Reminders that Life is Awesome and the Christmas Beard Contest!

The timing couldn't have been better. Friday night was a total wash; I don't even remember it, couldn't tell you what I was doing. And the rest of the afternoon I was dealing with a twin monster. The first was a little facebook social experiment I tried, giving away my eBook "A Loaded Portrait" for free and asking people to share the link. I personally tagged every single person on my friend list, hoping for 10%. I fell far short of that, and I could have told you every single person who would do it before I even started. It was both crushing and eye opening.

The second was the redesign of Maddoser.com. If you didn't know, that's really my base of operations. You need a solid web presence, and that one is mine. I'd neglected it for sometime now.... but there's a plan in the works..... I needed a mood changer... something to put me in a positive spin.

My buddy Mike was gracious enough to invite me to his birthday party, and I really needed to be out and around people, but I wasn't sure what they would be getting out of me; I wasn't in a partying mood. But its a relaxed atmosphere with Mike and his wife and friends... I was getting comfortable, guests were filing in....

And then it happened.....

"You know what I love?" a woman I just met said to me in the middle of a conversation we were having about Elvis....

"Dr. Phil!"

"huh." I responded immediately, matter of factly.

Its not polite to laugh in someones face, not conducive to a free fun having party atmosphere. So Mike, when he saw my reaction, had to turn away.

A few minutes later a new challenge was laid before me, something that I didn't see coming. I had no idea what I was in for; I wasn't prepared. I walked into the room and The Wiz kicked me square in the nuts! I dropped to one knee gasping for air, couldn't move, down for the count. It was my second eye opening experience of the night.... no body beats The Wiz.... nobody beats The Wiz.

I had been weighed, I had been measured... and I had been found wanting...
Time to officially send me down to the minor leagues. I just can't hang with the big boys any longer.

As Mike said later on that night, its not often that you can look across the room at someone and know EXACTLY what the other person is thinking. But it kept happening. The order of things is really skewed now, but there was the first time in my life anyone has ever compared me to Collin Farrel.

Most of the time they tell me I look just like Matthew Glave.... you know him as Glenn Gulia.

Somewhere in the middle of Forest Gump drinking Dr. Pepper and having to pee, ruining your Black Panther party, and deciding not to run anymore it happened again...

"NO ONE SAYS GOOD BYE TO ME WHEN THEY LEAVE!"

WHOA! What the hell is going on here? I don't know, but I can't recall laughing so much in one night in a very, very long time. Over and over again I was being reminded of just how LIFE IS THE BEST!!!

Because you just can't make this up.

I don't know if it was because I was the new guy (everyone loves the new guy) or if I just fit in that well with everyone there, but MAN, was I happy I went. Some people are lucky enough to have this sort of experience all the time, every week, and life is so awesome for them because of it that they never even realize that there's any other way. Sign me up for that right now! I'm in!

And you know what else I'm in on? The inaugural Christmas Beard Challenge! That's right, we're making it official. You have from now until Christmas to grow out the BEST, most creative, beard that you can pull out of that mug of yours. We haven't even decided what the winner gets yet, but that's not the point... winning is... and getting a cool beard out of it.... one more thing to stroke... play with. My face is begging for a shave right now, but its not going to happen. Mike and Joe are going to give me a run for my money. And last night Ringo joined the frey. These are the things you get into in the midst of being reminded how awesome life is.

That and.... I've never had anyone throw themselves at me like that in my entire life. It was crazy. Quite literally... CRAZY!

I don't think its crazy at all....

I'm just glad Mike and I were on the same page the entire time, there's nothing better than being around folks that are seeing the world the same way that you are in that moment..... and laughing your ass off at it the whole night.....

As I drove home another thing really struck me.... the third eye opener of the day....
Normally I'm the guy people look at with that expression that says "WTF?", but even I have my people with whom we just go together like peas and carrots (thanks Forest). More and more I'm finding mine. What I was seeing was any lady friend (special lady friend, that is, YEEAAHHH!) that I start spending time with has GOT to be able to chill in that crowd, chill at that party, and fit in just as well. Guys and gals alike, you don't want to be hanging out with someone that makes your friends pull you aside and say "WTF?". You don't want to be strapped to the one who makes your buddies look across the room at each other and know what the other is thinking.... laughing so hard they're crying about it....

