Mundane, but Merry

I want to blog more but I don’t know what to write about, really. Our life is great, but not super exciting. We go to work, we eat food, we try to be social and not become social recluses...


We don’t have a TV yet, so we play games, read books, or clean the apartment in what little spare time we have. It’s kind of nice not to have a TV. There isn’t anything quality on hardly except the news. Which is depressing, but interesting. Movies are great, even though we don’t have a ton. I like movies there’s less chance we’ll be watching sleaze, since you can research what’s in it and there aren’t stupid commercials to worry about.


Now Sam’s in school, so he’ll have homework and studying to do. We’re still planning on getting a TV, but I’m in no rush. We’re doing our research about it, and trying to find a good deal. Because we can survive without it!


We’re busy, but it’s not as crazy as when college was going on in my life. I’m glad we have things to do, a direction to go in, and stuff to work on.



I like cleaning the apartment. I don't know how long this will last. But for now, it's still fun. 

-Meg

Grey Goops

"Grey goop" means a lot of text without anything to break it up. This is a bad thing in the design world. Pictures are wonderful because they are a visual element among all the words. Words are boring things. Pictures are not. Pictures are exciting, and one can digest them quickly.

I like pictures. I'm glad people take pictures. As a designer, I'm so happy pictures exist. I love designing with huge pictures.

But as a writer, and a woman, I sort of hate them.

Sometimes I'll write these long, lovely things, (at least I think they're lovely) and I think about them a lot. I think they're funny. I try to get all the grammar right. I try to be witty and funny and profound.

But when I show the finished product to someone -- whether it's a blog post or a book or a scrapbook page -- I get complemented on the picture or graphic. It's nice to be complemented on anything. But the picture was just there to draw the reader in. I know from a fact my blog posts with pictures get way more views than ones without. I'd just hope that the picture helped the reader actually find interesting content to read.

As a woman, I get fed up with the visual taking over everything. I like getting complemented on the way I look. It's nice to feel beautiful. And often people saying those nice things don't really know me, so the only thing they have to say is about how I look. But how I look isn't what is important about me. Fashion is fun, but it's not my substance. I just feel despair sometimes because I feel that's all anyone cares about. It is all anyone has to say, and I know it's because they have nothing else to say about me so they have to say something about my hair, or my outfit or my shoes. One day soon I'll be really ugly, and I might wear really ugly clothes, and then what? What will people say to me when they have nothing to say? Will they lie? I don't know.

I'd rather be complemented on my writing, or my college degree, or how I'm really hilarious or good at Scrabble or something. Or maybe not complemented at all! I love it when people just listen to me and talk to me about interesting stuff. I like when people read my "grey goop." That is the greatest complement of all.

Because it is hard to feel confident. I'm looking for a job and it is stressful. I'm trying to remain positive and hopeful, but it doesn't help when all everyone seems to talk about to me is just how I look. Because how I look doesn't help me get a job or help me feel important or useful. It's just a nice thing, like dessert. It isn't essential.

I don't even consider myself that pretty. I'm alright with that. I'm glad I have a working body and I'm content with the way I am. Most of the time I'd like to think beauty is irrelevant, but I know deep down that to the world, it's one of the most important things. I don't want to give into that shallowness, but at the same time, I have acknowledged that it's a good thing to dress up and look cute so people notice you. So that maybe, someone will be drawn in and read the grey goop: the interesting stuff that just looks boring.

So this is a test. How many people will read this post despite having no picture? (In the bloggersphere, pictureless posts are almost unheard of.) How many people care about what I think? I know not many, but I find comfort knowing that there are a few people out there, like my family and Sam, who do listen to my opinions, my thoughts, my worries, and my dreams. I think it's alright to talk about things besides muffins, parties, and cute hairdos on blogs. I want to talk about deep things, even if it's not as flashy or fun.

Thanks for reading my grey goop.

-Meg

Observations on The Bachelor

I watched The Bachelor. Let me justify this act: So the break got the best of me. Boredom set in, and I was caught up on all the New Girl episodes. 

My observations:

First of all, the entire concept is a bit strange. Think about it--let's get a bunch of twenty-somethings who all claim they are ready to find "the one" and throw them in a house together. Let them wear more makeup than clothing. Put one attractive single guy in charge of narrowing them down, eliminating them one by one until he finds the woman he wants to marry.

If you didn't watch the first episode of that season, it's OK. The rest of the post will still make sense. It may, however, make you throw up in your mouth. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My first impression was that everything was so fake. That's a crazy way to describe reality TV, I know. This makes me doubt everything! So if love isn't like the scripted movies... is it really that awkward and shallow as reality TV and nobody notices?

