The Extra Cool Group! (of people Michael is experimenting on) discussion

Welcome! In case you skipped over the group info, this group is designed to do two things:

1) Compile info about how different Goodreads members use the website (how they review, friend people, vote for reviews, etc.).

2) Be ridiculously awesome, extra cool, action-packed, and dead sexy.

In this welcome thread, say WHASSUP to your peeps! Also, I'm curious to know--if I may ask--what you 'do' in meatspace. Do you build nuclear warheads? Live in your momma's basement? I'm not here to judge, this is all for the sake of science. Err, English.

I'm a hobo (professionally).

I play rockband and watch the same episodes of bones and lie to me over and over again, I also spend a lot of time feeling guilty about liking things that are "bad" and disliking things that are "classic and amazing".

I manage databases for an international trade consulting firm.

Also, I am disappointed about the lack of free beer. :P

Howdy - In the world of real, I work in sales & marketing in South Bend, Ind. for a manufacturer (pays the mortgage), I cover sports freelance for a few local newspapers as well as the Associated Press (pays for beer), and I am an author of fictional type things with 2 novellas recently published (doesn't pay for shit just yet).

Steve wrote: "I am an author of fictional type things with 2 novellas recently published (doesn't pay for shit just yet)"

but yay for that anyway.

I'm a Ph.D. candidate in English and a writing and literature teacher at the college level.

Indeed, yay.

K.I. wrote: "Sup! Apart from writing the two next great American novels (har, har), I edit websites professionally and just landed a serving gig for extra money / stealing stories from people's lives for book t..."

Way to get a job! You rock.

Is this going to make me famous?

K.I. - no it is not. I recently quit my sports staffer job (part time) at the South Bend Tribune because it was just too much with a full time job, kids, a life, etc. Freelance lets me pick and choose when I want to work. I was there for 10 years, but that place is a shell of its former self now and I wouldn't be surprised if they dropped the print paper altogether and went totally web-based in the next 5 years.

K.I. wrote: "but the clientele includes local politicians and lobbyists as well as homeless bums, so I think it's gonna make excellent fodder."

Wow. It's like they didn't even know who you are. Suckers.

I'm a web designer (KI we should talk shop sometime!) in Minneapolis.

I'd read that book! :) Good luck with it!

I'm a graduate student in international history, trying to survive my first semester. .... which is probably not helped by me posting here instead of writing one of the three papers I have due in the next three weeks, but how could I resist the extra cool points?

Kelly, I also went to grad school in history. Feel free to contact me for moral support.

I gave up academia for wine. No, not just drinking it.

I gave up academia for wine.

I suppose I can provide you with wine instead of beer, then, Miriam.

Since everyone else is sharing, I should say that I'm a grad student in English (OBVIOUSLY), a full-timer at a bank, and I'm also writing a long-ass novel at the pace of roughly one word a day.

This is awesome! I'm learning all kinds of new things about you people! It's just like The Breakfast Club!

this is such an awesome positive thread that now has lots of people I don't know well in it. So really, I'm in graduate school for psychology, I do research on body image (nonverbal and male mostly) and I work for the #1 goodreads reviewer!!! Well I don't work for her, but I do things when she tells me to.

I'm an ingratiating sycophant. When you can't find me plagiarizing reviews, I'm voting for Bristol Palin's 'Dancing With The Stars' performance art.

I'm a college senior studying Literature/Creative Writing. My future career goals include Panhandler, Ghostwriter of Celebrity Biographies, and Well-Educated Trophy Wife. When I'm not making fun of Shakespeare and fighting Goodreads trolls, I occasionally review a book like a rational human being.

K.I. wrote: "Steve wrote: "K.I. - no it is not. I recently quit my sports staffer job (part time) at the South Bend Tribune because it was just too much with a full time job, kids, a life, etc. Freelance lets m..."

That was a fascinating read, thanks. And rather depressing as well. The other day, I pulled out some old newspapers from my closet (old as in only about 9 years) and showed them to my boys, 12 and 11 years old. They couldn't believe how big the paper was WAY back then. It was a bit strange to look at those pages, so wide and packed full of content. The paper now is almost half its former size. Literally shrinking before our eyes until it disappears completely.

I suppose I can provide you with wine instead of beer, then, Miriam.

Beer is fine. I have plenty of wine already. Or you could bring some cheese and we could have a wine and cheese party and talk all snooty-like about Literature.

Steve, that's funny -- you must've started working for the Tribune about the time I first moved to South Bend. I gave up reading it pretty quickly, I'm afraid.

Miriam wrote: "I suppose I can provide you with wine instead of beer, then, Miriam.

Beer is fine. I have plenty of wine already. Or you could bring some cheese and we could have a wine and cheese party and talk..."

My writing does tend to have that effect on people. Are you still in South Bend?

Elementary Ed . teacher. Taught 3rd, 4th,and presently 5th grade. This is my 28th year, yikes! I must have nerves of steel!

It wasn't you, Steve, it was South Bend. And that's a NO. I now avoid the entire Midwest.

Hooray for avoiding the midwest! I'll drink to that. I'm originally from Indianapolis, but finally escaped. Somehow, I don't think I've ever been to South Bend.

I'm a college senior studying Literature/Creative Writing.

Good degree choice! You can't do anything with it other than sound smart--mine's creative writing and philosophy--but, as long as you're already planning to be a trophy wife / panhandler, it should work out perfectly for ya.


I do research on body image (nonverbal and male mostly)

That sounds pretty badass. I'd imagine a lot less people are researching male body image than female..or am I wrong?

