Tag Archives: Perrin Lovett

Back to School

09 Tuesday Aug 2016

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I’m more confused than Rodney Dangerfield.

This afternoon I checked my voice mail and discovered a message from my daughter’s school. It was a kindly robo-call to remind me that my little girl starts school tomorrow morning. I knew that! It’s in my calendar … I checked to make sure… I forget a lot. I forget a lot.

The calendar reminded me of something. Yes, tomorrow is August the 10th. That seems so early for the school year to begin. Some schools have already started this week or even last week. A little sleuthing on the inter-webs taught me that a few systems even started in July! What’s going on? I remember the days when summer lasted until after Labor Day or at least until the end of August. It just seems to me the children are getting shafted out of big chunks of summer – a month or more in some places.

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Photo by Piotr Lewandowski/FreeImages.

I checked on a historical hunch to confirm my own fading memory. I forget a lot. Ancient school calendars are somewhat rare so I couldn’t be picky with sources. I did find that, sure enough, in 1980 the Orange County (I didn’t bother with which Orange County) Public Schools started back the Tuesday after Labor Day – just like I remembered.

Further research revealed that there are still a number of systems that allow students to enjoy summer. These are mostly in the Northeast. I suppose there summers are shorter than most and so they let the kids enjoy it while they can. If I know anything about school calendar trends (and I don’t), then I suspect that more and more schools are starting earlier and earlier. At this rate, at some unspecified time in the future, American schools may only break for a summer weekend or maybe summer week.

Out of desperation I searched internationally. Scotland, England and Wales still start later in August (not sure about their calendar histories). Desperation turned to folly when I was forced to accept hemispherical adjustments. Due to the reverse of seasons down under, schools in Australia and New Zealand start back in January or February. Mind blown I returned to reality.

My little sweetie starts middle school (which used to be called JR. HIGH school!) tomorrow. I’m a little nervous for her or maybe for me. Maybe it’s a dad thing. Or a forgetful thing. I do know she’s looking forward to it all. Some of her old friends will be going to school with her, some won’t. She makes new friends easily; I know she’ll be happy. She’s also super-bright. We’ve never encountered any grade level changes that presented unexpected challenges (any challenges really); I suspect she could just as easily skip into high school (if it’s still called that).

She went to a terrific elementary school and this middle is top-ranked. It’s going to be a great experience.

I have been down on modern education on this site previously. However, there are decent schools out there. I just wished they started later than they do now. In my humble opinion school shouldn’t start until after Labor Day and should let out no later than just before Memorial Day. They should have a lot of breaks too. And shorter hours. Less homework. I’m a rebel.

Maybe a rebel without a cause. Maybe even a budding curmudgeon. Times have changed but I have not. Short summers. Four-cylinder engines. Remote controls. Mmmmmm. I hope my daughter has a blog some day so she can tell us why “daddy is wrong”. Unless, she turns rebel. One can only hope.

I realize I’m leaving off the entire subject of when schools are dismissed for summer break, now versus then. That will give me something to ramble about next year at the end of May … or is it the end of June?

I’m With … WordPress: Ad(ed) Value

08 Monday Aug 2016

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So … at the bottom of this post you will probably notice (if you keep scrolling) a small advertisement for something or other. I mentioned a few days ago that I don’t control these ads; WordPress (my awesome hosting platform) places them. The reason for this is that my site is considered a “free” site by WP. That’s not entirely accurate; I pay a small fee to keep “wordpress” out of my link address and to have the “.me”. I was once at “.com” for a while but I forgot to renew (always forgetting something) and a domain pirate swooped in a grabbed it.

They will kindly sell the .com back for about $2,800 – up from $600 or so thanks to the increase in my site’s popularity. (Thanks, all).

Anyway, my next step with WP is to go professional. That comes with a host of neat features but costs a little. I’m planning on stepping up by the end of the year. (Donations will be accepted soon at GoFundMe…..).

Until then, this is how the WP ads work:

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WordPress.

I’ve never intended to burden my readers or slow down my site with a lot of ads. At some point I may run some targeted “affiliate” ads for things I recommend; knowing me, those will probably be cigars and guns. Until then, I am happy to suffer the occasional WP ad in exchange for reasonable pricing.

When I’m not ranting about cigars, guns, or wall rugs, I tend toward political news with an anarchist point of view. I do not endorse politicians unless they are exceptional (Ron Paul) or dead (Leo Ryan) or both (Cicero). However, it has come to my attention that WP has been running political ads lately – this being political ad season.

