Changes and Such...

Alright, a couple notes here for you...

First, this whole Google Friend Connect business. You may have already noticed the little module in the left sidebar in which there is a number of weird thumbnail pictures and some links that say things like "Join" and "Beer Me." Ok, there's no "Beer Me" link, try as I might. But in case you hadn't figured it out - OFTOT is now a "social" site thanks to the internet geniuses over at Google.

What this means is that now, in addition to commenting on posts, you can become a "member" of OFTOT and make "friends" with other members. Plus, they've got that nifty wall thing that I also copped. So once you become a member you can, you know, speak your mind freely about how much you hate me and my writing, over there, rather than feeling confined to commenting on the subject matter of a given post (Vern).

I think this is pretty cool stuff, myself. But I'm also a giant nerd. Nevertheless, I urge you to become a member so we can "connect" on another level and move one step closer to becoming actual friends, like in real life. Remember what that's like?

Second, and more importantly, it's that time in my semester. The time that all students, law school or otherwise, just adore. Finals, my friends.

Today is my last day of classes and for the next two weeks, I'll be in full fledged, lock myself in a room with a shitload of coffee and other study enhancers, crouched over a book that rivals the thickness of a Tolstoy novel, but does not have any of the literary appeal, mode (after work, that is).

It shouldn't really mean a whole lot for OFTOT, other than the fact that I may seem just a tad angrier than normal, and there may be days on which I don't get a morning post up until mid morning. That said, I have no idea if that will be the case or not. I'm just giving you fair warning.

And now that we've got that out of the way, I saw something this morning that kind of made me laugh and think at the same time. It was a family with a little girl, who was tethered to her Mother by a leash. Now, I've seen this before. I think right around the early to mid 90's this was kind of a "fad" for a little bit, maybe. Seeing this, I just can't help but think - what is that teaching the kid?

I mean, obviously, as a parent you want to make sure your kid doesn't wander off to get snatched up by some crazy child molester (see R Kelly/Random Asshole) or something. But you're not really teaching them what to do. You're just restricting their movement. I'm just thinking that by teaching them to stay by you on their own, they'll learn to just do it, without the need for a leash, as if they're some wild animal or something.

Then again, I'm not a parent, nor do I plan to be anytime in the foreseeable future. I love kids, but at my ripe young-ish age, I've still got a few years of idiocy left in me before I stop spending three hours a night playing Rock Band and start spending three hours a night feeding and coddling a small lifeform. Plus, this was on the busy streets of lower Manhattan (Canal St, no less). So maybe it was necessary.

Either way, I'll bet if these things were popular when I was a kid, my parents would've been first in line for one. I think I can still hear my Mom...

"CHRISTOPHER, GET! OVER! HERE! NO! LEAVE THAT DISPLAY ALONE! Shit, we better get outta here. I can't take you anywhere..."

/storms out of store angrily pulling young Christopher firmly by his left arm

Wrap-Up: OFTOT's Digital Suggestion Box...

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who offered their feedback via what I dubbed "OFTOT's Digital Suggestion Box." My whole intention in asking for your thoughts was to better offer you what YOU want. Because I can guess what that might be. But why do that when I can get it straight from the horse's mouth?...Not that you guys are horses or anything...that is, unless you want to be.

Anyways, I just wanted to address a few things I noted. Just to clarify.

1. "Whining" -- As I'm sure you all know, we try not to make this our style. But we do respect other people's rights to express their opinions however they so choose. Nonetheless, if you ever feel like someone is "whining" unnecessarily (including and perhaps most especially myself or Domski), please add your own two cents to the mix. We love healthy debate and I think most of our commenters do too. Besides, this is the interweb. Also known as the second home of some of the world's biggest whiners. If you know what I mean...

2. Meeting People Is Easy -- It seems there is some confusion around this feature. What this is meant to be is just an opportunity for readers and friends of OFTOT to present themselves to the OFTOT community on a more personal level. Especially now, with it being the offseason, it seemed like a good time to try this. And to be honest, it is a lot of work. But I was hoping that if I kept it up, more people would be interested in participating. Although that has not happened yet, I'm still holding out hope. So if you haven't already been involved with this and would like to be, we would be happy to have you. Just shoot me an email and we'll get it going...

3. Domski -- You may have noticed me using the article "we" when talking about the blog lately. This is not just a clever editorial decision. Since Domski did such a bang up job filling in for me and thoroughly enjoyed it, he's agreed to continue contributing on a regular basis. I feel like this will be a great opportunity for us to bring you guys MORE of what YOU want. Not to mention also give you an alternative voice around here, lest we not keep things interesting...

4. Dinosaurs -- Boy, were we excited that the winning vote-getter in "What do you want to read more of on OFTOT?" was Dinosaurs. Really this is just evidence that the majority of you out there appreciate the ridiculousness of this blog. We're truly proud to know that you think we are the complete jackasses we try to portray with every post. And for this reverence, ye shall be rewarded with Dinosaurs...stay tuned for later in the week...

And finally, just as a general matter - I hope you guys see how much I care about bringing you content you can enjoy. I've been in this blog game for a while now and it ain't easy. Sure I am keeper of the content. But why would I only post things that are interesting to me? I, and I know Domski now too, really want your OFTOT experience to be engaging. So please, if you ever have suggestions, ideas, comments or otherwise, feel free to email us --

Cotter = onefortheotherthumb@gmail.com
Domski = domskia@gmail.com.

And now that that's out of the way, back to your regularly scheduled weekend recovery day...

Dude, What's With The Blog Lately?

You might have noticed a conspicuous break in consistency recently from One for The Other Thumb. No I haven't given up the dream, just been preoccupied with some other things.

One of my best buddies is getting married (next weekend) so I've been doing my best to support that with the requisite amount of extracurricular partying.

Plus, I am happy to announce that as of this coming weekend (either Friday or Saturday depending on how efficient I decide to be), I will be assuming a new residence. Still in New Jersey (sadly), in fact still in Hoboken (how could I leave?), just closer to all the action (or something like that).

So apologies in advance if my posts are a little more sparse for the next couple of weeks, but come July 9 the dust should all be settled and I can restore normalcy (applying the term loosely).