we can be together the way we really want. That's when the REAL relationship work begins.

We're doing some of it now - communicating, navigating it all, getting together regularly. It's almost like a long distance relationship because he lives/works 40 minutes away. So when you talk about sacrifice - that hit me pretty hard. But also reassured me because I've never been someone who shied away. I have grit and resilience. It's other people matching me that's been the problem. But finally, I found someone who is and does. So your post gave me hope and reassurance I'm right where I'm supposed to be. Thank you!

Annette

Sep 20, 2025 at 12:12am
In response to "Watch List - August 2025"

Jayne

and Jeff

Include me please.

Jeff

Sep 20, 2025 at 12:02am
In response to "Watch List - August 2025"

Jayne

- Any time you want to arrange a Zoom viewing party, I'm in!

Jayne

Sep 19, 2025 at 9:03pm
In response to "Watch List - August 2025"

I've had K-Pop on my list for a while. Nobody wants to watch it with me lol

1 Like

Jayne

Sep 15, 2025 at 8:57pm
In response to "Writing Retreat"

This sounds lovely.

I'm always one to ask, by cabin (or camp), do you mean shack in the woods or cottage on the lake? I am too old for the former lol

1 Like

S 🤦

Sep 15, 2025 at 1:24am
In response to "Writing Retreat"

Here's my last one:
"20240405 Writing Retreat"

1 Like

September 30, 2010 at 7:47pm

#707363

We're baaack...

GROUP

NaNoWriMo Write-A-Thon Group

(E)
NaNoWriMo Write-A-Thon list of Writers, Sponsors and Teams
#1546311 by Jeff

That's right, the Write-A-Thon is back for a second year! I had such a great time hosting this and raising money for WdC charity last time around, that I decided to go through it all again.

This year, there are a couple changes from last year that are worth noting:

The total donation to each group this year is 12.5% of the proceeds. Beneficiaries are RAOK, Simply Positive, Rising Stars, The Angel Army, The Talent Pond, The UENG, and The Dark Society.

I've done away with all the fractional GP donations. No more 1/4 GP per word... just a straight 1 GP per word commitment with the ability for Sponsors to set minimum and maximum donation limits to keep them from going broke. I think I wore down my calculator buttons last year doing all that math, so I'm going for simplicity this year.

I've added two new teams, the Silver Team and the Gold Team. Last year, the winning team split 5% of the proceeds, and it amounted to about 37,000 GPs per team member... I'm hoping the addition of two more teams (bringing the total to twelve) will mean fewer team members and therefore a bigger share of that 5% grand prize.

The Write-A-Thon is open for sign-ups... am I going to see any familiar faces around this year? Mara, Adriana, Jace, Giselle, Nicki, Shannon, Sarah? *searches the crowd*

Comment

September 29, 2010 at 4:22am

#707237

Emotionally drained

Just finished my entry for "Ten Years Ago in 2000"

a few minutes ago. Wow, this one really took a lot out of me; it's been a long time since I've written anything so intensely personal before. (I suppose that's the whole idea behind a personal essay.

) I guess the year 2000 was a pretty significant one for me, and I really tried to put it all out there. If anybody is interested in reading about my life ten years ago, enjoy:

The End is the Beginning

(13+)
Ten Years Ago in 2000 Entry - Sep 2010 - Where I was and what I was doing in the year 2000
#1711929 by Jeff

P.S.: Anyone who wants to read and review it today, in time for me to edit by the contest deadline, will earn my eternal gratitude, as well as a prize!

Comment • View 1 comment

September 24, 2010 at 3:15pm

#706907

I'm a teacher!

Yep, you heard right. Ol' SoCal is putting on the tweed jacket with suede elbow patches and joining the world of academia. I've accepted a position at the "House of Sensual Prose "

teaching a brand new class. We're calling it "HSP: Sustaining The Sizzle"

, and the curriculum will focus on infusing erotic genre elements throughout an entire work, from beginning to end. If anybody is interested in taking the class, you can sign up for the next session, which begins October 25th.

