Introducing Manniyer Mark

Will you look at that face? That's my business manager, Mark. I call him "Manniyer Mark" like the Dominicans at Barnes & Noble call their store manager when they're not ranting about jefe loco. Manniyer Mark. Roll the R's.

Don't get the impression from the image that jefe's angry...with me. Well, he's not really ever angry at me, but he does often get excited about "making things happen" at a pace a little more brisk than I have grown accustomed. "Artists are just too damn lazy," he says.

But that's not the angry face, or the excited face.

That is the WTF? face. Manniyer Mark was showing me the face he believed he was making one morning as he was getting dressed for work, tying his tie, listening to NPR, dreading his corporate existence, and he caught sight of me walking up the street. Apparently, I was wearing shorts, a pork pie hat, and argyle socks. I was carrying B in a backpack. Mark said, "I remember thinking, what the fuck is the deal with this guy?" Apparently that's how I look every day; unlike the other "corporate inmates."

Manniyer Mark also recalled thinking, "That guy has a style, I just didn't know what the hell that style was supposed to be. Or if it was good." Ha! Guilty. Me neither.

He reminded me about the time I walked up to him while he was working in his garage and I asked to take his photo (July 4, 2007). He agreed but was so thrown off--I took the photograph and then wandered away, as I do--that he began to kind of study me and try to figure what the deal was. And if there was any cash in it.

The rest is history, blah-blah-blah. Now he has the lawyer telling me which posts to pull (like yesterday's "collage"). Now he's telling me what "nuggets to drop" into posts and such. Check this from this morning:

hey need to metnion a few ideas:

1) try to mention the project each day in your blog to keep building the interest, what about a count down of days? But lets leavfe it vague to keep the interst

2) i think it is Ok to mention me in post but it does seem a bit much to reveal the inner deliberations and workings. this isn't about me, remember. shouldnt be childish. advice: scale back

3) do a section called "Cool Shit" where people send us cool shit for free and we revew it on the site? two conditions if they send a t-shit is has to be two so we dont fiight over it and they need to give us a free link on there site? Free Cool SHit!

m

All I can think of is, was he texting while driving? That's illegal now. And note that in Action Item #2 he clumsily thumbs, "This isn't about me" yet in Action Item #3 he txts that I should have people send stuff to us...for free (but I shouldn't be childish).

WTF? I should be making that face. Oh, and Mark nixed the fanny pack idea in favor of what "the kids are using":
Now I see he's emailing with my friends. Next thing you know I'll be "positioned" as the son of a Nigerian forestry minister with 85$ million US in the bank. Send your bank account numbers, kids! Oh, and Free Cool Shit too!