Secrets Of My Songs #4 (Dancing Moon)

It was an early Sunday evening when I had just got done watching a show on TV and the phone rang. The show was very emotional. I can't remember the name of it but it was about a boy who had cancer (I think) and he wanted to be an astronaut when he grew up. However, he would never grow up. He built a cardboard / wooden rocket in his front yard and he would play in it and pretend he was orbiting the moon and everything. At the end, the little boy woke up from his sleep in the middle of the night. He was in severe pain. He knew the time was near so he struggled to crawl out of his bed and down the stairs, out the front door and into his rocket. There he would die by morning's light. His parents found him in there all crawled up in a ball. It was a very powerful scene. The final scene showed him dancing on the moon in his astronaut gear. I cried.

But when the phone rang and I answered it, it was my little sister. She was a senior in high school and living with her best friend, who had graduated a year or two prior and was now married and living with her husband. The reason my sister was living with her during her senior year was because mother and stepdad moved to North Carolina to start a business. They returned shortly before sister graduated. Fortunately, they did not sell the house in Kingston at that time.

Anyhow, when I answered the phone, my sister was half crying because she had run out of money and mother wasn't going to be sending her anymore for about a week and she was afraid to ask for extra cash. I told her to stop crying and that I would be right over.

When I arrived, I opened up the wallet and gave her like 40 dollars. I told her she could always come to me if she needs extra money. I told her she can have as much as she wants. (She did call me a few more times for such purpose. I loved helping her out.) And so, by the time I got back home that night, I was emotionally spent. First the movie, and then my little sister. So I sat down at my desk and began writing the song, "Dancing On The Moon", for my little sister - and with the movie in mind.

I may have cried a little when I wrote it. 

The Monkey Way

THE MONKEY WAY - Written by Carroll Bryant 

You can't see what I mean when you're

Walking away from me 

It's not too hard to hear what I say to you

My dear, when I scream

Open your mouth 

Stop feeding me lies

I try real hard to believe you

But you keep on breaking my heart 

Talking to the monkeys 

Walking with the monkeys

Living with the monkeys

Giving to the monkeys

You take too much because you want too much

You say you care too much to stop

Stop!

You're breaking my heart 

You can't understand my pain because you don't

Feel the same as me

It's not too hard to understand that I live life

To my own plan, I scream (I really scream)

Another reason, a more suspicious plot

I try real hard to like you

But you keep on taking what I ain't got

MONEY

Looking at the monkeys 

Running from the monkeys

Working for the monkeys

Paying to the monkeys 

You take too much because you want too much

You say you care too much to stop

Stop!

You're breaking my heart 

On and on you ramble all your thoughts

On and on even when you are caught 

I can't believe anything you say

I can't concede to the monkey way

You can't but help yourself to making for me

All of my decisions

It's not too hard at all for you passing stupid laws

That decide my destination 

Open my mouth

Stop telling me lies

I try real hard to ignore you

But you keep on breaking my heart 

Talking to the monkeys 

Walking with the monkeys

Living with the monkeys

Giving to the monkeys

You take too much because you want too much

You say you care too much to stop

Stop!

You're breaking my heart 

You take too much because ....... you want it all!

A Carroll Bryant Secret: Carroll's Journey

There have been many people who have asked why it is I write so much. There is no clear cut answer. I never woke up and said I wanted to be a writer. I never sat down at a table and tried to write a poem or a song or anything. I do not sit around and try to come up with clever quotes and what not. It has always been a case of "who done it?"

I do have some theories on why I have written so much, and I think it has something to with my internal vision. I'll explain.

You see, I always felt that I was receiving some kind of signal or message from some other planet. I always thought it was an energy or something that, for whatever reason, was targeting me. I base this theory also on an experience I had on Christmas Eve when I was 9 years old. But there is something else that has been happening to me that I have never ever revealed to anyone. Not my best friends, not my family, not even to my mother. But ever since I was about 15, whenever I close my eyes and place my thumb and the adjoining finger to the bridge of my nose and squeeze either side, I get a vision of a greenish blue bubble. It is perfectly circled and resembles almost like some kind of see-through window. Within seconds, I can begin to see shadows walking across inside the circle. They are merely silhouettes but I can see they are short, they have big heads, and they have three digits on their hands when they wave at me. And yes, a few will stop for a moment and wave at me. As soon as I release the bridge of my nose, it all disappears.

