Okay, okay.

Hi there, folks. Larry here. I don't know where Flora is in all of this, but I told her I'd be active at this, and time permits me to be so, right now. If this blog is going to remain active, then I'll continue posting stuff, and more regularly from now on. October is coming up, and that means Halloween, and although most of you don't know me, that means that I'll be diving into a gamut of pulpy, bloody, sinister horror movies, and with any luck, I'll be providing reviews for your consumption every week or so. If I don't post them here, you can find them at the following links:

--->http://www.metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=39103&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
--->http://miscutopia.20.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=3

Will include reviews of the following:

The Burning (1981)
Suspiria
Opera (1987)
When a Stranger Calls (1979)

...and many more.

Until next time, all!

New writer!

Well, for some of you more observant folk, you'll have noticed that we have a new writer on our team of writers, Larry Griffin. He's done a lot of music reviews for metal, and I am confident in his ability to write about anything else. If you want, you can read some of his reviews.

Feeds and "rolls"

If you look at the menu to your right, the first item is a new feed option which you can use to subscribe to our posts or comments made in our posts. Secondly, our lame old-school style blogroll has been replaced with a new webroll. Enjoy!

My sincerest aplogies

I think I owe it to you to tell you why I haven't been posting. I'll make it sweet and short, because I don't want to bug you with useless details.

Why I haven't posted in June: much stress due to studying for exams.
Why I didn't post after: I had a fucking shitty computer from like 1998 that would keep freezing up, so all of my work would be destroyed.

However, as you can see, I no longer have exams and I don't have a shit computer anymore. Actually, my new computer is pretty rockin', and you can look forward to many posts from me, using this computer. I'll even list this post as one of the site promises, under the Promises section, because I can now guarantee this.

Thanks for your undying patience, especially you, Buffalo!

Buffalo wins! Here's some news:

Due to my not being allowed to use the computer on weekdays because of my dad (yes, I promised I wouldn't mention him ever again, but this reason is legitimate), my posting has been restricted by quite a bit. Also, the lack of inspiration due to outside projects. However, I am now well-aware of the fact that I do have people who care about what I have to say, and promise that I will return to my regular course of writing. No excuses. However, this post is not about me. It's about a 16-year-old "artist," and my best friend, Meaghan. I wouldn't say her art is necessarily complex, but it's entertaining and has its charm. Basically, what I'm trying to tell you is that we've now got a new contributer to ATWKS, who'll be posting her drawings onto the website. There'll also be times where I'll post them for her in the case that she can't do it herself, as her computer sucks ass as well as mine. I've already got several of her drawings, and plan to scan them in soon. Lily, I am so sorry to have left you behind in the postings, but may it be known that you are brilliant. And Meaghan, I am jealous of your art talent.

Rockstars get to do it...

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I guess, at times, one can lose inspiration. Kind of like rockstars, right? Except I'm a rockstar behind a computer. Just kidding... sort of.

Okay, some serious business: I'll be posting again. I was just having some personal quarrels, and academic ones at times. Seems Flamenco has had her fair share of them, too.

A vicious circle and a promise to our readers

Today was quite an annoying day. Me, my brother Samir, my brother Rafi, my mom, my aunt Shukria, and my dad Ramzi Gorgees were all downstairs. Yes, I'm revealing his last name because I am that fucking pissed off. Here's why:

While we were all downstairs, my brother had a fight with my dad. Ofcourse, it was all my dad's doing. My dad was actually trying to get him to pay back all the expenses my brother had incurred on the family just for practically existing. He was yelling at my brother and acting like he could just take his money at any time, and he'd get to make Samir pay for existing if he didn't abide to his rules. So basically, the thousands of dollars Samir earned for himself was part of what he owed to our dad just for living.

What pissed me off the most though, is the way he undermined my mother when he talked to her like she was some concubine in Iraq. He was malicious with his words, and undermined her wholly even though she's the one making the money that allows him to manipulate my brother psychologically. My mom not saying anything about it all pissed me off almost as much. It's honestly like she's lost her will to voice herself.

Later on, me, my mom, and Shukria were talking to each other. My mom was crying, and I kept trying to cheer her up with some success to show for it. I finally got her happy, and then we started talking about Jamile (my great uncle and Shukria's now-dead husband). I only knew since today of how he committed physical and mental abuse on her over the years, which enraged me. Now I'm glad I didn't go to his funeral.

This all calls for a new category called "Promises" - basically what we promise to abide by on this site. We'll also have "Goals" to see what we can go without talking for at least a certain period of time. So, here's for my promise: I promise not to talk about my father ever again on this site. Consider him erased from every corner of ATWKS. He's just become too much of a negative presence in my life, even to write about.

Flamenco has been busy

Flamenco, a writer on this site, hasn't posted in a while. If you're a fan of her writing, remember that she's a very busy lady in Washington who's occupied with helping with Hillary Clinton's campaign. Please provide some comments of support here.

Exchange links with us!

At ATWKS, we plan on finding the best blogs to add to "Flora's Favourite Blogs" to the right. Remember, we'll only add your blog if I truly like it. If you have some other kind of website that isn't a blog, we're okay with that too. We'll add it to a links section on the right as well!

An advantage to listing a blog: there is a strong guarantee that, even if I don't add your blog to "Flora's Favourite Blogs," I'll still subscribe to your blog. The reason why is because that way, I can get more direct with my readers without having to look all over the place, thanks to the magics of Google Reader. No hassle, and all of the posts from all of my readers are just a few clicks within reach! C'est tres fab.

