Barrett Garese

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Random Spytap Facts that may or may not be interesting

In no particular order:

* I’ve used the moniker “Spytap” for over 12 years now.  I identify with it as much as my given name, and will answer to it in real life.

* I’m a total insomniac.  Most nights I wake up a couple dozen times, and some nights I just wake up at 3am or so and am wide awake.  I can go for months on end getting no more than about 4 hours of sleep a night, and did so for most of my college, I think my insomnia has just forced my body to adapt.

* I don’t dream.  Well, generally not.  Most people tell me that I do dream, I just don’t remember them.  In some cases I wake up with the sense that I did, in fact, dream, but with no knowledge of the topic.  Sometimes I’ll wake up with a single frame of the dream in memory without context.  VERY rarely (maybe once or twice a year) will I have remembered more than that.

* I really do think I’m smarter than most people.  Not most people I actually know, since I think I actually know some really smart people, just most people in general.  I think this probably makes me an asshole.

* I’ve been a writer my entire life.  Poetry, short stories, lyrics, etc.  It’s what I do for catharsis, and I would never want to make it my career because I really would have no idea what to do when I needed to get away from my daily life.

* I never once did a second draft of a paper, either a nonfiction report or a creative writing assignment, until my 3rd year of college.  We had a class where we had to turn in a first draft of a screenplay and then revise it.  I didn’t really understand this concept.

* I also never outline my papers or projects.  Sometimes I just know where they’re going when I start (nonfiction), sometimes I’m just along for the ride myself (fiction.)  Anytime I outline something I disregard the outline within about 2 paragraphs.

* When I took it, I was the only person at my college to have ever gotten a perfect score on their WPE (Writing Proficiency Exam).  I’m still sort of proud of this as I was never a particularly good student outside of writing.  B- to C was about right most of the time.  Writing was the only thing I routinely got good grades in.

* Bad spelling bothers me to my soul.

* I hate being in photographs.  I avoid them if at all possible.  I’m sure that’s probably a self-image issue, but regardless, I avoid them.

* I like being on the other end of the camera, but I prefer doing photography of inanimate objects like buildings, clouds, landscape, etc.  I also like doing long exposures and night shots.

* From 7th grade through sophomore year of high school I refused to listen to any radio station other than the classic rock station.  One night I realized why I was starting to find it so repetitive: they weren’t making any more classic rock.  I caved, and started listening to the local alt rock and hip-hop stations.  To this day, my love of early to mid nineties alt rock, early 90’s west-coast hip-hop, and classic rock remain.

* The first CD I ever bought was 2 Legit 2 Quit (just before the above modern music cutoff…and now that I think about it, perhaps the cause of said cutoff.)  The first concert I ever went to was Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.  I find it hard to reconcile these two aspects of my musical taste.

* That being said, I have terrible musical taste (or better stated: I don’t have very adventurous musical taste, preferring the familiar) and frequently tell myself that I need to expand my horizons.  Then I’ll put on another NIN, Tool, or Beatles/Stones song and move on.

* My memory is shit.  Names, numbers, and dates just fall out of my head.  Song Lyrics stay forever though.  Any any moment, should you ask, I could recite all of Semi-Charmed Life, California Love, or the theme song to Gummi Bears without missing a beat at all.  I could probably “mouth-guitar” any solos as well.

* I built my own computer in college, and then made some spare cash doing the same for my classmates.  I actually really enjoy the whole feeling of being neck-deep in hardware and don’t find the process intimidating at all.  For some reason computers just sort of make sense to me.

* I take forever to make a big purchase.  My TV took me almost two years to purchase, my car took three.  I’m very particular when spending large amounts of money.  I really do like my car and TV though.  They’re awesome.

* I still play video games.  I am totally cool with that too.

* Jigsaw puzzles frustrate me to no end.  I have no idea where to start and my eyes just cross looking at the jumble of pieces.  A thousand piece puzzle to me might as well be a million piece puzzle.

  • 3 years ago
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About

I do lots of things. I'm kind of weird that way.

First and foremost, I'm the Director of Content Partnerships at Blip.tv, where you can discover the best in original web series.

Before that, I ran a consulting company focused on entertainment and government entities called Spytap Industries. In a previous life I helped create United Talent Agency's online division - the first major agency division devoted to representing and monetizing online content.

I also contribute to Here's Some Awesome, a collaborative video curation site that showcases the awesome in online video.

From time to time I write essays on topics of interest from politics, to the future of mass media, to the effects that online content and piracy are having on traditional media. They normally go here. (Latest example: "On Wikileaks")

This is my personal blog, So while it probably doesn't need to be said, all of the opinions here are solely my own or those of the people I reblog.

Email me: Spytap at spytap dot net

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