I know it sounds crazy. This is probably why I never revealed it before. But it is something that happens to me. They do not appear every single time, but when they do appear, I get a really warm and friendly feeling inside of my body.

So yeah, I think these people are somehow sending me the energy I need to write as much as I do because believe me, if I could stop, I would. But when you are compelled to do something, you just do it.

I also think that I am more vulnerable to other people's energy too. I can often pick up on people's energy and kind of predict the future at times. I can even pick up on dead people energy. When I lived by a graveyard one time, for about three years, I went through one of the most amazing periods of my writing life. I wrote about 500 poems / lyrics during that time.

But back to seeing the future - I remember one day I was watching a baseball game. It was Atlanta Braves and they were playing the Mets I think. But it was the bottom of the last inning and Atlanta was coming up to bat and they were trailing by 4 runs. I was watching my little sister at the time and she was playing with her dolls on the floor in front of the TV and she said, "Sorry your team lost."

I replied, "They haven't lost yet, kiddo. They are are going to come back and win, you just watch."

"It doesn't look good, bubby." She stated.

I smiled. "The first batter is going to get a double. The second batter is going to get a double. The third batter will ground out but the baserunner will advance to third. The next batter will walk." I said, and went on to describe for her how the Braves were going to come back and win, batter for batter.

My sister sat there on the floor and stared at me like I was crazy, and then the game came back on and her jaw dropped to the floor as everything I had just told her would unfold right before her eyes, batter for batter. I think she has always been a little scared of me every since that time. One thing was for sure, I even freaked myself out. I remember excusing myself to go outside and smoke a ciggy real quick, but I also wanted to shake my head in shock as I even wondered to myself, "What the hell was that all about?"

But i have had many more visions. Mostly just a few seconds into the future when I can visualize trouble up ahead and stuff. It happened so many times that I actually wanted to believe in "angels", but soon realized it was a female from another star that was watching out for me. I still call her my "angel" though. I have written a lot about her. And them.

I don't know why I was chosen at 9 years old, but I believe it will be explained to me when I leave this earth and return home. And no, I do not see planet earth as my home. I am from somewhere out there. I think Vega. It could be Sirius or maybe even somewhere from the Sagittarius star system. Either way, I feel so connected to the universe. This is what gets me through my days these days.

Recently, my mother was hospitalized and put on a respirator. By the time I arrived my sister was holding her hand and completely in tears. The fear of losing mother was all over her face. I walked around to mother's other side and placed my hand on her forehead. I closed my eyes for about 30 seconds then opened them and looked at my sister. "Her energy is strong. She will be okay."

My sister smiled and within moments, she stopped her crying. When it comes to important things like this, she trusts me. She still thinks it's creepy, but she knows I can connect with the universe. In truth, this thing also creeps me out sometimes too. But I trust in this thing. I trust in this energy. I trust in this vision. It has guided me to this point so why abandon it now? I can't. I couldn't even if I wanted to. It's out of my control. And so is my writing. This is why I turned it all over to Carroll Absolom Bryant - in so the real me can continue to be the real me and go out and live some kind of life. So far, it has been working according to the prophecy that was whispered to me in the wind one evening. Life has been great for me thus far. I wish everyone could live life like I have and enjoy all the wonderful things there is to enjoy. Unfortunately, some are not that lucky. I think it is many of these unlucky people who end up becoming internet bullies. But that is just my guess.

As for my writing, it has slowed down a lot again lately. I went several years only writing a handful of new things until about two years ago, when I had another mad rush of whispers running through my mind. The past year or so, pretty much nothing. But I am hoping for at least one more flurry of whispers sometime soon. But that's the thing, I am always hoping for one more whisper.

And now you know my secret. 

A Carroll Bryant Quote: June, 2015 (New)

"I want my famous last words to be more famous rather than last."

- Carroll Absolom Bryant 

Red Society

RED SOCIETY - Written by Carroll Bryant

How can this be?

