Bradtastic Premier

Hope you’ve had a splendid Easter! (That is, unless I don’t like you… in that case, I hope you get hit by a bus and no longer waste my oxygen.)

It’s been a bright but decent day but tonight will be even better; vchhnfilled with some work, reading, iTouching, Xbox 360, journal writing, blog writing and maybe — just maybe — some food consumption. “I’m on a special diet…” it’s just the Way of the Vampire, it’s nothing personal.

I’m consolidating my online presence, rewriting my bio, about pages, and changing the purpose of Bradtastic Premier.

I think most of you will like my new projects.

If you: use Microsoft Word or Notepad for writing or notetaking, can’t seem to get a decent pen for under $5, get stage-fright or just “don’t know what to say” to those beautiful strangers you’d like to take out and take home, think American culture is in the gutters, know our education and penal systems are massive failures, and/or if you don’t know how to defend yourself against a knife attack — you will enjoy and benefit from my new stuff.

I’m also posting a password protected entry soon. It’s on social theory; if you’d like the password, leave a comment with a valid email address.

Until then… <3B

I wrote this post using iBlogger, made by illumineX. It’s the best blogging app for the iPhone or iTouch (iPod touch). More on that soon! Photo edited with CameraBag.

Change starts with a belief, followed by action.

“Change” is a vast, deep and important topic for me and within my circles, so it’s something that I’ll come back to at some point. Probably after my re-release (anyone seen Gilmore Girls? If so, think Rory’s “Coming Out” ball, fan dance and black tie, minus the grandparent drama). It’s something that I’ve stated again and again, it’s been quoted by friends and exists on at least one wall, ink on index card, taped to remain at the forefront of conscious thought. I’m proud and flattered to make such an impact on others…

I’d also really like them to know that they help to shape me and make me who I am. I wouldn’t be Bradtastic without the people around me; my family, my friends and the loves of my life. Women are wonderful… beautiful, intelligent women are worth everything. [Women>Men—simple math]

It’s that time of year; lights a’plenty, the night comes early, family comes together to stress out over simple things. All of TV’s primetime dramas are on-hold until next year… Netflix is golden. The Internet has been a true gift, although I must say, I’ve been really, really getting grand amounts of pleasure from my Amazon Kindle. (I guess much of that credit could be given to the reading material itself, but somehow, the Kindle makes the reading experience that much better.)

I’ve been thinking about change… for myself, my life, my work… everything. I want to share more of myself and my thoughts, my life and my theories on interactions. I want to share the new, great things in my life—what I love—what keeps me going. I’ve been looking at new blogging/journaling/writing/publishing platforms for some time now—including forums, wikis and CMS’ like Drupal and Joomla—finally settling on two platforms, TypePad and Squarespace. (I’ve shared some of this at my Vox and microblogs.) I’m testing both right now… and I’m impressed so far.

Many thanks to @mzampino and @marinesetwas (Twitter/Social Network people, though the links go to their blogs) for their input, as well as that cool-dude Warner Crocker—who’d bestowed upon me that Ink Blot Award for Bradtastic Ink aka bradchin.com—for his thoughts on the TypePad platform. (Perhaps it’s something that’ll work for my inkblog… I’m really not that happy with my current WP setup there. Thoughts?)

So I’m posting this as a precursor to change—impending, inevitable change—insofar as any of this can apply to your life and those around you, I hope it inspires something… further, if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions for me, by all means (literally) please, do share. ‘Tis the season… and I say, forget about “New Years’ Resolutions,” anytime—any day—is grand-enough to declare a resolution. We should be take advantage of the time that we have and improve and change throughout the year.

Lastly, I hope that the best and strongest of us can cure boredom. Youtube doesn’t count—I really wish that that site was never created… what a step-back for mankind. (Just had a great conversation about chaos magic, life and productivity with CKD—YouTube’s negative effect on workplace productivity certainly came up.) If you spend any part of your day “being bored,” you should join me at Vox. I’ll introduce you to some people… if you’re cool enough. *smile*

Until next time… enjoy the ‘eve!

I HAVE A LONG, DEEP POST PLANNED, but I realized that I haven’t updated in a while. The birthday-and-post-catastrophe is over, things have been getting better. The weather is much nicer… we had our “first rain” and hopefully there’s more to come. Either way, I appreciate the gray-days—much easier on my eyes.

I’ve updated my Amazon Wish List; I’ve been told in the past that I’m “difficult to shop for,” perhaps that was the case, not-so-much anymore. On the list are items that I really want, but don’t end up buying for myself… at least not for a while. Worthy of special note: Andy (MagicByAndrew) gifted me a Soul Calibur 4 Arcade Stick and recently, the ASUS Eee PC 1000H (a phenomenal machine)… I’m also now a proud Kindle owner thanks to Kristen… (Kristen: The Kindle totally rocks, thank you so much!)