That sounds pretty badass. I'd imagine a lot less people are researching male body image than female..or am I wrong?

you are right, and it is a pain in the ass, and I want to bag out and only do nonverbal because I get a lot of crap on the whole not having a penis front, but I'm trying to hang in there as long as possible.

Jasmine wrote: "I play rockband and watch the same episodes of bones and lie to me over and over again

I love Rockband and Lie to Me and wish grad school didn't take away all of my time for both.

I'm a hermit (professionally). It pays less than hobo-ing, but the hours are better. I'm 23, went to college for two years after high school, got my Associate's Degree in Arts and Sciences, then decided to take some time off to figure out what to do next. Three years later, I still don't know. Quit my job and moved back home with my parents two years ago because my dad got sick (and I hated my job), and I haven't moved out yet. But I did get a new job. Also, I'm getting my eyes fixed--well, the left one; I have advanced keratoconus in that eye and I'm getting a corneal transplant next week--and maybe that'll inspire me to go back to school in a year or so for...something.

Too much? Yeah, too much...

interesting.

Technology/communications lawyer (the political kind more than the courtroom kind), and occasional freelance writer for kicks (the disability social justice ranty kind). Book blogger on essentially a whim -- I made a new year's resolution back in 2006 to review everything I read, and now it's a lifestyle.

I realize I almost never mention what I do for a living on GR, maybe because it has almost nothing to do with my reading life. I'm a house painter. Most of what I do is administrative: estimates, answering phones, dealing with marketing, etc, but I still do production, which is code for I still climb ladders and fight bees and paint things. Mostly when I'm doing production I mess with windows and other tricky things, things that should work and are often mistreated by homeowners. I will try to abstain from lecturing everyone on how to treat their windows.

Anyway, I'm a college drop-out; never did get the degree. I'm about one class from finishing, and that's probably my biggest regret from my young life. My parents were academics, and I feel very comfortable with that language and style, but it's not what my temperament ended up being. Or something. Mostly I started writing reviews just to write them. My mother, who was one of my first friends on GR, and who has been a massive influence in everything I think, was my only audience for a long while. I still write for her a lot. I've found a lot of great, brilliant, awesome people here, who are articulate about their reading, and I write to them too.

Awww, group hug?

Yes, I have had a glass of wine or two.

*hugs*

I didn't see your post when I posted, E.

Yeah, it's weird how it gets out of control, isn't it?

I'm still extremely freaked out about the fact that I'm in the best reviewers rankings. I know there are a lot of words spilled on Gr about votes, vote getting, tactics, vote whoring, whether it's evil, whether it matters, etc. You could probably write a whole, very boring, totally hermetic paper about goodreaders and their stances on that topic alone.

Yup, still drinking.

i sell books and break fridges.

hi caris wife. I bet you are as awesome as he is. congratulations on your awesomeness!!

karen wrote: "i sell books and break fridges."

what happened to your fridge?

it died. so i got a new one, but i had to spend the day moving shit to make a path for it...it has been a long and dusty day, you see...

I thought you had the flu?

i have something. it is all throat and head and fever. it makes cleaning even more fun!

did you try coke and cleaning that's what wallace has been suggesting? might be more fun then sick cleaning.

damn, another missed opportunity.

next time!!

I got invited a long time ago by a friend who joined the site, rated a bunch of books, and then disappeared. I only gradually got interested in actually reviewing, and at first was pretty nervous about sounding like a dumbass. Now, I clearly don't care.

I think I started taking reviewing seriously after I started reading reviews by some articulate people including Jacob, Kelly and Brad, and then I started writing much weirder things after I started reading Manny's reviews a while after that. As I started writing more meta-reviews, I somehow started getting votes and stuff, and I'm going to second something that I THINK Ceridwen said, but I'm too lazy to scroll up...I think having friends who vote and don't just read the reviews is a huge part of who ends up on The List.

There's definitely a lot that could be said about The List, but the only thing I find interesting about it is how it does (or doesn't) change decisions we make as reviewers. Hmmm, I might start another thread for that question.

You have another friend named Jacob? I'd like to read his reviews!

Michael wrote: "There's definitely a lot that could be said about The List, but the only thing I find interesting about it is how it does (or doesn't) change decisions we make as reviewers. Hmmm, I might start another thread for that question."

Look, I helped!

I'm a student in Melbourne, Australia - don't ask me what I'm studying, because I'm not quite sure. However, it definitely includes Arabic and definitely does not include English literature.

I got invited to goodreads by a friend from high school who hardly uses it any more and started writing reviews in imitation of some of the really great stuff I was reading on this site. I basically stopped reviewing a few months ago because I felt like I was doing too much navel-gazing and not much actual literary analysis. And I didn't have time. And I wanted to spend more time reading books and less time talking about them. And I've always been kind of anti-social.

good luck with the arabic, that's tough.

hey, just joined (thanks, Ceridwen). really interesting to read what folks do outside of goodreads...I myself teach full-time at a community college in NW Connecticut. I teach all sorts of English classes (from Comp to Cr Wr, Lit., etc) and also Spanish. I write fiction and have 3 story collections published. I've a son who's in his last year of high school..and I translate poetry...will be working on a book by Chilean poet Javier Campos.

Jasmine wrote: "good luck with the arabic, that's tough."

No way, Arabic is the easy part.

Choupette wrote: "Jasmine wrote: "good luck with the arabic, that's tough."

No way, Arabic is the easy part."

then you're a genius. I took two years of it and ended up giving up.

ضابط كبير

maybe... I forget.

Well, I had to look up ضابط in a dictionary. Senior officer? High standard?

It's only easy by comparison to physics, which is what I'm officially enrolled in, and ready to drop out of.