Unless you do it on purpose. Afterall, we all need a good laugh, don't we. We all need those reminders of how awesome life is. I got mine Saturday night thanks to Mike, his wife Mary Jayne and their awesome friends. Because of how great they were, I got to be great too.

As for my little social experiment..... it was a test that had to be done. I know I can write, now more than ever, but that and $2.50 might get you on a bus. Unless you can get people to check you out its all for naught, and I had to see just how bad I am at that. And its bad! As it goes... I don't have anything most of these people want... they don't see what's in it for them by helping me. Now at least I know the people I can count on and the ones I can't.

Before my experiences of the past week or so I would have looked at the mountain before me and decided not to start the climb. Seriously, in my position I probably should just give up, get a job, put my head in the sand and forget the whole writing thing. But since seeing what I told you about in my articles "Doing it right", "Personality...." and "what NOT to do" something has changed in me, and I NEED to take on the challenge. And I know what did it too....

Eh, maybe I should just give it up anyway.... maybe I'm too overmatched, too far behind the rest the of pack, too late to the game to make a things work....

But I don't feel tardy.

Later people!



Join my fanpage John LaSota - Writer

Or our creative team's page The Mad Doser Presents

And if you need a healthy helping hand from a Personal Performance Consultant

Coach LaSota

Divine Inspiration and that thing that guides you...

Have you ever had a really great idea that you just knew would work, but for whatever reason you just weren't able to pull it off, only to see someone else doing exactly what you wanted to later on down the road?

While I'm not quite done with my Comicon coverage (there are still a few things I wanted to get in there), I wanted to talk about something today that's been on my mind all week. And if you don't think that there's something divine, or at the very least something guiding us, beyond the veil of perception, what we like to call life or reality, then you just aren't paying attention.

Earlier in the week I spoke about Instigatorzine and their bi-monthly magazine that puts new authors and aspiring artists together in order to try to get them some exposure, and how I had wanted to do that myself, which was the very purpose behind The Mad Doser Presents in the first place.

A few days later I gave you an article about Loaded Barrel Studios and the comic line that they produce using a process that I had wanted to try two years ago.

Well... the Jacob Javits Center is an enormous place. The NYCC stretched across 6 massive rooms with thousands of booths set up with all kinds of products and creative ideas spread out before you. Yet out of that entire show flow and display after display, the two companies that struck me most were right next to one another using the very same ideas that I had wanted to work with but was unable to get going on.

For me it was a matter of that all important support system that I keep prattling on about. I could never get the right people around me to help out or get the people that I DID have to help excited enough about the projects to want to contribute more. Its a failing that I have, my greatest flaw, that keeps me from finding the success I've long sought.

Originally I had told you that I walked right by at first, but it was a feeling I had, a vibe from an attractive young lady that got me to go back. Some might say that was God, or the Force, whatever you believe, saying "hold on right there kid. I want you to see something. You were right, those ideas of yours work... and THIS is how its done. Now go out there and get em".

If you look at the pics I've posted today you may see some similarites in them with the comics I highlighted earlier in the week. I had done these over two years ago now; the cameras used weren't nearly as good as the one I have now either. This next one actually caused a huge fight where the girls boyfriend threatened to beat me up for messing with his property... until he found out what he was in for if he tried it. She ended up cutting me off over it only to find out he had been cheating on her with his ex the entire time they were going out....

But for all the work I had done, or thought that I had done, there was and is still such a long way to go, and I wasn't putting the pieces together the right way. I came away from the week seeing how very much was ahead of me if I really wanted to make it in this business, how much would have to be done if I were to do it right.

The thing of it is... you can take almost anything as a positive or a negative. I could be looking at this in terms of how far ahead in the game other people are over me, and how much I have to do just to catch up; a daunting task. Or I could look at it like this..... something just showed me the way!

Sure, there's a LOT that I have to get done now. One of my tasks for the weekend is a major list making marathon just to set up a chart of all there is to do. But now I have a clear idea of exactly what that is, and exactly what I have to do to get there. Its going to take time. Its going to take money I don't have. Its going to take people I don't know. And that's going to require me changing the way I do things and learning new ways to communicate with people in order to get all of that, bring people into the fold.... I have to become a new me....

