This blog has moved to Wordpress. I’m an environmentally conscious writer/hairdresser with a heart. I may write fiction, non-fiction, and anything my clients talk about. Read my eBook novels, Mafia Hairdresser, and, The Glow Stick Gods or I'll cut you! MafiaHairdresser.com Watch for my non-fiction humor eBook, "50 Days of 50," and my How-To book: "Social Media for Stylists, Salons & Spas."
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Tuesday, October 11, 2011
National Coming Out Day
Check out Rob's book, Coming Out, an Act of Love. It's a book about coming out, in every way. Including going for your dreams that God gave you.
Here's another gift I got from the The Experience workshop. An inspiring song that makes me feel my power again, every time I listen to it. It's In Every One Of Us.
jon-david is an Experience graduate and is using his gifts and living his dreams. He's a blogger at TheLocalTourist.com. Read his novels, Mafia Hairdresser, and, The Glow Stick Gods. jon-david is a hairdresser at Joseph Michael's Salon & Spa and is happily in a relationship with David Cradduck--they have two dogs, Olive the, LabDoodle and Junebug, the Yorkie.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Thank you, Carrie Fisher
In the acknowledgment section of my book, Mafia Hairdresser, I tell author actress, Carrie Fisher, "it was because of you that I became a writer." And this is true.
To my knowledge, I did not know Carrie Fisher in the sense that we ever exchanged words or thoughts. I'm not even sure if our eyes met or if she even paid the slightest amount of notice to me the many times our paths crossed. The reason that I'm not sure was that I was under the influence of many things, including youth and bashfulness, when we were both intermingling around the Hollywood party scene at the same time. Of course, I knew who she was, but I was a little twink of a hairdresser working for a mob couple and we got invited to all the same fancy shindigs where the coke was free and the Dom Perignon was on tap.
I loved watching Carrie Fisher, from afar, at those parties. She was captivating and funny and she was always making the men around her double over in pain from laughter. I do not know if she was under the influence of anything but a jacked-up magnetism, but I wrote a fictionalized interpretation of how I remembered the real Carrie in my first book; which also takes place in the 80s. I hope, one day, she reads my book and smiles. But I really want her to know that it wasn't until years later that she became my inspiration to become a writer. When her book, Postcards from the Edge, came out, I was so impressed at how effortlessly she came through the pages. It was like I was actually listening to the real Carrie Fisher that I used to eavesdrop on. The humor and stabbing wit in her book made me laugh out loud and her story told of the era of when I had also been at those wild parties. I thought, I talk like this, I can write like this and I think I can do this too. I had also lived through those Hollywood high-times and I had a story to tell as well.
Thank you, Carrie Fisher. You still inspire me.
Read all of Carrie Fishers books, Postcards from the Edge, Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful, Shockaholic, Wishful Drinking. And do go see her Broadway play, Wishful Drinking!
To my knowledge, I did not know Carrie Fisher in the sense that we ever exchanged words or thoughts. I'm not even sure if our eyes met or if she even paid the slightest amount of notice to me the many times our paths crossed. The reason that I'm not sure was that I was under the influence of many things, including youth and bashfulness, when we were both intermingling around the Hollywood party scene at the same time. Of course, I knew who she was, but I was a little twink of a hairdresser working for a mob couple and we got invited to all the same fancy shindigs where the coke was free and the Dom Perignon was on tap.
I loved watching Carrie Fisher, from afar, at those parties. She was captivating and funny and she was always making the men around her double over in pain from laughter. I do not know if she was under the influence of anything but a jacked-up magnetism, but I wrote a fictionalized interpretation of how I remembered the real Carrie in my first book; which also takes place in the 80s. I hope, one day, she reads my book and smiles. But I really want her to know that it wasn't until years later that she became my inspiration to become a writer. When her book, Postcards from the Edge, came out, I was so impressed at how effortlessly she came through the pages. It was like I was actually listening to the real Carrie Fisher that I used to eavesdrop on. The humor and stabbing wit in her book made me laugh out loud and her story told of the era of when I had also been at those wild parties. I thought, I talk like this, I can write like this and I think I can do this too. I had also lived through those Hollywood high-times and I had a story to tell as well.
Thank you, Carrie Fisher. You still inspire me.
Read all of Carrie Fishers books, Postcards from the Edge, Surrender the Pink, Delusions of Grandma, The Best Awful, Shockaholic, Wishful Drinking. And do go see her Broadway play, Wishful Drinking!
- jon-david is the self publishing author of Mafia Hairdresser, an 80s tale. (screenplay is finished too! and looking for an agent...)