I thought that we were living in the land of the free?

Why does my flag get me down?

Why am I so afraid of this town?

Evil eyes are searching for me

I got to hide my thoughts in so THEY won't see

It's so hot outside and yet, I freeze

And still can't believe

How can this be?

A prisoner locked up inside the land of the free

(Just for his thoughts in a diary)

Why does my angry heart yearn to burn the flag?

(In a red society)

How can this be?

Evil eyes are searching for me

Locked up inside the land of liberty

Where the only opportunity is "Hide my thoughts in so THEY can't see"

And they can't read my diary

Thank you for locking him away

Thank you for doing this you communist son of a bitch

Thank you for destroying everything I believed

And everything that so many fought for and died

To be free

They sacrificed and gave their lives  .... and you .....

You come along and piss on their graves

And throw freedom away

You throw it all away

"On Wednesday, July 4th, 2001, on all days for this to happen, I read in the Columbus Dispatch that a mans journal, (a mans thoughts) was ruled obscene. The man in question received ten years in prison for what he wrote inside his journal. A story. Something that was make believe."

VELCOME TO AMERIKA
KNOWN AS THE U.S.S.A.
YOUR PASSPORT, PLEASE

And suddenly, red society

And then he came along and threw freedom away

He threw it all away

"Communism has a new name ........... O'Brienism"

As in Columbus, Ohio - Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien

RED SOCIETY

Book Riot Censorship, Hypocrisy, and Unprofessionalism (Amanda Nelson)

Hypocrisy is when you say one thing and then turn around and do the opposite. It's when you believe in something when it works for you, but then you don't believe in it when it doesn't. We see this a lot in politics, perhaps in religion and more recently, I have seen it in internet bullies. This is what we apparently have in one Amanda Nelson, managing editor of Book Riot.

I went on Facebook earlier today and saw an update from a friend of mine. It looked interesting as this particular friend has many interesting things he posts and says. The link he left led me to an article on this Book Riot website. An article written by Brenna Clarke Gray titled, "Dear Authors: Don't Respond To Goodreads Reviews"

I don't know if I have ever been to this place before and I can't recall if I did, if I have ever commented. The site rings no bells at all. So, if I have ever been here before, obviously, it left no impression what-so-ever. But I digress.

I found the topic to my liking. I actually had a little bit to say about this topic in fact. Apparently, an author responded to a negative review on Goodreads and was banned. So I logged in under my Google account and left this comment.

Nothing horrible. Nothing awful. Just my humble thoughts and opinion. 

With that out of the way, I decided to read other comments and get other people's opinion. In this process, I read a few that compelled me to respond. 

At this point, I didn't know who Amanda Nelson was. I figured she might be a staffer, but I didn't bother to check because I didn't / still don't, rightly care. I wasn't disrupting. I wasn't calling anyone names. I wasn't cursing. I wasn't angry or showing any aggression. I was just another dude sharing his thoughts. But then it happened!

THE CENSORSHIP

Yes, you saw correctly, I got censored. And while the moment that it happened I was quite baffled, it didn't take long for me to realize why. You see, Amanda Nelson hates authors. Mostly though, she hates anyone who holds an opposite opinion. She loves books (or so she claims) but brother, she does hate authors who disagrees with her. I think she's also a Goodreads bully supporter / sympathizer.

How many times have we seen this in our lives? Not only that, but she is a first class hypocrite too. Don't believe me? Well, keep reading.

It's obvious that she believes Goodreads is only for the reader. Perhaps at one time, this was true. But it is not true anymore. Goodreads is every bit about the author too. I mean, Goodreads will happily take an authors money, as I stated in one of comments up above, so because of this, it is also an author website now too. And I think STGRB also has a video of Otis Chandler actually saying this. So, sorry Amanda Nelson, but you are wrong. However, I do respect your wrongful opinion.

But this Amanda Nelson really comes off like a bully in almost every way. From her love for books / hate for authors attitude and all the way down to her hypocrisy.

I did take notice to a conversation Amanda Nelson was involved with. A commenter that went by oh7dp was really asking the tough questions. Questions that apparently, Amanda Nelson was uncomfortable answering. Not at first, mind you, but it didn't take long before Amanda turned into a bitch.