You know what though..... ever since I've felt a charge that I haven't had in a long, long time. Where once before I'd be overwhelmed and crushed by the fear of all the bad that could happen, now I feel nothing but the challenge in everything, and its stirred my soul. Its carried over into other areas of my life already. And I'm ready to go.

Who says there's nothing watching over us, guiding our way?

And so... I'm giving you something. Here's a link to a free download of my last eBook "A Loaded Portrait". I've always said I write for your enjoyment, so enjoy. Its a book of short stories that we had put together to test the eBook format when we were trying to do the very thing Instigatorzine is now promoting new writers and artists. If you like what you see, contact me and you can be in the next one. All I ask is that you pass it along to everyone you know.

That's all for today.

Later People!



Join my fanpage John LaSota - Writer

Or our creative team's page The Mad Doser Presents

And if you need a healthy helping hand from a Personal Performance Consultant

Coach LaSota

2011 NYC Comic - what NOT to do... being remembered the wrong way!

Last night I wrote over five pages on all the wrong things to do when you're trying to make a name or keep your name, build a fan base or hold the love and adoration of people everywhere.... it was biting, it was funny... the sort of thing you pass on to your friends saying "YO, you HAVE to read this..." which is something I very much need. Its that 2nd and 3rd level that really brings success, when you tell your friends and then they tell their friends, which hasn't been happening for me here... and this article had what it took to get there.... you would have been telling everyone about it....

And then I tore it up. Biting, nasty and hurtful funny may be a way to get myself noticed, but its not what I want to be remembered for. Its not how I want people to think of me.

These girls right here knew that I was taking this picture; I had asked them politely before doing so, and this was the reception that I got. Either they were bored with the gig and didn't want to be there or I just wasn't important enough for them to waste their time with.

And when they finally did acknowledge me what I got was a blank stare and a half assed smile. Originally I had ripped them apart. Part of the allure of going to any sort of show like this is getting pictures with the ladies, and when you take a job getting paid for nothing more than how good you look pictures with the oogling customers is part of the gig.

Then I saw that part of the brunettes nipple is showing when you look closely at the picture. She's practically bare breasted here, and maybe she's feeling uncomfortable; the blond there's no excuse for, she has that same indifferent blank stare in every shot.

Compare that to this girl here. Look how nice and sweet she looks. I'm not sure if she was even a model working the booth where I caught her because I didn't see her again for the rest of the weekend, but she hung around until everyone who wanted a picture of her got one, and she did so with a real genuine smile on her face. She made you feel like she was happy to see you.

And here's that other girl again the next day telling me to get out of there with a look. I don't have to be where I'm not wanted, and I certainly don't have to spend my money there. Maybe she was still uncomfortable prancing around in her draws, I don't know.

The fangs here are awesome, they really make the costume, and you can tell from the way that the corners of her mouth and the corners of her eyes curl upwards (micro expressions) that she's not faking the smile at all.

Now check out the sneer on her mug. The look of disdain is downright sickening, I can feel my stomach turning just thinking about it. Do you see a major difference here? I don't know what she was selling or for who, but I never attempted, nor would I even try, to find out. If I did know I'd tell you all to get as far away from them as possible. I wrote two articles this week, "Doing it right" and "Personality..." about people that made me WANT to know what they were about by drawing me in in different ways, and here all I can talk about is how turned off I am by these people.

Maybe the people she was working for are horrible, making them do things that make them completely uncomfortable in a large crowd. And maybe its just the girls, maybe they don't really want to be there and think they're above some of the people in that crowd, above taking pictures for people yearning to be part of a new club. Either way, its a disaster, as you can see clearly.

Do you remember this guy? Brian C. O'Halloran, played Dante Hicks in Clerks and a whole lot of nothing afterwards? He was charging $25 a pop for his autograph when he should have been happy people even remember him. Clerks was one of my favorite movies in college, even for $10 I would have done it and come away thinking how great an experience it was. Instead I don't even want to hear his name now. Meanwhile, for $10 I got my picture sitting inside the actually Delorean used in "Back to the Future" AND the Batmobile's from the 1989 Batman movie and the 1960's TV series. 

At least Dante is a pseudo-celebrity though. One guy gave me his sales pitch about his Comic line that no one ever heard of that he was trying to promote. He had a good line going, I was about to buy when I gave him my card for this blog. "I don't want you to waste your card" he told me. Thanks. Thanks for nothing. I don't want to waste my money either. So I walked away.