Like Facebook and Google, there must be a liberal slant at WP because the only ads I see (and readers notice) are Hillary Clinton ads. I recently wrote a short piece about how Hillary is a criminal and, low and behold, it was accompanied by an “I’m with her.” ad. Funny but I don’t even like the appearance that I might be endorsing a candidate, especially Killary.

Since I cannot afford to dispense with the ads yet I have began to counter them with a disclaimer: “*The gag “ad(s)” above this line are endorsed by Perrin Lovett; those below are not.”; and with little “ads” of my own. It looks something like this to readers:

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This process has allowed me to make use of a meme generator for the first time. That’s fun. I hope this serves as sufficient explanation. Until such time as the ads are done away with, please know: I’m with freedom.

 

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*The gag “ad(s)” above this line are endorsed by Perrin Lovett; those below are not.

An American Legend: The Wall Rug of Freedom

07 Sunday Aug 2016

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Over the past few years I’ve pared down my belongings considerably; everything I own will neatly fit inside my vehicle. My rule is: if I don’t really need it or if I haven’t used it in about six months, it needs to go. This cuts down on clutter and makes running from the law easier. I forget a lot of things so this also helps me not have more junk to worry about losing. A very few things, however, I hang onto in defiance of my better (?) judgement.

For instance, there is my beautiful bicentennial wall rug, that until today I had once again forgotten I possessed.

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I’ve had her for almost forty years. Only twice, for short periods of time, have I properly displayed this unique work of art. Most of its life has been spent rolled up in a closet. I do not need this item and I have not used it for years. Still, I absolutely love it.

Ain’t she cool. A bald eagle carrying the Liberty Bell pass “Old Glory”. I’ve seen very few physical objects that scream “America!” like this. I don’t just “America,” as used in everyday parlance; I mean A-MER-I-CA!!!!! as in Johnny Horton’s Johnny Freedom. Even the label on the back has a fascinating tidbit of history. This beauty IS history.

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As with most pieces of my life, this one comes with a good story. I have no idea how I remember it but I do, almost vividly. When I was about two years old my parents took me to the Ethan Allen furniture store in Columbus, Mississippi. This was just after a big flood. They were trying to get rid of everything through sales and giveaways. One item up for raffle was my flag-rug. My dad was holding me and I got to reach into a hat full of pieces of paper with names on them. I pulled out “Lovett”. The rug was mine. I was so excited.

Oddly, I get the same feeling whenever I look at her. I got it this afternoon. There’s something so patriotic in this work; it stirs the soul. The cynic in me could say it reads like the tombstone of the old republic – 1776 – 1976. But I’ve never thought that. I see powerful imagery of what was and what could be again. A nation to be proud of. Of proud people. Strong people. Defiant freedom, as clear as a bell and swift as an eagle.

I’ve only seen one other of these rugs. It hung on the wall at my old barber’s shop until he retired. He and I had a lot in common, rugs aside. I sometimes feel like a visitor a few years too late – a time-traveling, freedom-seeking tourist in the wrong town or on the wrong day. He was the real thing, a holdover from the old America. The only other living man I knew (besides my father) with a real connection to Grit and Steel.

There are a lot of memories in this woven acrylic masterpiece stored away in the closet. One day she will grace the wall of my study, in the little cabin, high in the mountains, far away. Until then, she’ll just have to remain one of my legends.

 

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*The gag “ad(s)” above this line are endorsed by Perrin Lovett; those below are not.

Moving Forward

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

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Summer can be a time for reflection. I, as author and editor of this site, have the luxury of taking stock of where the work is going. This is the fifth summer at perrinlovett.me though the third of real activity (2012 and 2014 were pretty lame, yes). Based on such a short history I can still see trends. For instance, I know summer, for whatever reason, is a slower time for readership. Kids out of school, vacation, too hot – whatever. It’s just slower than the rest of the year.

Yet and still growth is happening. The July ended this past Sunday was my busiest July by far. The attention comes in waves. Lately the peaks of those waves have been reaching higher and higher. By the way, thank you all.

It’s not just July that impresses me. Everything is trending upwards. This post, on August 2nd, will bring my total for 2016 some sixty articles higher than through all of 2015. Positive growth. You are responding too. Sometime this morning I achieved more total viewers for this year than through all of last year (and I thought last year was impressive – for me). All that compressed into seven months, one day, and a few short hours. I’ve also noticed a growing audience outside of North America – much of what I write is about Europe and the rest of the West. It’s entirely likely that by December I will have eclipsed all previous numbers, counted together. Thanks, again.

