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Let's just run with the idea

by on February 12, 2009, in blogging, jump aboard the crazy train, memes, stupid assholes, writing

So today I was thinking some more about the whole “I don’t want to read 25 things about my friends because my friends are all boring assholes that suck” reaction that Claire Suddath (and some other people) had to the Facebook meme.

I also thought a little bit about how, when I hear people say stupid shit, I have a tendency to blog about it out of spite. Well, not really spite. More because I feel like if you’re going to say or do something stupid, I’m going to call you out on it. Most of the time.

And then I thought about how I really haven’t been blogging much lately.

Hmm… there has to be some way I can meld those two things together…

Oh, I’ve got it!

I’m going to try to blog every day at least three times a week—each post being an entry in a new and ongoing 25 Things About Me list. I will try not to repeat things I have said before, too. (“Try” being the operative word here. I’m really not all that interesting.)

So to start things off, why don’t I just toot my own horn a little. Don’t worry, I’m sure there will be plenty of self-deprecation to come:

No. 1: I can be obsessive about sentence structure. Give me some sentences that are super short or don’t flow right or maybe don’t make any damn sense at all and I will try my damnest to magically fix them up into a glorious string of sensical words that are super easy to read. I feel that this is a strength of mine. (Obviously, or I wouldn’t be freaking telling you guys.)

Sometimes I sit down to write and the words just flow like holy water from my brain, through my fingers, onto the keyboard and into a story. But most of the time I jot down a bunch of thoughts as I comb through notes and then go back later to make them make sense.

I realize this admission is inviting you to comb through this blog and find an assload of sentences that have slang, are partially or poorly formed, or don’t really seem to make much sense. But that’s intentional—it’s in accordance with the style in which I write on this here blog. This is where I come to vomit up whatever is on my mind, not worry about how easy it is for people to read.

But professionally? I can form the shit out of a sentence.

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An occasional struggle

by on February 28, 2008, in jump aboard the crazy train, waxing creative, writing

Often the words come to the surface easily, slipping through perfectly executed keystrokes that will eventually give way to a triumph of syntax. But some days, my mind shakes and shivers, constipated with ideas until I finally stick a finger in and force the bloated paragraphs out into some sort of semblance. My heart has ached at the thought of having treasured nonsense pried from its grasp while I beg it to just get up, already, put on some pants and leave the house.

And I wonder why I can’t stop biting my nails.

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Why I blog

by on April 22, 2007, in blogging, jump aboard the crazy train, life etc., writing

There has been a meme going around lately where people have been explaining why they blog.

I’m probably on the tail end of giving my answer, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about.

I think the main reason I blog is so that in X years, I will be able to look back on this blog and remember what I was thinking, feeling, wanting, hoping, cursing, crying about, etc. at the time.

This August it will be 10 years that I have lived in Murfreesboro. I have been thinking about my time here a lot for the past several months, and one thing that bothers me is that I have never been good at keeping a journal or diary.

Until I started blogging. And until people started reading.

I don’t really care who reads, or how many people read (obviously), but it makes actually sitting down and typing out my thoughts (which can be an arduous process) easier if I imagine someone somewhere—anywhere—reading it and reflecting just a little bit. Even if it’s just, “Bitch is CRAZY!”

It’s helped being part of the Nashville Is Talking community, too, because I’ve been able to “meet” so many other local bloggers and get a feel for why and how they blog.

I’ve realized that you don’t really need an agenda. It’s ok that I blog about my weekend plans, my friends and family, my boyfriend, my cats, or just random-ass thoughts I have on my long ride home from work.

It doesn’t matter.

I’m doing it for me, and it’s just an added bonus that people read it.

The downside, though, is that I am often misunderstood. I know as a writer I should be able to make myself more clear, but when I am writing for myself I am often writing to myself, and leave a lot of things unexplained because I know what I am talking about.

I don’t think that this has caused much conflict, though, or at least not too many people have confronted me about it or asked, “What the fudge are you talking about woman?”

But being the overly analytical person I am, I do often wonder if I am giving a bad impression of myself through my random and not always thought-through posts.

I know that some people I work with read this blog, and I have found myself censoring my writing because I don’t want them to think they’ve hired someone headed for the looney bin when I have one of my “who am I am why am I here” moments (like I did the last two posts, haha). But being the creative types themselves, hopefully they can forgive my thinking out loud. Or at least understand that for some people—especially me—it helps to write things down, no matter how nonsensical they might seem.

I guess I just found my answer. My blog is my therapy. And everyone—no matter how “normal” you think you are—needs some form of therapy. Some form of release. Whether it’s writing, singing, playing golf, exercising or playing video games—everyone needs a venue where they can work out the stuff in their heads.

I guess this is mine.

Welcome to my head shop.

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Keep Your Apostrophe Out of This!

by on April 17, 2007, in writing

Summer and I were just talking the other day about grammar mistakes that really get to us, so when I saw this post by Aunt B. today I got all excited.

My most hated grammar mistake is just that—the unnecessary apostrophe, often referred to as the grocers’ apostrophe. For example:

I have three cat’s at home

instead of the correct

I have three cats at home

or

I have lots of thing’s to do before I can go out

instead of the correct

I have lots of things to do before I can go out

As a writer, I do a lot of reading. And I can’t help it, but I proofread everything as I read it. Obviously not as closely as I do when I’m working, but I still do it.