I don't want to give away too much about the class, but it's going to be a lot of fun, and we've got some great activities planned.

Comment • View 4 comments

September 22, 2010 at 1:45am

#706703

Ahh, the return of television

Finally! The Fall television lineup is here and new episodes are beginning to air. I still think it's funny that I watch television for a living (and no that's not just what I tell my wife

). Watching movies and television is a big part of the job when it comes to working in the entertainment industry, because you have to know what's going on... what's hot, what's not... what new shows are the ones to watch... what old shows have still got it and which ones have "jumped the shark" as they say...

And for those of you who say, "Oh yeah... watching television... that sounds like real hard work, Jeff..." I humbly offer you the list of shows that I need to track this season, just to keep abreast of all the industry news:

NEW SHOWS
Better With You
Blue Bloods
Chase
Detroit 1-8-7
Hawaii Five-O
Hellcats
Law & Order: Los Angeles
Lone Star
Mike & Molly
My Generation
Nikita
No Ordinary Family
Outlaw
Outsourced
Raising Hope
Running Wilde
S#*! My Dad Says
School Pride
The Event
The Whole Truth
Undercovers

RETURNING SHOWS
30 Rock
90210
Big Bang Theory
Bones
Brothers & Sisters
Burn Notice
Castle
Chuck
Community
Cougar Town
Criminal Minds
CSI
CSI: Miami
CSI: NY
Dancing With The Stars
Dark Blue
Desperate Housewives
Fringe
Glee
Good Guys
Gossip Girl
Grey’s Anatomy
House
How I Met Your Mother
Human Target
In Plain Sight
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Leverage
Lie to Me
Life Unexpected
Medium
Melissa & Joey
Men of a Certain Age
Modern Family
NCIS
NCIS: Los Angeles
Parenthood
Pretty Little Liars
Private Practice
Psych
Rizzoli & Isles
Rookie Blue
Royal Pains
Smallville
Supernatural
The Amazing Race
The Closer
The Good Wife
The Mentalist
The Middle
The Office
Undercover Boss
Vampire Diaries
White Collar

While I don't have to actually watch every minute of every episode of every show... I do need to know what happens week-to-week, how the show is performing in the ratings, whether the ratings are higher or lower than last week, where it stacks up against shows in the same time slot, how the actors are tracking, etc. (For the record, on the list there are 12 new shows and 34 returning shows that I will be watching.)

So if anybody wants to know what shows they should be watching this year... I'm your guy.

Comment • View 6 comments

September 14, 2010 at 1:08pm

#706063

Chuck Norris knows where I live

I just got back from my run this morning, and I received an interesting phone call... from the NRA and Chuck Norris. Okay, it was technically a recorded message telling me to vote, but still... it kind of made my day. Apparently, the NRA and Chuck Norris have checked their records (doubtful), discovered that I'm not registered to vote (I am), and sent me both an email (no they didn't) and regular mail (nope) with information about how to register to vote... so I can help them fight for fewer restrictions on gun control (which is the opposite of my stance on the issue).

And so, while I'm sad to say that Chuck Norris is unfortunately calling up the wrong household, it was nice to hear from him.

While on the topic of Chuck Norris, here are some little-known facts about the man - the legend - that you might not know:

1. Chuck Norris once won a game of Connect Four in three moves.
2. Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
3. Chuck Norris' calendar goes from March 31st to April 2nd, because nobody fools Chuck Norris.
4. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because Chuck Norris only recognizes the element of surprise.
5. Chuck Norris is the reason Waldo is hiding.

For more facts on Chuck Norris, check out: http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/ Fair warning, some of them are kind of crude, but most of them are pretty funny.

Comment • View 3 comments

September 12, 2010 at 8:53pm

#705876

A-maz-ing Breakfast

I love food. If you don't already know that about me, I really love food. And this morning, I may have just had the best breakfast of my life. There's a little diner down the street from our apartment, tucked away on a residential street between two houses. You wouldn't even know it was there if you weren't looking for it, and they're known for high-quality natural and local foods. It's not one of those health-conscious or vegan places... it just prides itself on high quality food that doesn't come packed with preservatives and things like that.