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WANTED for cigar arson and crimes against insanity.

Today, as a reward, I re-posted a popular piece from last fall – Piracy, Counterfeiting and Treason. Those are the three named crimes from the Constitution which the federal government may pursue. Of course, as I point out in the article, today the government commits them rather than prosecutes them. A few weeks ago a friend joked with me: “Perrin’s blog – government is bad.” That’s my theme (punctuated with guns, cigars and cultural befuddlement). Yes. That’s me and that’s not going to change.

What of the future? What will change, if anything?

Progress will continue to be slow and steady. I am akin to the tortoise of Aesop fame. More commentary, certainly. More books offerings. I am (veeeerrrry slooowly) working on an e-course which many of you will find of great utility. Rumor has it The Perrin Lovett Show may return.

There will, some day, be another page upgrade. There are three levels at WordPress. I’m in the middle level right now. Level one is free (for me) and basic. My level is paid and comes with many expanded features for you. The next level costs a little more but offers me near-total control while allowing you a more seamless experience. For one thing, it will eliminate the ads which WP sometimes runs here. I don’t control or benefit from them. I don’t really like them but I can’t, yet, do anything about them. The other day I wrote a short about how bad Hillary Clinton is. When I looked at it through a regular browser it was accompanied by a “I’m With Her” political ad. Ridiculous. That sort of thing will be going away.

I’ve never run ads per se here. Naturally, I promote the site and my published work. Once I had a few links to some businesses owned by friends. They may come back if I so decide. I may also run a few independent and narrowly targeted ads for things that fit with my overall theme. You’ll know them when you see them.

The next level will also feature embedded video. That will be handy should I decide to do a full-time, regular video series or a podcast or something. I also toy with the idea of a paid section – a newsletter or something similar. Nothing mandatory though.

I have been building an email list this summer. Experts say this is critical for promoting a presence and marketing things like e-books. Hint: if you’re reading this, you may very well be on the list. In short order I will do a test mailing. That will allow you the opportunity to stay on the list or to leave (why you would leave is beyond me…). It will also allow me to judge how bad my infrastructure is. Very bad I suspect. Moving forward I will upgrade to a professional mail service; right know it’s just a “group” in Gmail.

The experts also say a list needs 10,000 members to be truly effective but that the list essentially builds itself once it gets going. They say several hundred members is a good start. I’m starting somewhere between a good start and truly effective. I’m counting on you to get me to 10,0000 and beyond.

You can count on me to keep rambling and ranting away. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Thank you, yet again.

Perrin

Literary Pirates of the Internet

25 Monday Jul 2016

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This is not a story about a new ride at Disneyland – wouldn’t that one be boring. No, this is about me and my beloved books – I hope that’s not boring.

I’m working as steady as I can on two new volumes which should be released in tandem (or close to it) and released soon. One is another cigar book, a work of pure humor. The other is dead serious, a guide to fighting terrorism on the personal, day-to-day basis. Soon, folks, soon. Ready those debit cards now.

While I was taking a break I did a periodic check on The Happy Little Cigar Book. While it is not a bestseller, it has been more successful than I had originally hoped. Thank you all! I also discovered that it is available at Barnes and Noble. I had forgotten that CreateSpace has a B&N connection. Or, maybe I made that up in my head. Anyway, I’m now at the first and second largest bookstores in the world.

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I need 5-star reviews here to match Amazon. B&N.com.

The HLCB is also (allegedly) available from some not so reputable sites as I discovered on Friday. My Googling led me to several sites claiming to offer free downloads of my book. Free downloads of MY book!  That is piracy. It’s theft of my copyright protected material. Two of these are linked to Google somehow – probably via an aggregation service anyone can use. The others I looked at, like the one below, are probably just scams. I read up on this phenomenon. “Download” means get a free virus. I do not advise looking into this. That, and they likely operate outside of U.S. jurisdiction or through a laborynth of servers.

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I DID NOT and DO NOT authorize this theft of my property! I’m also not attributing this clipped picture (fair play).

This is a plain, simple DMCA violation. I have a warning right there inside my books, digital and paperback.  I have an action under 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 512, et seq., provided I could pinpoint exactly who the pirates are. It’s odd for me to ponder having to use one of the many laws I can’t stand. I’ll probably let it go; blades are more my style anyway.

Part of me is angry but mostly I am flattered. At least I have enough notoriety to get into the scam sites. I was also a little mad that I did not find any pirated copies of Perrin On Politics – then again, that one is free to begin with.