All the girls (contestants?) seems so nice in their intro videos. Each one makes me say, "aww, she's so cute and unique!" They talk about their life, and then there's a wide shot of her walking the streets of her home town, in a breezy blouse and short shorts, taking in the sights and sounds of her surroundings...

But then I see them on the show and I'm so disgusted. There's so much cady drama and competition. Like really? It's a bit over my head. I know I would hate to have all that competition. You have to be loud and if you don't stand out, the bachelor won't give you a rose. (That means she gets to stay in the house longer.)

All this begs the question: What if he don't like forward, brash women? Is that a qualification to be the bachelor? 

If I wasn't in an amazing relationship filled with mutual understanding and respect, I'd find myself getting extremely self-conscious about my flirting (not to mention my own pensive strolls). Because every girl acts so weird when she flirts. Do I look so awkward? Do I endlessly comment and stroke guys' hair and recite meaningless rehearsed pick up lines? Do I throw my head back and laugh just because I want him to think I'm a funny gal?

I'd like to think no, especially since I'm not competing with anyone for Sam's affection. (And I can say that with some certainty.)

There's a lot of squealing and "sexy!"

There's a lot of crying.

There's a lot of walking. You know, the kind of strolling that humans do all the time--hands in pockets, deep thoughts about love and life bouncing around in your head, all the while looking gorgeous, completely oblivious to the camera following your every step.

One good thing:

There is a girl named Elyse, and that's my middle name. That's cool.

Back to weird things:

How long did it take them to think of their first entrance? One at a time, each girl walks out of the limo and greet the bachelor. (I think his name is Ben. You'd think I'd remember after 1 and a half hours. But I was just trying to get the girls' names down.)

Some are kind of cool, but most have these weird quirky pick up lines that try to both to attract him and make him remember something unique. For instance, the law student girl was all, "the verdict is in... you're guilty... of being hot!"

(All they talk about is how hot he is. To fair, that's all they had to go on the first day. And that's really all he said about them. Because that's all that matters.)

Another girl just walked right by... being cool. She didn't talk to him. Not a word. Guess what? She didn't get a rose. Sorry hun, you might have to study up on the grammar of body language. And before you tell me she's a just shy girl, I'd like to refute that shy girls don't give guys looks like that.

Most of the girls blended together to me, despite their clever first lines and crazy attire. I can't tell them apart because most of them look the same. Usually I do remember if they're a blonde or a brunette though. To viewers of previous seasons: Has a redhead ever been on?  Now I'm curious. I also wonder why they are all white. No Asians or Hispanics or Blacks? 

One last thing:

The model is the ugliest girl there. And she kind of looks like Ursula when she comes up onto dry land.

Photo

She kind of acts like it, too.

Oh, and before I forget, one more good thing:

A girl showed up on a horse! She was cool, too. She seemed natural, and real real, not just reality real. So far, anyway...

I don't know if I want to watch the rest of the season. But I am curious how this grandma lady fits in. (Ya, there was a grandma. I'm kind of confused.) 

Starting on Monday, I'll have school to keep me busy, so I won't have to resort to watching reality TV. Say yay!

-Meg

The blogger crash, my dog, and that one addicting game

I think my blog was left virtually unscathed from the blogger outage!

Years from now, we will reference the Blogger Crash of '11 with a shudder and a wince. We will never forget.

It was pretty awful. My life was boring without anything to stalk and read. And of course, no where to post my random thoughts about the world.

This is my dog, Puck. One day he will learn to behave.

You guys, have you ever played Pocket Frogs? I'm so obsessed. Please, please tell me I'm not the only one! If you haven't, well, I'm not going to explain it to you, because it sounds really dumb. You'll think I'm a weirdo. And I am a weirdo, but I don't want to give the world more evidence of that. If you have played Pocket Frogs, you will know that I am not crazy. I'm just cool. It's a really entertaining app.

-M

Jan. Books

Remember my book list?

I've finished two books... so I'm still on track. Kind of.

First off, I finished A Farewell to Arms by Hemingway. Brian gave me this book so it's special to me. I even pictured the main character looking like Brian.

Yesterday I finished Voyage of the Narwhal. It was pretty epic and amazing, but also long and painful at parts. I learned a lot about arctic voyages. I have to say that I probably wouldn't recommend it. I loved it, but I have a high tolerance for boring things. I think most people would think it was kind of boring. But if you want to give it a try, I suggest it!

-Meg

My Word Count is Steadily Ascending

Good morning!

It's exactly 12:27 a.m.

