2010 Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

^^ Excellent. That's nice work. I would really like to have that as a job. Do they have a website?

http://www.ultimategrapplingmag.com

It's kind of shitty, though. The magazine's a lot nicer than the website.

As far as writing as a job, it's hard work. It's not all fun and games. Getting to talk to the guys is cool, but transcribing interviews sucks ultra mega cock and the actual writing process can be pretty grueling. It's always a relief when I finish a piece and get it sent in. Kind of like a weight off my shoulders.

Didn't you say you used to teach English composition?

I majored in English Comp and Philosphy as an undergrad. A few years ago I taught business law at a local university. Then I started teaching a few other classes too: Negotiation, Ethics, Speech and English Comp. But my job now is basically writing.

About 40% of my work is researching and writing criminal appellate briefs. If you want to talk about a grind... that is about as dry a writing style as you will see. I like it ok, because once you get used to it, it is like writing a persuasive argument paper within very narrow and specific framework.

Then about 20% of what I do is reading through medical files and then compiling them into a brief for disability cases.

Then about 35% of my work is writing answers for this website: www.justanswer.com Scroll through and you will see my profile.

Then about 5% of my work is doing crap in court for my friends and family.

That is why I am online all day. I sit in front of a computer almost every day. About 1 day a week I go to court for half the day or so. I have actually considered pulling the plug on my practice and working for that website full time. I would have to work slightly harder to make a little less money, but I would be able to work from home and on the road. I could travel and work at the same time.

[Luke]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

Then about 35% of my work is writing answers for this website: www.justanswer.com Scroll through and you will see my profile.

you get paid to play on a website all day and answer questions?

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

Yep. But truth be told it is more work than practicing law. But yeah, I earn a teachers salary just answering questions about 2 hours a per day (I pop in and out all day).

[SPX]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

Interesting stuff, Scientist. I honestly don't think I like writing enough that I could do it all day. I'm thankful that the writing portion of journalism is actually just a part of the whole business. What I'd really like to do is get involved more with the investigative side of things, but that involves a lot of knowledge and skills that I don't have yet.

I actually applied to get a justanswer expert account for computers, but apparently they have enough people doing that already. Pissed me off. I thought it could be a good way to supplement my income. Too bad they don't have an MMA category.

And yeah, I'm still relatively far from getting my bachelors. In fact, I've only taken one actual journalism course: Journalism I - Intro to Reporting/Writing. That was last semester. So I'm just kind of having to feel my way through this whole thing with the magazine and with whatever other writing I do and figure it out as I go. Obviously I learned a lot in that one class, but it was just kind of the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully by the time I get to the U I will already have a fair amount of experience and, as you mentioned, maybe even get some credit for everything that I've done.

One thing I can say for sure about, though, is that writing for newspapers and magazines is two different things. The style is different. The rules are sometimes different as well.

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

^^ You can still get in, so I would just check back in from time to time. It is not nearly as busy as the legal section, but you can earn a decint income. When traffic picks up, the will admit new experts. The legal experts have basically bitched and moaned about new experts that we have created a cartel on the site. We ban together and drive off competition immediately.

I actually do not like writing that much either. I work in spurts. I can turn out 30 or 40 pages over a weekend. But then I wont do anything for a month.

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

Thanks. Yeah, I seem to be on the road to becoming a bona fide "regular contributor" for them and I'm very thankful for that.

I am going to write some letters to the editor appreciating your article. "Dear editor, I really enjoyed the article by SPX, it was so well written and informative. Real articles about new subjects are the reason I subscribe! That SPX probably has a huge wiener."

You need to get a more realistic sounding nom de plume though. Its too much. You can have Soren or Xavier, but not both. It sounds too much like an X-Men character.

[SPX]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

I am going to write some letters to the editor appreciating your article. "Dear editor, I really enjoyed the article by SPX, it was so well written and informative. Real articles about new subjects are the reason I subscribe! That SPX probably has a huge wiener."

You should do that. It would probably help me out for sure.

You need to get a more realistic sounding nom de plume though. Its too much. You can have Soren or Xavier, but not both. It sounds too much like an X-Men character.

I've considered that. But I wanted to keep the initials SPX. It's kind of like GSP. It just works. And I'm building a brand.

Every letter actually corresponds to a person:

Soren -- Soren Kierkegaard
P and X are both Catholic saints -- St. Patrick and St. Xavier (missionary to Japan in the 15th century)

It may be odd that I chose Catholic saints when I'm not Catholic and am, in fact, somewhat antagonistic toward Christianity, but I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Church of Rome.

I like to pay homage in the names I use. I've considered writing some stuff under the name Soren Shaitana, but that DOES sound like too much. Nevertheless, there's a method to the madness:

Soren = SK
Shaitana = Mr. Shaitana from Agatha Christie's Cards on the Table

[SPX]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

By the way, I'm going to start encoding information about this site and the peeps here into my articles. It'll be a fun game.

[Luke]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

Went and saw Inception today. A complete mindfuck of a movie, but awesome. It's one of the best movies that I've seen not only this year, but period. It does get confusing at times, though, trying to hold together the concept of a dream within a dream within a dream.

Definitely worth the admission price.

I'm going to try to watch it when a torrent comes out. My lady has no desire to see it so I'll have to wait

[Luke]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

By the way, I'm going to start encoding information about this site and the peeps here into my articles. It'll be a fun game.

Let me know when the ZY issue comes out lol

[Luke]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

In case anyone's interested, I have two articles in this month's issue of Ultimate MMA

1. An article on the scoring system with a Q&A with Keith Kizer and two other commissioners.

2. An article on Greg Bayne's documentary about Jens Pulver that I've mentioned before. Basically a Q&A with both guys.

You can read the beginning of the scoring the article on the UMMA website:

http://ultimategrapplingmag.com/news/sp ... t-can-work

very nice .You got shit coming out everywhere .

[MMA_scientist]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

I've considered that. But I wanted to keep the initials SPX. It's kind of like GSP. It just works. And I'm building a brand.

You should just go full on McG and rock "SPX" as your pen name.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

^^^^^^^^^This

[SPX]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

You should just go full on McG and rock "SPX" as your pen name.

I have considered that actually. Maybe I should take the leap.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: Off topic thread(basketball,movies,etc whatever)

Dude, do that shit. That is boss for real.