Now, I don't know about you all, but I haven't seen oh7dp insulting anyone. I see oh7dp asking questions and challenging Amanda Nelson's "beliefs". What I see from Amanda Nelson is absolute unprofessionalism to the core of its meaning. I see a female reacting frustratingly to questions she unintelligently cannot answer. And her only defense is to threaten oh7dp with censorship just as she censored me. 

But I did not get any warning. She just pulled the trigger. Like she knew who I was.

Amanda though sort of recovers and begins responding some more. 

And again, merely repeated what she has already declared, that she thinks Goodreads is for readers only and not for authors, despite the fact that Goodreads founder, Otis Chandler, has gone on record saying that Goodreads is a site for readers AND authors. But oh7dp continues asking the tough questions.  

I especially like the "I Hate Amanda Nelson.com" reference. 

But oh7dp keeps right on rolling along. 

And so does Amanda Nelson, hypocrisy at large 

As you saw, more threats of censorship from the queen of unprofessionalism herself. But I do want to go on record now to say that it's probably not a good idea to comment on a reviewers review, provided it is legitimate, but if there are any inaccuracies regarding the characters, plot, etc in said review then I have no problem with an author stepping in and making the correction. or if the review targets the author in a personal  manner then yeah, I think an author has every right to say something. You have to remember, it may be YOUR review, but it is not entirely YOUR SPACE. That book still belongs to that author. So technically, it makes the book review space both of your space.

But Amanda Nelson finishes by acknowledging that there are "Hate Sites" with her in them. Well, Miss Nelson, I have two, count them, TWO! hate sites in my honor. Beat that! lol 

What is puzzling is, she says the hate sites that violated the host's ToS were removed: Inferring that these sites were pursued by her and those also victimized by these types of websites. Then in the next sentence, she says, "frankly, I don't care enough to pursue it." - But you just said, "The ones that violated the hosts ToS were removed". 

See the contradiction? I pursued but I frankly don't care enough to pursue .... eh, typical. 

oh7dp keeps at it. 

I think what Amanda Nelson means when she says, "We don't get into comment sections of hate sites" is, "We don't get into comment sections of hate sites because we don't want to be censored. We would rather people who disagreed with us come here so we can censor them."

But she finishes up saying this, (and see if you can spot the hypocrisy), "And you seem to be conflating the commenting policy here with the comment policy on Goodreads. Authors, with the exceptions of those who have been banned here for NAME CALLING or SPAMMING, are welcome to and frequently do participate in comments sections here." 

Really Amanda Nelson? Really? I think what you meant to say was, "Authors are welcome to comment here just as long as their opinion is the same as mine and Book Riot." 

Oh, but it gets better everyone. It gets a lot better. She mentioned the 'magic shield'. Censorship is her magic shield. 

But before we get to the "better" part, let's see a few more comments. 

WRONG AMANDA NELSON!!!!! Goodreads does not ban ALL who violate their ToS.

Would you like me to prove you a liar?

Here you go.

  And this is just one of many I could show you as proof. 

It is you, Amanda Nelson, who does not know anything about how Goodreads operates or functions. In fact, you don't come off as very intelligent about anything at all. I mean, oh7dp is asking you the tough questions and you are quivering to the task of supplying answers, and in your frustrations of realizing you're in way over your head, you resort to the very basic solution that resides in your vocabulary. CENSORSHIP. 

If you can't out debate them, then ban them. 

oh7dp wraps it up with this parting shot.

As for who is oh7dp? I haven't a clue, but he or she is my new hero. Not because he or she clustered and flustered Amanda Nelson, it's clear my 16 month old nephew could do that, the lady ain't very bright, but because of the intelligent questions and argument he or she placed before the table of truth. It's not often someone can impress me, but oh7dp did! 

But it does appear that in all of this chaos coming from Amanda Nelson, she seems to think that people have a right to their opinion and no one should have the right to censor them. But then she goes around and censors like it's some kind of contest and the one who censors the most wins a prize. (Probably that shield she mentioned earlier. Censorship is her shield.) 