I may take action but I probably will not. I could send a DMCA warning and notice (a cease a desist letter) along with a civil pre-litigation notice. I doubt much would come of it.

However, one site says the HLCB has a 4.5 star rating out of about 6,000 views. If that means they gave away 6,000 copies, then I am owed a tidy little sum. Those numbers are likely fluff and lies put up by some Chinese hacker, trying to get your bank information or something. Enough said.

For now I’ll just be flattered and a slight bit amused. You, all of you, please avoid the pirates out there. Fake or not, these postings are illegal reproductions – stolen goods. Get the real thing at Amazon or B&N. And, look out for my new material coming very soon (to real sites and stores and with real pricing).

Perrin

Frankly My Dear, I Don’t Give a Tweet

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

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I don’t use or pay attention to Twitter. Several years ago, when social media became acceptable to the post-collegiate crowd, I did have an account. I used to tweet out some of my blog posts. Very little came of it. I closed the account.

Most of my posts that tend to be overly popular are 1,000 – 3,000 words long. I find 140 characters very limiting. In fact, I still don’t see the point; it all seems like superfluous jibber to me. And I have never to the day understood what the hell “@” and “#” have to do with anything.

Today news came that Twitter banned popular writer Milo Yiannopoulos, apparently because of the tweets of other people. It’s a private company and they can do what they want but it smacks of censorship. Milo says, “There is a systemic campaign against conservative and libertarian points of view on Twitter.” If they work against conservatives and libertarians, I can only imagine how I would be hated. For me, it’s not worth the hassle.

I’ll stick to promos on Facebook and the Facebook for adults, LinkedIn. Yes, the Perrin Lovett Show will someday make a Youtube comeback (Y’all know I’m a little lazy and more than a little technologically challenged).

As for the Twits, Stephan Pastis got it right the other day:

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Pastis, Pearls Before Swine, July 14, 2016.

Getting The Business

20 Wednesday Jul 2016

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Money reports there were fewer small business start-ups these days in America:

Bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs: Now might not be the best time to launch your own business.

Total entrepreneurial activity in the U.S.—measured by the number of people starting and operating new businesses—fell to 12% in 2015, from 14% in 2014, according to a report released Tuesday by Babson College. The drop reverses upward growth in small business activity during the previous four years.

The findings could indicate that employees are satisfied with their jobs and unwilling to strike out on their own. But the research could also show a lack of confidence in the small business environment in the wake of the recession, Babson professor Donna Kelley told CNBC. The Small Business Optimism Index, a metric from the National Federation of Independent Business, has remained below its 42-year average since the recession.

I find it interesting that commentators keep throwing around “since the last recession” and “the wake of the recession” so much. Are they talking about the 2008 financial crisis recession? You know, the one that will soon be a decade past. Or do they really mean the current or immediate future recession? We are historically overdue.

Ebay.

This story is a little personal for me as I launched (full-time) my small business this summer. I’ve had several in the past – all failures. This time will be different (as I’ve said before). A business idea, even if it’s the very best idea in the world, isn’t easy to get off the ground anymore. Big, existing, and stagnant business dinosaurs join with the government to make the start-up process as painful as possible.

Aside from the licenses, taxes, regulations, inspections, prohibitions, and general meddling, the corporatist/banking/state cabal has seen to it that your potential customers and investors are not in the best position to help you with your incredible idea launch – they too still recover from “the last recession”.

You’ve got the likes of Speaker Paul Ryan who promises to crack down on job-taking and nightclub-shooting immigrants just after he rubber-stamps another 300,000 of them coming in on visas.

It’s amazing that any small business starts today. I’m not so sure about that idea of employee satisfaction with existing work. CNBC reports on the woes of “regular” employment, the loss of jobs and pay, even on Wall Street. This story deals with Wall Street banks – those very entities that OWN America… If their employees are getting the short end of the stick, what does that suggest about the rest of the workforce?

Anyway, I’m plowing ahead with my new enterprise. Of late I have finally developed an email list of sorts. Someone important once said, “You’re an idiot if you don’t have a list.” I was an idiot up until last week… In my defense, I was still recovering “from the recession.”

Taking a Break

17 Sunday Jul 2016

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Turkey may be going to hell and three cops are dead in LA. That is all the comment I have on that.

Me, I’m recently arrived back in Cigar Nirvana for a little R&R.

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Last week I had the high privilege of visiting Town Centre Tobacco and Wine in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. What a great place! An excellent selection of cigars, wine, and craft beer in a first class setting.

