Jonathan Grubb

The good people over at LA Observed excerpted my previous post, giving my blog a little viewership boost and encouraging me to write some more. I’m not sure if they were making fun of me or not (ok, they were making fun of me) but I have very little to lose so I’ll just enjoy their ridicule. Also: I turned on comment moderation a while ago and have been following the method that works well for Laughing Squid: “Basically…if your comment does not add to the conversation, it will not be approved. Oh and we don’t feed trolls.” So I deleted all the comments calling me an idiot.

So without very much further ado, here are 8 clarifications on my previous post:

1. By Los Angeles I mean Hollywood, by which I mean the Entertainment Industry.
   I know, there’s all kinds of different people in LA, blah blah blah. When people in the rest of the world (including on the internet) say “LA” what they mean is “the place with all the movie stars.” Just like when they say “San Francisco” they mean “the gay city with the bridge.”
2. I do know some people who aren’t in entertainment.
   Just not very many. And I think they all work at Intelligentsia.
   It’s also worth noting that I’m uncomfortable with all the names/labels for the entertainment industry, which seem to include: The Entertainment Industry, The Industry, The Business, The Biz (people actually say this), LA, Hollywood, Movies, Television (as in “I’m in Television”), Film. If anyone knows a label for this industry that won’t make me want to cut out my own tongue please let me know.
3. Blogging isn’t just for nerds.
   It’s also for kids, who are also known as “MP3 pirates.”
4. People use the term “blog” incorrectly here.
   When my friend Peter made up the word “blog” it was intended to be an annoying abbreviation of “Web Log,” kind of like the Captain’s Log on Star Trek, but on the web. When Captain Picard was logging something in the Captains Log he would probably call it a Log Entry, not a Log. But people in LA say “I’m going to make a blog about this restaurant” when they mean “I’m going to write a blog post about this restaurant.” And it catches me by surprise every time. I’m like, “wow, you must really love this restaurant. How will you come up with a new thing to say about it every day?”
5. Some people don’t use macs.
   But you can avoid them by staying in certain parts oftown.

Ok, I’m bored with that list. The rest of the list will be about books I’m reading.

1. Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People
   Best advice so far: when going into a negotiation write down your goals and keep them in your pocket. You don’t have to read them, but having a written record of your goal will keep you focused and make it harder for you to change your goals once the other person starts making convincing points. (Recommended by Venture Hacks.)
2. Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America’s Favorite Addiction
   I’m just getting started, but it seems to probe one of the great questions of America: why does nearly everyone want to be famous when it’s clear that famous people are pretty miserable?
3. Travels in the Scriptorium: A Novel
   A novel about an old man who wakes up in an institutional room with no memories. Recommended by this coolguy we met in Sweden last month. Pretty depressing so far, but a nice contrast to the book on bargaining strategy.