- jon-david's second book, The Glow Stick Gods, about the 90s, is due out on all ebooks November 2011
- jon-david's third book, Murder, There's An App For That, is due out on eBooks November 2012
Monday, August 8, 2011
"You losers are going to hell, just sayin..."
I am always thankful that I have a never ending list of things to write about and, when I’m too tired to necessarily dig deep into a story or blog that I’m interested in, I let my Facebook Friends write a story for me.
This one comes from a co-worker/friend today. On his wall he wrote:
“Just saw a commercial for a Christian dating website, Christianmingle. You losers are going to hell, just sayin...”
2 people liked his post.
One person said, “Haha, Total Losers”
Of which my co-worker responded “Totally”
Another person said, “I already have my one way ticket so, I’m not worried.”
The last post was: “Christianmingle? w..t..F?!?!”
My immediate reaction was one of appall and I was also a little offended by his remark as well. Although I do not identify myself as a Christian, in a organized religion sense, I was christened in the Catholic church and I can understand how there came to be dating services for Christians looking for other Christians to date; just like there are Jewish dating organizations. And, even though I may have a huge difference of opinion where it concerns some Christian organization’s viewpoint on things like civil unions, gay rights, reproductive right etc, I would never slag the whole religion in general or the fact that they date. I think Christian people are pretty nice and I love them as much as my Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist friends. I hope they all get dates.
And then I got to thinking: Didn’t I have my Facebook friend in the Social Media Class that I taught at work? If he was there, why would he write something like that in a public format? Did my friend not know that some of his clients may be upset about such a statement? And, if even one of the salon’s clients had an issue with the statemement, I’m sure that statement would come back to bite him in the leg--if not get a talking to by management. I’m sure it’s not a thing to fire someone over, but I know I taught him that Facebook and anything online is not private. This guy is a sweet guy. And he’s funny, in person. Maybe it was just one of those flippant posts that he just didn’t think about too much? So I wrote him a personal one-to-one FB message. My tone was pretty straightforward.
Saw your post on Christian dating service and you saying they are going to hell. I know for certain that saying that anywhere, especially online, can and will be taken offensively and can be used against you--and, if you actually think about it, is not very smart. I suggest you take it off.
When I saw him make other posts and he didn’t take the offensive post off, I thought, what the heck: Let my friend write my next Social Media Blog.
I will say this one more time: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Linkin etc. is not you. It is an ongoing public discussion and you get to focus your content to what your “brand” is about. Unless you have a big bank account, a secure job and revenue stream, and you are willing to fight for any controversial statements that you make on these social media platforms, I suggest that you take another look at who’s looking at you.
I’m a writer who tells it like it is. I’ll fight for what I say online & admit when I’m wrong about what I’ve said. I’ll also stand up for anyone who is unnecessarily slagged whether they be Christians, daters, “looser,” or puppies.
“Buy my books, or I’ll cut you!” www.mafiahairdresser.com
This one comes from a co-worker/friend today. On his wall he wrote:
“Just saw a commercial for a Christian dating website, Christianmingle. You losers are going to hell, just sayin...”
2 people liked his post.
One person said, “Haha, Total Losers”
Of which my co-worker responded “Totally”
Another person said, “I already have my one way ticket so, I’m not worried.”
The last post was: “Christianmingle? w..t..F?!?!”
My immediate reaction was one of appall and I was also a little offended by his remark as well. Although I do not identify myself as a Christian, in a organized religion sense, I was christened in the Catholic church and I can understand how there came to be dating services for Christians looking for other Christians to date; just like there are Jewish dating organizations. And, even though I may have a huge difference of opinion where it concerns some Christian organization’s viewpoint on things like civil unions, gay rights, reproductive right etc, I would never slag the whole religion in general or the fact that they date. I think Christian people are pretty nice and I love them as much as my Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist friends. I hope they all get dates.
And then I got to thinking: Didn’t I have my Facebook friend in the Social Media Class that I taught at work? If he was there, why would he write something like that in a public format? Did my friend not know that some of his clients may be upset about such a statement? And, if even one of the salon’s clients had an issue with the statemement, I’m sure that statement would come back to bite him in the leg--if not get a talking to by management. I’m sure it’s not a thing to fire someone over, but I know I taught him that Facebook and anything online is not private. This guy is a sweet guy. And he’s funny, in person. Maybe it was just one of those flippant posts that he just didn’t think about too much? So I wrote him a personal one-to-one FB message. My tone was pretty straightforward.