In addition, listing our Official Message Board would be really nice of you.

Thanks, post your links here, and...
Ciao!

New layout!

Something got lost with the old layout, but, you know, I'm glad it did. Something about this layout is much more open, much more calming, much more refreshing... and, well, just plainly, better. I think the old layout also had hurt plenty of people's eyes. This one is so much easier on them, hopefully. I don't want our readers to go blind!

So, tell us what you think of the new layout.

The ATWKS Plan

Hello dear readers! This post is to inform you on what's going to happen at ATWKS, and it's really important to me. I thought of this plan today, and I think it will work quite well. What's the plan's goal? To bring more interest to ATWKS! There are several elements to the plan. Here they are:

Getting more writers
We at ATWKS need more writers. If you'd like to write for us, click here.

Spreading the word
We'll be subscribing to your blogs and any blogs you like, and we'll post on there. Post your blogs here! Also, please do tell your friends about ATWKS.

Better connections
We already have several ways for you to get updated on the happenings at ATWKS (ATWKS group, my MySpace, Google Reader subscriptions), but we'll work on more. Please post some ideas here if you'd like.

Also, I just want to tell you guys that I'm going to limit myself to posting just once a week so I can dedicate my time to spreading the word. Okay, I'll probably fail, but point is, you'll see me posting less until I feel the time is right. You'll know when.

With Love,
Flora

Three more days

Look at the menu to the right on this page with all of the links, videos, and polls. Look at the polls. There's a countdown 'til the year 2008 on all of them, and that's when they're going to be disabled. On January 1st, I'm going to collect the statistics, post them, and then provide a link at the menu for those who want to look back. New polls are going to be set up with the same questions, and possibly more.

Got any suggestions for new polls? Post them here!

The ATWKS Interview Series

ATWKS is coming up with an interview series of sorts. Basically, I'm going to be talking to plenty of different people on plenty of different topics, and I'm going to post those discussions here. I've already finished interviewing 3 people, and am in the midst of 6. Editing will begin shortly.

What I'd like you to do is request me to interview people from certain forums, or request me to interview people that you have access to.

Places being interviewed currently:
TeenVogue users

Places already interviewed:
None

ATWKS @ Myspace

www.groups.myspace.com/atwks

That's our new MySpace address! Ofcourse we're going to be posting here, but I made that MySpace so that you can sign up and get new bulletins from us every time there's a new post on here. Aren't I a genius?

So please do join. It will be the best way for you to keep up with us, and you won't have to check back at the site more than you need to. The AdSense bars here may say to some of you that I'm only out for myself, but this site is about all of us - the writers and the readers.

Tips to not get banned from the group: don't advertise irrelevent things, please. Take into mind the general MySpace group rules, which you will end up encountering. So don't ask me about where to find them.

ATWKS Promotion Pics

Hello dear readers!

Do you love ATWKS, and do you have a website? If you'd like to promote ATWKS, and if you need some graphics for buttons... here is the post for you! I made some graphics today that you can use to link to ATWKS, but I'm going to make plenty more in the future, so watch out.

To save these images, right-click on them, then go to "save as."

No expected posts during Yuletide

To the writers and readers:

You are not expected to post anything during the holidays. It's your own time for you to do whatever the Hell you want, but you can post nonetheless if you'd like.

But you guys know me... I'm going to post like crazy since I'll have nothing to do.

Oh and lastly.... HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Goodbye, Tinkerbelle.

I won't sugarcoat it: I kicked Tinkerbelle off the team for having not posted since we actually started this blog in early November. I don't take any damn prisoners. If you don't post regularly like I ask you to, and regularly is ONCE A FUCKING WEEK, you're out.

Check out the "Become a Writer at ATWKS" post if you'd like to be a writer.

Guestbook

I just made a guestbook for ATWKS. Be sure to check it out and sign it! :)




View My Guestbook

Sign My Guestbook



Ciao!

The ATWKS Online "Dream of Fame" Code

I'm probably naiive in saying that I want this site to be very, very known. Well, I hope I'm not, but what I know is that I'm working alongside some really cool folks who have potential for great things. You don't have to follow it, but it's an idealistic type of thing.

So here's the set-up:

1. On every forum you go to, be sure to include a link to ATWKS in your signature.
2. Sign everything (online) off with a link to ATWKS if there is no automated signature option.
3. Inform your friends and family through e-mail, and possibly in real life, about ATWKS.
4. When speaking, subliminally tell people to read ATWKS. Live, breathe, and eat (I cannot emphasize that enough) ATWKS. When you sleep at night, you dream only of having sex with ATWKS. Just kidding. Or am I? Hah yea, I'm just kidding about this part, though it would be a nice touch!
5. Submit ATWKS to every search engine you can possibly find.

Got any other ideas to share? If you do, I'll make an updated version of the "code" within some time.

AdSense Mania

Just another small announcement...

As you can see, we've (okay, I've) added some AdSense bars to the site. Why'd I do it? I want to experiment and see if I can actually generate some revenue off of this. I'm technically not sugarloading the site with all these big ads, but you know, curiousity got to me. Ofcourse, since I'm 16, the money's not coming in my name. It's going to my mom. So, in short, this is an experiment; my mom knows I did this and is totally okay with it, and please tell your friends about ATWKS.

Ciao!