But then she pulls off a classic hypocritical and bully move of all-time. (This is the better I was talking about earlier.) And you will have to see it in order to believe it. Amanda Nelson responds to one of my comments. Take a look. 

She says, "Then why ... are you on one now?"

And to what was she responding to? 

And boy, oh boy, did I want to answer that question. 

But I couldn't. 

She censored me, remember?

Yes! This unprofessional, unintelligent, hypocritical bully-sympathizer actually asked me a question that she knew I could not answer because she censored me. She blocked me from replying. Now what kind of coward does that? .... Oh yeah, Amanda Nelson does. 

But I did try to answer anyway. 

So you see, people like Amanda Nelson really do exist. Hypocrites and bullies to their very core. People who cannot stand and take the debate head on unless they can tip the scales to their favor by bully means. Amanda Nelson could not even handle the intellect of oh7dp, and clearly Amanda Nelson already knew who Carroll Bryant is and just flat-out caved to my intelligence without a shot fired. (Until I could no longer respond because she put up her 'shield') 

My reputation precedes me. My knowledge, my sheer presence in the midst of my fame was just too much for the unprofessional hypocrite Amanda Nelson to face. She doesn't want to debate anyone to defend her position because she has no defense and she knows it. And when someone smarter than her comes along to challenge her stupidity, she blocks them with her shield and finds a corner to shake her fears off. But the strangest thing about it was, I didn't know who she was and I was just looking to kill a few minutes. I guess when you're as famous as I am, and intelligent to boot, unintelligent people like Amanda Nelson will always find a way, and a reason, to run and hide. 

You can't claim to be all about people being able to express their opinions, Amanda Nelson, then shut them up when they are proving you to be an idiot. But then again, you are the type of stupid that is a cliche' these days. You only believe in free speech if it agrees with you. And you only try to debate those who are dumber than you. Unfortunately for you, there are not very many of those people with the exception of your bully friends. You are a horrible person Amanda Nelson because you believe in censorship, and censorship is communism at its best. I guess that makes you a communist too. But either way, you are the one who has to live with the knowledge that this world would be a much better, and nicer place, without you in it. 

Say hello to your bully friends for me. *Wave*

Jibberish Jibber Jabber

Here we are again, my dear, alone at last and not a dollar to our name. Mad Max unleashes hell. Justin Timberlake or Justin Bieber? MaDonna MaGod. Cardiac arrest made easy. How many women has George Clooney boned? Has John Stamos boned? I'm Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiid Roooooooock! Don't stand so close to me. Nobody talks about Miley anymore, do they? I'm Henry The Eighth I am. You can tune a fork but you can't tuna fish. My grandmother didn't get her license until she was 52 years old. Everybody I know be doing it, doing it, doing it better than me. I and I alone take full credit. The last girl I had sex with had sex with me too. Love takes time. Take too much time and you might not love at all. Love is like oxygen. Hell ain't a bad place to be. Rock and roll is dead, that or it's alive and living in the deepest part of a pop singers anus. I started talking when I was eight months old and my first words were, "I ain't eating that sh#t!" 

The only reason I want to find Waldo is to kick his stupid colorful ass. Live fast and Die Hard. Die Harder. Live Free or Die Hard. If you name a boy Woody, would he have a hard-on all the time? Take my place just don't take my life. Take my wife just don't take my guitar. Take my money, but spare me a dime so I can call my mother. Rod Stewart and Cher should get married. Chocolate melts in your mouth and not in your hand. Okay, it melts in your hand if you're standing outside under a hot sun. My car won't start and I'm stranded in the middle of nowhere. With no one. Can you tell me please, who wrote the book of love? I think I will apply to become the 15th Dalai Lama.

Sometimes I just want a ham sammitch and nothing else. "I ain't eating that sh#t!" This is really hard to say, but nothing is easy. Can't tuna fish but you sure can tune a piano. Who in the H-E-Double Hockey Sticks do you think you are? Run that by me again? My farts can sometimes wake me up in the middle of the night and when they do, I always think there is an earth quake happening or something. Mostly though I think it's an earth quake. God hates California. There is no Dog. California hates California. Why does the 'end of the world' movies always occurs in California? 