Saw your post on Christian dating service and you saying they are going to hell. I know for certain that saying that anywhere, especially online, can and will be taken offensively and can be used against you--and, if you actually think about it, is not very smart. I suggest you take it off.
When I saw him make other posts and he didn’t take the offensive post off, I thought, what the heck: Let my friend write my next Social Media Blog.
I will say this one more time: Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Linkin etc. is not you. It is an ongoing public discussion and you get to focus your content to what your “brand” is about. Unless you have a big bank account, a secure job and revenue stream, and you are willing to fight for any controversial statements that you make on these social media platforms, I suggest that you take another look at who’s looking at you.
I’m a writer who tells it like it is. I’ll fight for what I say online & admit when I’m wrong about what I’ve said. I’ll also stand up for anyone who is unnecessarily slagged whether they be Christians, daters, “looser,” or puppies.
“Buy my books, or I’ll cut you!” www.mafiahairdresser.com
Thursday, August 4, 2011
My Facebook Wall is my post and Ad for my book this week.
This was a Facebook feed. I offered my FB friends a free download to my book, Mafia Hairdresser. You see, I need as many people as possible to read it before book 2, The Glow Stick God is published in November. You can make use of the eBook download of my book too! Make sure you use code KY72M. It expires by 8/28/2011
www.smashwords.com
It’s the get-rich-quick 80s and a young hairdresser climbs the L.A. social-scene ladder to reach more than he bargained for by moonlighting for a cocaine trafficking couple. Cars made out of coke, Hawaiian vacations, glitzy clothes & a steady flow of money makes a fabulously dangerous lifestyle that
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Miracle Whip Contest--I don't qualify.
I saw on Twitter that Miracle Whip has a Youtube contest where you tell how Miracle Whip has helped or hindered a relationship of yours and you could win $25,000 for you wedding or divorce. That’s cute right?
Well, I hate Miracle Whip. So I cannot write a Youtube script that would ring true or be endearing, and I’m not getting married or divorced. But I have a Miracle Whip story that’s worth telling and it’s the reason that I still flinch and gag whenever I even think that Miracle Whip might be in a sandwich I’m about to bite into.
It was the 80s and I was traveling north on the 405 freeway from Long Beach, California, (where I lived) to Azusa, where I was finishing up Beauty School. I’m sure I was talking on my “brick” phone with one hand and eating my Jack in the Box breakfast sandwich with the other, while steering my ’68 Plymouth Barracuda with my knee and going 80 miles an hour with traffic. (I live in Chicago now and I miss driving alongside my fellow “pro” freeway drivers.)
About 2 miles up ahead was the 91 east to west onramp overpass to the southbound 405 and a huge freight truck was on it. The truck’s cargo must have been packed to the top of the refrigerated interior because, as it took the curve on the overpass, the whole truck, minus the driver in the cab, tipped over and fell onto all of the northbound lanes. Luckily, it was early morning in the middle of summer so as cars approached the freight compartment as it was falling they were able to avoid being crushed or hitting it. Not so lucky for people in cars like me who saw what was happing up ahead: we witnessed the top of the freight compartment popping off like a squeezed frozen juice container as it hit the pavement. Only no juice squirted out: just boxes containing thousands of jars of Miracle Whip. And those jars of white fluffy spread popped and broke and began to spew its sploof all over the freeway so the next “wave” of fellow Los Angelino fab drivers began to slip and slide all around like bumper cars at a carnival; only we were all such good drivers that we had slowed down by the time we came to the Miracle Whipastrophe that we never hit each other.
I had never had a problem with Miracle Whip before the incident. I usually bought Best Foods mayo but if Miracle Whip was in the house--I liked it just as well. But after I spent that whole summer smelling the sun cooked Kraft product in my car, it’s a wonder I have not had trauma therapy for that condiment calamity. That whole summer was spent washing and power washing the underside of my muscle car: in the wheel wells, the undercarriage, engine... Miracle Whip, I don’t qualify for your $25,000 but is it too late to ask for a new car?
Well, I hate Miracle Whip. So I cannot write a Youtube script that would ring true or be endearing, and I’m not getting married or divorced. But I have a Miracle Whip story that’s worth telling and it’s the reason that I still flinch and gag whenever I even think that Miracle Whip might be in a sandwich I’m about to bite into.
It was the 80s and I was traveling north on the 405 freeway from Long Beach, California, (where I lived) to Azusa, where I was finishing up Beauty School. I’m sure I was talking on my “brick” phone with one hand and eating my Jack in the Box breakfast sandwich with the other, while steering my ’68 Plymouth Barracuda with my knee and going 80 miles an hour with traffic. (I live in Chicago now and I miss driving alongside my fellow “pro” freeway drivers.)