You know what that means:

LATE NIGHT POST

Get ready to roll your eyes and bang your head against a palm tree, (or any type of foliage that might be nearby. I do not envy you if you live in Arizona. I hear cacti are beastly to bang up against.)

So despite taking 15 credit hours and working about 25 hours a week, I'm doing NaNoWriMo. That's National Novel Writing Month. It's absolutely crazy. I'm actually feeling quite nervous about not being able to finish, and I worry about my novel being absolute crap. I'm not worried about the homework I'm currently procrastinating.

But the pep talks and message of NaNoWriMo is to worry about quantity, not content. The point is to just get the words out there and you can fix it later. Although I'm trying to adopt that as my monthly mantra, I've found it to be quite difficult to stifle my inner editor.

I am an editor after all. First and foremost, before a writer. I am learning to be a linguist, and linguists do not write 1667 crappy words a day.

But I've taken to reminding myself that because I am an editor, I will be able to salvage the misshapen creature I'm creating. I trust myself to tighten up my word hoarding sentences and make my verbs more concise and my descriptions precise and relevant.

One issue I keep running into is that the verbosity I adopted to rack up my word count carries over into my every day writing. Which is not cool. I like to call myself the queen of concise. I'm notorious for editing a friend's paper and leaving it 100 words short of the word count requirement.

I'm mean. I know.

I do love my main character though. I think she's the only reason why I'm still writing. I took a different approach. I usually try to force my personality onto my MC, because I always assume that it will be easier to write about the person I know best.

Not the case. Caroline is completely the opposite of me, and I like writing about a girl that doesn't like to read or study, is easily distracted, has no patience. (Okay, maybe we do have some similar qualities.)

Caroline sees dead people. I call them dead people, but they're really not dead. It's more complicated than that, but I haven't found an accurate way of explaining it. Caroline's still trying to figure it out, so we'll be figuring it out together.

But I love the narrator even more. He's this omniscient figure, but he interjects with his own commentary and feels sympathy for Caroline. He's in love with her.

And that's where it gets weird. But I'm learning a lot. I love my book, even if I want to hate it.

OK. Now it's 12:41 a.m. I've wasted sufficient time telling you about my uber boring life as a writer.

You deserve a Merit Badge or something.

-M

Mundane Megan

Humm diddly dum.

My schedule is settling into a happy rhythm. I work well when I have structure.

So nothing much to exciting has occurred in my existence. I suppose that a good blogger is one creative enough to make even the little things exciting. I need to work on that aspect.

Usually I don't blog unless I have something to blog about, but today is an exception. Now this is horribly rambled and jumbled because I'm trying to figure out what I'm trying to say as I'm trying to say it. But my blogging creed is to never look back and just write what comes out of my head.

My Paul-withdrawals are improving! This is good news. I don't know why the past few days have been filled with Paul-sickness, but they have. Luckily that has receded, and I'm doing much better. Being busy helps significantly. I feel so lame for missing him. I'm not even technically waiting for him, but I can hardly help it. He's my best friend!

Okay, this blog post is going no where. I'm disgusted with my self! Such mediocre prose does not deserve to be thrown into cyberspace!

Oh well. Some days are just like that. Granted, this isn't a bad day. It's just a mediocre day. But on the bright side, it isn't even a Monday! It's Tuesday! I'm that much closer to the weekend! (Ward activity, FB game... this is going to be awesome.)

-Megan

Cliché Whining Blog Post

So I'm trying not to procrastinate. I'm really am. I did a lot of my project yesterday. But I just can't do my homework right now because I can't get on to WebCT to work on my online class. The U website isn't working. I am just a little okay with this.

I have plenty of other stuff to do, I just need to make myself do it. I was going to try and get done before work, but it looks like that won't be happening. I just need to come home and churn out the rest of this project. And let's hope that the U's website will be back up and running. I really should stop neglecting my online class.

I need a change of pace. I really do. I think next summer I'm going to go work at a boy scout camp. Like I'm dead serious. I'm going to do it. Scouting is in my family after all. My poor father has no sons to share his love of scouting. My dad's dad was a professional scout, no joke.

I just hate school right now. I hate work. I want to be with people. I want to be hugging and laughing and joking and having fun.

But I really do have so much to be thankful for. I'm a lucky girl. Sorry this post is so whiney, but I have to whine sometimes. I really have no right to complain. Sure my life is boring right now, but in the fall it will be so fun! Even later this week will be fun! I get to have my last date with Mr. Hill! And he has his farewell! That is both sad and happy. But it is exciting. And I need exciting.

Okay, now I have that out, I can get back to work. Loves!

-Megan