Sometimes I prefer gifts to cash for consulting and the life-coaching work that I do, some people can’t resist saying “I love you” in a special way and others end up at my Wishlist to get gift ideas for others or to take a look at “what’s hot.” There are items ranging from expensive-almost-ridiculous to under-$10. What my associates and I offer others (many, many men) is happiness, fulfillment and perhaps for the first time, successful relationships with others… and I ask, “what’s happiness worth to ya?” [Note: I really like Moleskine Notebooks, (visit the Moleskine Store) I fill'em up quickly. I think everyone should carry one. Also available at B&N, also makes a great gift!]

MY PLAN WAS TO RELEASE MY FIRST BOOK around the premier of VH1’s The Pickup Artist season two, however, as time goes on, I learn more, I add more… I’d like my work to feel “more complete.” The writing hasn’t stopped, however, far from it. During the process of self-discovery and journaling, I started to realize that I have within-me a fiction—my first fiction—I never thought that that would be my type of tale-telling. Without touting my own work too much, from what I can tell, it’s psychologically-thrilling and twisting—it’s an erotica dealing with power-exchange—instead of focusing on the pornographic aspects of love and writing a smut, I’m focussing on the inner-workings of human nature and behavior… with kinks.

I know that it’s not for everyone, but seriously… what is? I hope I can shock some people, open the minds of the closed and assure the closed-in and guarded that it’s okay to be who you are. I’m still fulfilling my original goals of crafting and consolidating a collection of my work called “The Art of Impression.” I’m also slowly releasing some of my new inkwork (Note: it’ll probably appear at my inkblog first, Bradtastic Inkblog aka bradchin.com) and I’m also putting together some new vectors… who knows, maybe I will have that limited addition t-shirt run that I’ve wanted!

Lastly, happy voting tomorrow. My perspectives on politics and society have been  called abhorrent in the Bay Area, particularly SF… my friends, family and associates understand, however. It’s okay to want different things, and it’s definitely okay to voice those opinions. Whatever happens this election/voting period, I’m sure that my life will still rock and I hope that yours does, too. We can either blame each other, society and the rest of the world for our problems, or we can say “the buck stops here,” and make life better.

Seriously… what’s happiness worth to ya?!

Until next time…

I sometimes do ugly stuff when I’m feeling sick, and I’m past my limits to tolerate the pain I’m always stuck with… I feel bad about it, but when I can’t sleep, can’t eat and can barely move

life then, just doesn’t feel worth living.

DURING THE BETTER TIMES I’ve experienced some of life’s great pleasures and wonderful experiences. I’ve met some of the most interesting people, some beautiful women with wonderful personalities and gorgeous character. During these times, I’m still in pain but I feel great; I’m in my element and it shows.

I love having people come up to talk to me, a group of women during “girl’s night out,” ignoring the groups of men and the pairs of guys (trying to pretend they’re too cool and not interested.)

The guys gawk and can’t understand how this tall, thin and possibly frail, injured, flawed, long-haired, dark-sunglass wearing Asian is getting all of this attention.

I hear “is he famous?” “I think he’s a model,” “I’ve seen him before, he was with that blonde, remember her?” It’s all in the distance… they’re too-timid to move into my territory. I’m clearly under the social-spotlight, and I enjoy the adoration. I don’t own the club, bar or venue… I do however, during these moments, dominate the ground I stand on and wouldn’t want it any other way.

I want to share these joyous memories

I want to document them; without actually seeing it happen, many can’t understand, appreciate or even believe that these stories are true. During these good times, I’m not looking for sex. I’m not looking for love… I’m finding company, personal connections. I’m entertaining and being entertained, it’s as if my soul is taken care-of by these events. The flattery is a welcome ego-boost; arrogant as I am, I know my flaws and I know my weakness…

I know that at almost any-moment, without warning, I can be stripped of it all and I’ll be sent spiraling-downward,

forced to deal with tremendous pain and the agony of defeat brought-on by my condition—no outside force is ever so irrevocably damaging as the side-effects of narcotics and the withdrawal symptoms from not taking them as the mere-shell of the deeper damage, trauma, mixture of physical and emotional pain…

…slowly seething, swirling in a brew, the eventuality always similar or same: I’m going to hurt. It’s really going to hurt.

I’m lucky to have a few great people, willing to sacrifice so much time and energy to help me feel a bit better. It must be difficult to put-out so much with prior-knowledge that no amount of effort will ever FULLY alleviate my suffering. It can be a disappointment to try so-hard and never fully succeed or accomplish one’s goal… this I know.

This, to the great ones who’ve helped me, and continue to help me through: I love you, so very much. Thank you.