About 2 miles up ahead was the 91 east to west onramp overpass to the southbound 405 and a huge freight truck was on it. The truck’s cargo must have been packed to the top of the refrigerated interior because, as it took the curve on the overpass, the whole truck, minus the driver in the cab, tipped over and fell onto all of the northbound lanes. Luckily, it was early morning in the middle of summer so as cars approached the freight compartment as it was falling they were able to avoid being crushed or hitting it. Not so lucky for people in cars like me who saw what was happing up ahead: we witnessed the top of the freight compartment popping off like a squeezed frozen juice container as it hit the pavement. Only no juice squirted out: just boxes containing thousands of jars of Miracle Whip. And those jars of white fluffy spread popped and broke and began to spew its sploof all over the freeway so the next “wave” of fellow Los Angelino fab drivers began to slip and slide all around like bumper cars at a carnival; only we were all such good drivers that we had slowed down by the time we came to the Miracle Whipastrophe that we never hit each other.
I had never had a problem with Miracle Whip before the incident. I usually bought Best Foods mayo but if Miracle Whip was in the house--I liked it just as well. But after I spent that whole summer smelling the sun cooked Kraft product in my car, it’s a wonder I have not had trauma therapy for that condiment calamity. That whole summer was spent washing and power washing the underside of my muscle car: in the wheel wells, the undercarriage, engine... Miracle Whip, I don’t qualify for your $25,000 but is it too late to ask for a new car?
jon-david is the author of, Mafia Hairdresser, available on all eBook formats and Smashwords.com. His second book will be on sale this fall and can be previewed with book 1.
Original Twitter post from @MiracleWhip
"Tell us how MW affects your relationship for a chance to win $25K for your wedding or divorce @ http://t.co/JrhSnEk. No purchase necessary."
"Tell us how MW affects your relationship for a chance to win $25K for your wedding or divorce @ http://t.co/JrhSnEk. No purchase necessary."
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
I'm a hairdresser who writes. Take your tech and shove it.
I've just wasted hundreds of dollars, many hours, months, stress and lots of karma points trying to apply tech blogger savvy to my writing. I have a damned good book to sell, Mafia Hairdresser, and I will do everything it takes to make sure that as many people read it as possible; BUT I am throwing in the towel trying to become a professional blogger to do it. By the way, this is my #TechWeek “tribute,” and my hats-off-to-bloggers, and my shitty apology to my BF & social media friends who said they’d love to help me.If you know me, I hang around a very cool group of Chicago social media specialists. They have thier own companies, are paid handsomely for thier blogging or Twitter services, and they have all learned how to utilize their posts to drive search engine rankings to thier benefits and connect with other bloggers. It is my understanding that WordPress is now the ultimate blogging application and that it is magic and a must for linking people to your product, profile and services. All my friends use it and they strongly recommended that I use it. It only took me two months to discover that it’s not a website or host and that my website’s builder is not compatible. I had to learn what a MySQL, SEO and figure out File Transfer Protocol (FTP) was and why I needed it. I also learned there is a whole inner-sanctum of WordPress users that remind me of the Dungeons & Dragons clubs of the past: I just don't want to learn how to delve into the different levels--I just want to play!
You’d think that I would have asked my friends for some help after I bought a hosting service from Bluehost to replace my GoDaddy service and couldn’t figure out a new dashboard. But my BF is an IT specialist. Not a website builder, mind you, but he knows a hellava lot more about how to build a website and move a blogging application into it. Well, it turns out, it was the last thing he wanted to do and I tortured the poor man for two months so, by the time I had time to start asking help from friends, I was so brain-fried and frustrated that I got my money back from Bluehost (they were sweet & I'll be back!) and trashed the idea of using the culty Wordpress application and now I dare anyone to console me or tell me that they’d be glad to help me until I cool down. “I will cut you,” may not just be my motto.
I have read Smashwords Marketing Guide and WordPress All In One For Dummies, and countless manuals on how to upload my book for Kindle and iBook formats. I am as savvy as I’m going to get right now and I'm going reject anymore tech related material that comes my way. This Bloggy Blogger Blogspot will have to suffice for a while and now I will blog once a week here. I will still blog weekly for The Local Tourist magazine under my Twitter handle @mafiahairdreser and, hopefully, bloggers will blog about me. It’s enough, right?