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers? I know I said that wrong, didn't I? Help! I need somebody. When was the last time Jodie Foster made a movie? Johnny Cash and June Carter used to be my favorite Hollywood couple and yet, they weren't the Hollywood type. They were country singers and performers. I know a girl who knows a guy who knows another girl who has a mother that still exercises to Jane Fonda work-out videos. For the right girl, I would wear a collar with spikes poking out of it, around my neck, in public. I will not wear a muzzle though. Okay, maybe I would wear the muzzle, but I won't like it. Okay, maybe I would like it just a little bit.

Jane Fonda work-out videos?

You know it's been a rough day when the milk you just bought from the store expires the next day. I'll never reveal that chocolate chip cookies are my favorite cookies of all time, so don't ask. I'm not saying I'm the smartest person I know, but I am saying I'm the only one I know who is as smart as me. Sometimes, one is not enough. Go for broke! Go for broke? Go for broke. Go for broke again!

King of pain.

Whatever happened to live and let live? Did it just fade away or did it die? Goldfinger. Sometimes when I stargaze, I nod off and dream that I'm stargazing. My computer smells funny. If I am ever out hunting and I stumble upon Big Foot, I am blowing his damn head off regardless of the laws against it. UFO's are real. I seen one. Stephen Hocking is really scared of extraterrestrials. That didn't come out right. Stephen Hocking is really scared of extraterrestrials. On second thought, it did come out right the first time. I fell down once and couldn't get up. We should stop passing laws that protect stupid people. Drink the bleach you idiot. Drink it! Of course smoking is bad for you, Jesus Christ, why do you think you coughed so much the first time you inhaled? Jesus Christ.

There's no business like show business so please business mind your own business. 

I want my famous last words to be more famous rather than last. 

        

Fantasy Football 2015: Nasty Boys

I remember the good old days of Fantasy Football. You name your team, join a league, wait for the draft, then draft and everybody was happy and gay. You talk football with other members and exchange thoughts and ideas and make new friends. Where did the good times go? Oh yeah, that was back when playing fantasy football was fun and innocent. That time seems like a million years ago. Now days, it's nothing but assholes and idiots. Or, as I like to call them, Bullies.

I began drafting my ten teams this past Monday, June 1st. I started in the morning. The first two teams I drafted went over well. No problems. Everyone getting along and talking football - as it should be!

Then came the next three drafts for that day. BABAM! SMACK! KAPOW! 

The next thing I know I was under attack. People I don't know insulting me, telling me I ain't shit and that I suck and ..... even one dumb-ass threatened me with bodily harm. I offered to give the guy my address via email if he sent a request for it. He didn't bite. Anyhow, I did report him and now he is banned from all of his teams for one year. I personally didn't care about the threat, there's not many who can take me one on one in a physical fight. I'm six foot three inches tall and know martial arts, boxed in youth as an amateur, wrestled in high school one year, so yeah, I know how to fight. But I did see the opportunity to teach him a lesson about running your "keyboard" mouth. Hopefully, he will learn from this. I doubt it though. 

Anyhow, I couldn't believe the amount of hate I was getting from people I have never encountered before. Turns out my reputation as a FF player has spread further than I ever knew. You see, after the season I had last year and the year before, people are either "gunning" for me or "running" from me. Meaning they either welcome the challenge of playing against me or they don't want anything to do with me. Either way, some are very nasty about it on both ends. 

Last year I played ten teams. Nine of them made the playoffs. All nine that made the playoffs went on to play in their league championship game. Three of the nine won their league championship. The year before, I played only five teams in ESPN leagues, but four of them made the playoffs and three of them went on to play in (and two won) their league championship. That's fifteen teams, thirteen playoffs, twelve championship games and five champions. In 2013 I also played an additional 7 teams in two other leagues (Yahoo! and CBS). Four of them made playoffs and three won their league championship. 

That's a lot of success at a stupid little game. And let's make no mistake here, Fantasy Football is just a stupid little game to waste time with. But don't tell some people because for some, it's a matter of life and death. Seriously. 

You can play for fun or you can play for money. These-days, I play for fun. 