Now I’m comfortably back at Davidoff, Tampa.

Maximus time.

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Ahh. I think that will be all for today.

Cheers,

Perrin

Blogging and the Nightly Imagination

12 Tuesday Jul 2016

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Last night I typed up a short piece about losing a Facebook friend. It was just a rambling expose of thoughts, without any of my usual opinions and revelations. (As a friend put it not too long ago: “Perrin’s blog: government bad.”). I was blown away by the high traffic this short post generated – more than many of what I consider good, in-depth articles.

I thank you for your patronage and I apologize if my story broke bad news to some of you. I got some emails and messages about the death in question.

More, I think, is due now on the creation of that post – not of its nature or origin but rather the environment in which it was written. I can work wherever there is internet connectivity (or decent cell reception) – most places: the house, cigar shops, the gym, coffee houses, bars, hotels, etc. Sometimes, most times, I like working outside. Last night’s posting about Facebook was developed in a garden shed. I do some of my best work there, hot in the summer, cold in the winter.

Day or night I tend to get visitors in the shed. These are mostly flying insects though the occasional cat or bird may drop by. With the exception of mosquitoes, their company is welcomed by me.

Last night, while I typed away about a man I’d never actually met, I heard a scratching, scrambling noise above my head. The shed has a loft, a big shelf near the ceiling. The building is less than well secure so it’s possible for all manner of critters to enter.

As the bumping and scrapings continued and intensified I began to ponder what sort of beast I was working with. It was very dark so all I had to work with was auditory information and imagination. Based on observation, I decided it must be either a rat or a squirrel up there, bumping around. I even contemplated the possibility of a raccoon.I don’t mind any of these varmints but then it occurred to me – what if it, whatever it is, is rabid?

I actually don’t mind sick animals (they never bother me; I feel bad for them) but I did not want a Jerry Clower story breaking out either. Still, I pecked away. Nothing happened. Whatever was up there seemed as at home with me as I was with it.

The Humane Society.

Upon completing the stories of the evening I prepared to exit. I turned on the light and looked up. What I had taken in my mind to be mammalian turned out to just be two slender, black beetles. They buzzed away rather stupidly trying to fly through the roof. Given the small size of their brains – with less mental horsepower than even the average politician – this was not surprising. I left them where they were, figuring they’d eventually make it out or make some spider very happy.

This is another of those stories without a central theme, moral or otherwise. I just thought it, for some reason, worth relaying.

Happy Tuesday!

Death of a Facebook Friend

11 Monday Jul 2016

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Several years ago when I was new to Facebook I did what most digital denizens do – I went looking for people I knew or had known. I happened across this one profile, let’s call him “Andy” (because that was his name). This person had the same first and last name as I guy I went to elementary school with many moons ago. He lived in the same small Mississippi town where I grew up and was about the right age. I couldn’t quite make out Andy from his picture but I was sure it was him.

It was not.

It turns out there were two men in the same town with the same name (first and last). “New” Andy graciously accepted my friend request. Then, soon thereafter, I unequivocally discovered my old friend – the real person from my past. We too, of course, became friends on FB.

So, there I was with two Andys. From time to time I saw postings from the “new” guy. We never interacted as far as I can remember but we stayed “connected”. He seemed like the kind of fellow I would like anyway. I suppose the feeling was mutual. I once pondered whether he was actual friends with any of my old friends over there. Maybe he was even friends with my old Andy. I never thought to ask anyone about it.

Just the other day I read (on Facebook) that Andy had passed away at an all too early age. At first I had that gut-wrenching feeling that I had lost another childhood friend. I’ve lost a few now and know the feeling. Maybe you do too. If not, I’m glad for you.

Further reading revealed it was “new” Andy whom had died. I was happy my old friend is still with us but I wasn’t relieved. I had still lost a friend. Other people I known in the real world and who were FB friends have also died but for some reason this incident was a little more sobering than those.

It seems that everyone who knew the new Andy in real life really liked him. His passing saddened them understandably. I started thinking about him as if I had known him (in person) all those years.

If this rambling is going anywhere, it’s here: I did know him, even if intangibly and on-line. He was my friend. I’m sorry he’s gone. I feel like I’m being selfish for being sorry as I’m sure he’s now in a much better place.

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So, all of this social media does actually have a higher purpose, a human purpose, I suppose. I’m glad I knew my new friend even as little as I did and for the relatively short time I did. This is his eulogy from me.

Rest in peace, buddy.