Pseudo-Celebrities, like pseudo intellectuals, really crack me up with what they think they're worth and why. Up top is a picture of smoking hot Jessica Buriaga, a Playboy Playmate of the month like 2 years ago. She's famous for nothing more than taking her clothes off.

And this stunner is Kayla Collins, another Playmate from like 2008 when she was 18 or so. Both of these lovely ladies were at Comicon this past weekend...

Did I say lovely? Not at all. Do you see the looks on their faces? The one on the left is Jessica Buriaga and the one on the right is some other random chick who took it all off for the cameras. I didn't even bother trying to get one of Kayla Collins, and for good reason. They were charging people $15 just to take a picture of them WITH YOUR OWN CAMERA! Seriously, for them to stand up and pose for you they were charging $15. Where do people get off? The only people who even know who these girls are are the ones who beat the meat to their pictures. And am I really getting a better shot than the mostly nude airbrushed to hell versions up top? Hell no.

Because of this I wouldn't pay any mind to anything these women are promoting ever again. Meanwhile, all it would have taken was a nice smile and a pretty pose (all they know how to do) and I'd have been hooked for life.

By contrast, that's Zulay Henao who starred opposite Channing Tatum in the movie Fighting. At 32 years old she's still every bit as hot as either of the girls from Playboy (hell, she probably has a much better body) and she's actually got some kind of talent other than the promise of what she does on her back. Zulay was promoting her movie Boy Wonder, and because of this picture alone I looked it up and may even wind up checking it out.

At one point she walked through the hall with her body guard and we locked eyes from only about three feet away. There was no uncomfortable feeling, no air of superiority, no I'm hot and in movies so give me money just because I showed up, none of that. She might actually think that, but I would never know it because she made me feel welcome, like a person. And now I think she's great!

I'm not sure if this piece flows as smoothly as many of my others, or that it gets my point across the way that I want to, but sometimes we do so much reaching up for that higher level on the ladder that we step on the people on the rungs below, and it causes the exact opposite effect that we're going for. We want to get noticed, but its imperative to be noticed for the RIGHT reasons or you may lose them forever. Which means don't just bring in models, bring in the RIGHT models that fit what you're doing. Don't just bring in celebrities, but the RIGHT celebrities that live the message you're trying to send. Don't just have people working for you, but who really love what you're about and WANT to make it better.

And if you're lucky enough to get that elevated status, remember the people that got you there. It wasn't the ones up on the top of the mountain already, its the average everyday people that get behind you, pushing you up there. I've had friends who's careers blew up only to change to that Playboy Playmate "I don't have time for you" mentality. At one time I would have done anything for them, and now I can't be bothered. Its all in how you do things....

Later People!



Join my fanpage John LaSota - Writer

Or our creative team's page The Mad Doser Presents

And if you need a healthy helping hand from a Personal Performance Consultant

Coach LaSota

2011 Comicon - Personality.... it goes a long way....

"You have to get on your knees" she said, "I want you to beg!"

I looked at the area around me, the red carpet sprawling beneath my feet, it was as if the room had cleared just for this occasion. "On my knees, huh?" I replied with a smile. "Ok, if that's what you're into."

How was it that I got here again? Oh yeah, now I remember.... it was Friday, my head was wrapped up in other things and The Man was getting into it with someone, busting her chops as he does. She was giving it right back. Impressive. Any chick that can handle his shtick and keep it going was worth talking to. He'd tell you the same.

"Because you like him" I heard him telling her when he pulled me into the conversation and away from where my mind was. He looked dead at me, gesturing with his hands, "I know he likes you."

I looked at her, who was staring at me now, and then back at The Man. They were talking about me. "Well," I said with a slight shrug and an indifferent tone, "there's a lot to like."

Was I talking about her or talking about myself?
Yes!

Then I walked away. I had my reasons.

my reasons... I'm Batman!

"You should have talked to her." He told me. It was the second time that day he tried to get me talking to a girl he knew I'd be into. He had a woman, and knows full well how much I need one to free me from my cage. Its the sort of thing friends do. 

"I'm not there, dude." I replied. "If something's gonna happen for me its going to have to just happen. I'm in no position for anything else."