Anyway, I'm digressing from my very important point... the food. I'll just post the menu listing for you:

Broiled San Francisco Stuffed French Toast
French baguette stuffed with Mascarpone and Creme Fraiche,
broiled instead of fried for greater flavor,
topped with Whipped Cream, Maple Sauce with your choice of:
Fresh Seasonal Berries
Carmelized Apples in Brandy Butter
Peanut Butter, Triple Chocolate, Banana & Cherry Jam

*drools*

I had the Fresh Seasonal Berries, and I had to sit on my hands to restrain myself from licking the plate clean. No kidding, it was probably one of the best breakfasts I've ever had in my life. I've been home for six hours and I'm still thinking about how good it was. They're closed on Mondays, but I might just have to go back on Tuesday and order it again (this time with the apples, I'm thinking).

It's official. We can never move outside of L.A. now. I would miss the French Toast too much.

Comment • View 4 comments

September 11, 2010 at 3:05am

#705783

That's A Lot Of Writing

Here's the final tally of items written in connection with WdC's 10th birthday bash:

10 - Writer's Cramp entries
10 - Sr. Mod Birthday Contest entries
1 - Fantasy & Erotica Short Story Contest entry
1 - Limericks! Limericks! Limericks! entry
1 - Ten Years Ago in 2000 entry
2 - Angel Army Challenges
1 - Weekly Quickie entry

TOTAL: 23 26 new items written in the past 10 11 days.

It's been great getting back into the habit of writing regularly... although I do have to say that I'm absolutely sick of birthday prompts now. I think I need another year before I'll be ready to write about surprise parties, memorable gifts, birthday wishes and similar fare. I think I partied a little too hard these past ten days... I need a break from the birthday stuff. LOL

UPDATED 9/11/10

Comment • View 3 comments

September 9, 2010 at 12:26am

#705653

New Second Cousin (Cousin Once Removed?)

Yesterday, my cousin and his wife welcomed their baby girl into the world. She's the first of a new generation in our family, and the first girl after my generation, which was four boys. Even more oddly, it continues the tradition of special dates in our family overlapping. My birthday (December 13th) is the same as a cousin on my mother's side, and my wife's younger sister. My wife's younger brother's birthday (August 2nd) is the same day as my parents' anniversary. And now, the newest addition to our family has the same birthday (September 7th) as my younger brother. Hey, at least it makes those important days easier to remember.

And speaking of easy to remember, their baby girl was born one day before their anniversary.

Welcome, Quinn... to one heck of a family.

Comment

September 6, 2010 at 12:18pm

#705452

Writing Like A Madman

I can't remember the last time I've written this much contest. I think maybe I was a black case.

For the WdC 10th Birthday festivities, I'm competing in both the "The Writer's Cramp"

and "The Writer's Baker's Dozen Contest"

challenges, writing 1000-word entries every day, plus I'm mulling over my entries for the "Ten Years Ago in 2000"

contest, the "Limericks! Limericks! Limericks!"

contest, and the "Sensual Fantasy"

. Not to mention the fact that I'm also participating in the Angel Army's daily challenges. When all is said and done, I'm probably going to have 25-30 written works created between the 1st and 10th of this month, and another 3-5 done before the end of the month. I'm pretty sure that's more writing than I did for all of 2009!

I am so impressed with the SM and SMs, and everything they've done for WdC's 10th birthday. New emoticons, new skins and themes, brand new Merit Badges... I'm amazed by all the content that's being made available to us. Wow!

Hope everyone else is enjoying the festivities, and participating in at least a couple of them. After all, 10 million Gift Points are up for grabs!

STATIC

Writing.Com Party Central 2025!

(E)
We're celebrating our 25th birthday - a quarter of a century! Stop in and celebrate!
#506157 by The StoryMistress

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