And if you’ve been to college, you’ve been to high school, and if you’ve been to high school, you’ve been to middle school and elementary school, where you undoubtedly learned where to appropriately use apostrophes.

If, for some unknown reason, you find that you’ve forgotten when to use them, let this serve as a reminder.

Apostrophes are used to show possession or in the case of a contraction.

My dog’s collar. My mom’s house. Don’t go there. I didn’t see that.

Of course, “its” and “it’s” are a bit harder. “Its” shows possession (“Give the cat its tuna treats”), while the apostrophe in “it’s” is used for a contraction (It’s a good thing the cat already ate tonight”).

There are other instances where it’s a bitch, like in yours, hers, his, 1990s (thank you Aunt B. for reminding people to NOT USE APOSTROPHES IN DATES!), etc… but for now, if you promise not to use an apostrophe to indicate something is plural I will lay off.

This ends your lesson in grammar, as well as my bitching.

Thank you and goodnight.

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Little gifts

by on March 27, 2007, in jump aboard the crazy train, life etc., the first rule is you do not blog about work, writing

This week has been super stressful for me already, as I have several deadlines at work and only three instead of five days to complete them. The stress is totally self-inflicted, as I am taking two days off for a much-anticipated trip home to see the family, but I’m still busting my ass to get everything done. I can’t just leave with things looming over my head. It would drive me crazy the whole time I’m away.

Which is why today’s gift of speedy, appropriate words was even more appreciated. I had a story to write that I was afraid was going to take me forever, but somehow instead flowed freely and quickly. Words arranged themselves on the computer screen almost magically. I could visualize the story’s final organization as I was writing, and sentences were constructed almost perfectly on the first try as they flew from my fingertips. When I got stuck on a description, a desperate email to colleagues for creative synonyms was responded to very quickly and broke any fear of writer’s block before it could set up shop in my tired and swirling mind.

It was a wonderful feeling to see everything come together when I needed it to the most. Now I only have one large writing project left before I leave, and I am hoping to be as lucky tomorrow as I was today.

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Blogs, they are a-changin’

by on March 11, 2007, in blogging, jump aboard the crazy train, writing

Ok, here’s the deal. I know I polled you kind folks a few weeks (months?) back about whether my blog needed a name. And most of you said that it already had one. And it did.

But I have been reflecting a lot (and I spend a lot of time in the car that ends up being prime reflecting time… more on this in a sec), and decided that while Megan Blogs was a name for my blog, it probably wasn’t the best name. It made sense when you came to my site and looked at the header, but all-in-all, I wasn’t really happy with it. And the fact that I work for someone who has a popular blog with his name and the word “blog” in it (I’m not linking because I think he might be embarrassed by all the F-bombs I drop around here, but if you’re smart you’ll figure it out) always made me worry I would be seen as a copy-cat.

So anyway, the one thing that kept coming back to me was that the majority of my blog posts come from thoughts I have while driving home from work every night. I live in Murfreesboro and commute to and from Nashville every day, and let me tell you: That leaves me with much time for thinking. I have often considered getting a digital voice recorder and recording my thoughts, as many times by the time I get home and sit down to blog I have forgotten several things.

I think it also works as a metaphor on other levels, maybe… driving home to a final destination, home can mean many things, etc. Though I hope reading my blog doesn’t result in death. Maybe I should adjust that metaphor to mean that home=enlightenment or something. Whatever. You decide what it means. For me, it means “the shit that comes out of my brain after I’ve been bitching and sometimes crying in traffic for an hour and a half.”

I really considered calling it “The Long Way Home,” but those damn Dixie Chicks stole my idea before I thought of it. And while I love their moxy and their stance on the war and our moronic president, I don’t necessarily love country, nor do I want to be accused of ripping off a song title for a blog title.

So I have registered a new blog with WordPress, http://theridehome.wordpress.com, but right now their site is all wonky and won’t let me log into its admin area, even though the blog shows up on my main wordpress area. (Apparently this is a large problem and there are several forums with people complaining. It seems the only way to fix it is to send them feedback, but feedback is closed on the weekends. Drats.)

Anyway, I hope Brittney at Nashville is Talking doesn’t blackball me now, since she just got me added to their aggregator and now i’m going and changing things. Luckily they haven’t blogrolled me yet, so Brittney, if you’re reading this: I’m so sorry, I should have things worked out as soon as WordPress gets their shit together (hopefully by Monday evening) and I really appreciate your work to get me added in the first place.

I hope this isn’t committing blog-suicide, either. I have been getting increasing levels of traffic and am loving it, and I hope that all you loyal reader-folks will continue to read me at my new home, once it’s up and running. See you soon on the other side!

p.s. Does anyone know why the text I added to the header is showing up all fuzzy? The image is from this template, and I added the text in Photoshop. When I view the jpg in Preview, the text looks crisp and clean, as it does when I first select the image to upload. But after WordPress crops it (just a few pixels on the left-hand side) and I view the site, the text looks fuzzy. Boo. :(

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