When I saw her again I decided I wanted a shot of the girl that hung with The Man. She was good looking, sure, but it was her personality that stood out, her banter, her mannerisms. This one had character. 

there goes Tokyo....

"I was talkin to you yesterday." I told her. 

"You must mean the blond." Humble. Nice. 

"No" I smiled, my tone saying NO WAY! "It was you. My friend was breakin your balls." 

"About what?" 

I didn't want to say it. Now I broke into a grin. "About likin me. Mind if I get a picture?" I knew I'd be using it for this story. I raised my camera. 

"NO!" she yelled, lifting her hands in front of her face. "You have to buy something first." This went on for a minute or two before I conceded. "Ok" I said with a shrug. 

At that moment the artist grabbed her, sensing I was getting away. He held her there until I got my pic. I had the wrong lense on. 

"I'm the model for the story" she said, picking up one of the books. Then the artist went into his sales pitch, showing me his work. She was the model. The process he used was exactly something I talked to The Man about doing two years ago. It was the idea that got us going to Comicon in the first place. 

He set up his story like shots in a movie, then photographed the scene. Then he posterized the pictures with photoshop and re-inked them. Or something similar. You still need artistic talent to pull it off, and sets and actors to shoot. 

I was in already. I came here to see something different, and this was. I wanted to do this myself, so I wanted to see how he did it. And I would have bought them just for the picture of her. I do things like that. Besides.... I needed something to write about; I didn't tell them that though, I let him sell me on it anyway. 

So I got on my knees, and she really gave me something to remember her by. That was fun. That was great.

 

That was the Loaded Barrel Studios booth. The artist is Jared Barel. The model is Mars Alexandra. The books are "Brielle and the Horror" and "Grey" 

So far I haven't checked out Grey, though I'll probably have read it by the time you read this. Brielle and the Horror was excellent. Two issues weren't enough; I NEED to know what happens next. I feel like I've been left hanging and its driving me NUTS! I want to get back in there, re-engage Maverick!

The art is definitely different. It might take some getting used to for some of you, but there's a lot to like, and you can tell over a span of just a few issues that it keeps getting better. At times the lettering pops, which is huge. But what impresses me the most is that shooting the panels for this look is much more like directing a movie than anything else. The pacing is superb; another must with this type of storyline. You know my thing is storyline. I hope they can keep it going, and I think you should check it out.

The title of this piece is "Personality.... it goes a long way", so how does my little story tie in? Just as I had said in "Doing it right" with how Jenna pulled me back to the instigatorzine booth, Mars Alexandra was the reason I became interested in Loaded Barrel (Amazingly the booths we right next to one another; read between the lines and you'll put it all together). This time it was how the girl carried herself, her sassy, playful attitude that made her memorable. If she had been a dead fish, non-responsive to The Man's charm, or worse, a dismissive bitch, then I wouldn't be writing about this right now. But as she was, she was perfect. 

Add to that how Jared jumped in right when he sense he had to, taking the time to show me each of the books on the table while being very personable in the process and they won themselves a new fan. And as of this writing, I am a fan. 

Once again, a team of people personally invested gets it done. This time by giving me an enjoyable experience out of what comes naturally by being themselves. Even Ringo, who snapped the photos, had a smile on his face the entire time. I hope they do well and find nothing but big things ahead. Mars definitely lets the beast out of the cage, and it's beautiful to see.

Speaking of letting the beast out, this sexy beast just above (I told you I'd get back to her in yesterdays post) had some of that going on herself. You can tell she's having fun. But it wasn't enough for me to give a damn about what she was selling, and there's good reason, none of it her fault at all.

I've gone on in detail this week about how important it is to get noticed, and then once you get that notice, to have something worth showing and worth saying in order to keep the attention that's so hard to gain. I hope my stories served well to illustrate the point.

But getting noticed is a double edged sword. Its of the utmost importance to get noticed the right way, and for the right things. Being remembered for the wrong thing, something negative, can completely turn your audience off and destroy any chance you had with them. 

Tomorrow we'll talk about the WRONG way of doing things..... but that's all for now folks.... 

Later People.



Join my fanpage John LaSota - Writer

Or our creative team's page The Mad Doser Presents

And if you need a healthy helping hand from a Personal Performance Consultant

Coach LaSota