So now, my immediate to-do list: I have book 2, The Glow Stick God, to get ready to be available on eBooks, Smashwords.com and MafiaHairdresser.com. That means promotional videos, press, social media and cover design before November. I am also writing book 3, Murder There’s An App For That, about the murder of a good friend and the sometimes dark and funny side of being plugged in all the time being a “social media expert.” Yes, friends, I’m writing about you. But, if you’ve read, Mafia Hairdresser, or the preview to The Glow Stick God on the eBook version, you wouldn’t worry-I'm nothing but a pissy hairdresser & an ex-professional party boy who writes--AND I fictionalize the truth & I don’t like to hurt anyone with my writing except, of course, myself.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Description of Mafia Hairdresser
I need a short Description and a Long Description for my book.
Can you read these and tell me ANYTHING in the Comments? Open to suggestions.
It’s the get-rich-quick 80s and a young hairdresser climbs the L.A. social scene ladder to get more than he bargained for by moonlighting for a cocaine trafficking couple. Cars made out of coke, Hawaiian vacations, new clothes & lots of money makes a fabulously dangerous lifestyle that becomes murderous. Based on the author's own fabulous life. Book 1 of a series.
Southern California in the 1980s was the apex of the universe for the pauper-impaired. Dynasty, Madonna, designer-everything, mobile phones and cocaine ushered in the Me Generation’s appetite for addictive living. In Los Angeles, a young hairdresser named, Jessy, dressed for success and wanted to get rich quick and got more than he bargained for by moonlighting for clients like, Big-Don, who owned a chain of auto-repair shops and supplied drugs to the Hollywood elite. Big-Don’s wife, Claire, whose habit of employing young hairdressers for more than her fashion appetite gets Jessy hooked on more than a new lifestyle.
Jessy’s day-job, at an upscale salon, Beautious Maximous, becomes strained as his co-workers and employers try their best to keep the boy grounded despite the manager being the town’s “queen” of gossip and his friends having to deal with the oncoming age of compulsory condom-sex due to a new un-named plague.
This Mafia Hairdresser is gifted cars, clothing and coke. Vacations to Hawaii, attending music & movie industry parties, and all-you-can-snort cocaine from the mob couple only temporarily mask the fact that Jessy had become part of the crime family where there is no such thing as quitting or leaving. Must this Mafia Hairdresser resort to drugs, blackmail and a possible accidental manslaughter?
Mafia Hairdresser is Book 1 in series and based on the author’s own fabulously dangerous lifestyle.
Mafia Hairdresser is already available for Kindle. After these descriptions of the book are finalized, I'll be able to make the book available on all Ebook formats such and Nook and ibooks.
Can you read these and tell me ANYTHING in the Comments? Open to suggestions.
It’s the get-rich-quick 80s and a young hairdresser climbs the L.A. social scene ladder to get more than he bargained for by moonlighting for a cocaine trafficking couple. Cars made out of coke, Hawaiian vacations, new clothes & lots of money makes a fabulously dangerous lifestyle that becomes murderous. Based on the author's own fabulous life. Book 1 of a series.
Southern California in the 1980s was the apex of the universe for the pauper-impaired. Dynasty, Madonna, designer-everything, mobile phones and cocaine ushered in the Me Generation’s appetite for addictive living. In Los Angeles, a young hairdresser named, Jessy, dressed for success and wanted to get rich quick and got more than he bargained for by moonlighting for clients like, Big-Don, who owned a chain of auto-repair shops and supplied drugs to the Hollywood elite. Big-Don’s wife, Claire, whose habit of employing young hairdressers for more than her fashion appetite gets Jessy hooked on more than a new lifestyle.
Jessy’s day-job, at an upscale salon, Beautious Maximous, becomes strained as his co-workers and employers try their best to keep the boy grounded despite the manager being the town’s “queen” of gossip and his friends having to deal with the oncoming age of compulsory condom-sex due to a new un-named plague.
This Mafia Hairdresser is gifted cars, clothing and coke. Vacations to Hawaii, attending music & movie industry parties, and all-you-can-snort cocaine from the mob couple only temporarily mask the fact that Jessy had become part of the crime family where there is no such thing as quitting or leaving. Must this Mafia Hairdresser resort to drugs, blackmail and a possible accidental manslaughter?
Mafia Hairdresser is Book 1 in series and based on the author’s own fabulously dangerous lifestyle.
Mafia Hairdresser is already available for Kindle. After these descriptions of the book are finalized, I'll be able to make the book available on all Ebook formats such and Nook and ibooks.
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