But yeah, the last three drafts on Monday I had a total of five people give me all kinds of hell just because I have won so much the past two years. The normal percentile of winning (making the playoffs) is right around 30 or 40 percent. I have been in the 80 percentile lately. And getting a team into a championship game is about 10 to 20 percent. Mine is right around 85 - 90 percent. Granted, my percentile in winning a championship is about 20 to 30 percent. Last year it was 33 percent. (3 of 9) or if you include the team that didn't make the playoffs, which I do, it is 30 percent exactly. 

The previous year (2013) I had 8 of 12 teams make the playoffs, with six of them making the league championships and five of them winning it all. 

I do not expect to continue this hot streak. And let's just call it what it really is - LUCK! - and nothing more. Of course, I give myself a great chance of winning by knowing who the better players are and everything, but it's still all just luck. 

I do have a process that I go through and have been using this "method" to better drafting. It includes doing research on every team in the league and grading positions. I write them down and then make notes of their top five players. From there I put together a list of all the players I am willing to draft in each round. It normally goes from five to seven players a round. I draft as according to the final list. Then I number them in order and I go from there. But this year, the last three drafts on Monday and into the first two drafts of the day on Tuesday, jealous people did their best to knock me off my game. They somehow knew the players I was interested in and they quickly tried to draft them before I could. 

They may have done their homework on me from my teams last year and my mock drafts this year. In one draft (an auction draft), I managed to get both of my top 2 quarterbacks. (Andrew Luck and Aaron Rodgers) This got some people very angry. You see, in an auction draft, everyone gets 200 fantasy dollars to spend on players. I got Luck for 26 dollars and Rodgers for 28. In contrast, running-back Eddie Lacy was bought for 54 dollars in that draft. 

But my method doesn't include getting the top 2 QB's of the NFL. It mostly revolves around a core of 8 players. (1 solid QB, 4 top RB's, and 3 middle of the road wide receivers.) Then you place them around 8 other useable players including a top 10 Defense, a top 10 kicker and a pair of decent tight-ends. And basically, depth. 

But I go for players that "I want" and that means for the most part, I rarely ever make trades. I might make at least one or two trades all year combined from all ten teams. Last year was a fluke and I made about one trade per team. (10 total combined) But hey, people offered me some really good deals. They offered people from my list. 

The point is, all of this bullying and abuse didn't have to occur but there are so many stupid and hateful people out there that they don't realize that if they only asked me for my advice or something, I would happily share my method with them. But last year I was attacked by one bully and now this year, it was seven so far with one of them getting a one year ban. This doesn't have to be like this. 

Anyhow, they didn't accomplish what it was they set out to do - knock me off my game - I still came away with some pretty good players on all of my teams. The thing about my method that works so effectively is, I can win with just about any QB, WR and TE, Def/SPT and K. The primary keys are RB's, and depth. If you got four top 15-or 20 RB's and you have good depth, you have a shot of winning. The only element you cannot acquire is, luck. (Unless it's Andrew Luck - lol) But you make your own luck with knowledge and confidence. But basically, I don't really care that much if my teams win or lose, I just enjoy playing the game. And that's where I hold the advantage over everyone in fantasy football. 

Pictured at top left is the roster of one of my teams, Columbus Bandits. Because I stick closely to my list, all of my teams have about 12 same players on them. They are closely connected. I stick with my formula 80 percent of the time. Consistency is crucial for me. I am a creature of habit in FF. 

Thankfully, the final three drafts on Tuesday went without incident. Everyone was friendly again. It only takes a few bad apples to spoil a good time. But when it comes to the internet, there are bullies everywhere, I am finding out. While I don't know what makes them tick, a part of me is saying that I never want to find out. Dark places are not the place to be snooping around. And inside the mind of a bully or hateful person, is a very dark and dangerous place. 

I will keep playing because I enjoy playing FF. Only when I tire of the game itself will I stop playing, and consequently, probably stop watching real football. But for now, the bullies are just gonna have to give me their best shot. It probably won't change anything, but hey, the only way to shut up a bully is to stand up to them. And the best revenge against these nut jobs I have encountered this year in the drafts, is to win. Winning cures everything and - best of all - pisses off the nasty boys even more. lol 

I guess next year in the drafts it will be an all out war. Better get my game face on.